Rapid Visa? Worth it?

[TakeTheSky 0]

So is Rapid Visa really worth? I'm hearing very conflicting things. My fiancee and I are more than capable of filling out forms and putting together papers on our own. I hear tha RV pretty much back through your documents and send it to UCSIS for you. 

 

Would you guys recommend it Again, we very capable but we've waited far too long would it be wiser to just be safe rather than sorry?

Thanks.

[britishandusa 446]

Nope. I've seen tons of mistakes/RFE from people who used Rapid Visa. My fiance and I did it ourselves and we got approved easily (no RFE either).

[Trawicks 5]

I always say! You can explain more about your relationship that anyone else can do. I did this myself and got approved without any issue! Well everycase is different. If you don’t have any background criminal case I recommend to do it yourself! Good luck 🍀👍🏾 

[kris&me 572]

First of all their name is wrong as they can not speed up the process

all they do is collect the documents you have to prepare and make copies for their files and mail tham

nothing here you can not do yourself if your relationship and backgrounds are good

most of us say "save your money" as the process itself can be expensive with travel,  medical exans and all fees

make a timeline and post your country and watch the portal with embassy reviews and other posts (directly for that country)

remember to make copies of EVERYTHING you send to imigration 

do not staple or paper clip or put them in a binder

[John & Rose 7,237]

That is a really tough question.  I used RapidVisa and they did make sure my package was complete before it was sent.  It gave me some peace of mind.  I did get an RFE but it was for stuff that was already submitted... I do not think they are bad and can help the more nervous couples who don't do little details well.

 

THAT BEING SAID....I started with RapidVisa before I found this site.  If I found this first I probably would not have used RapidVisa.  This place is great and there are answers 24/7 here.  I personally don't think they are that bad but they are certainly not a requirement if you can handle small but important details.  

 

I am going to do AOS on my own with help from people here.  

Edited March 24, 2018 by John & Rose

[JandEB 3]

56 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

That is a really tough question.  I used RapidVisa and they did make sure my package was complete before it was sent.  It gave me some peace of mind.  I did get an RFE but it was for stuff that was already submitted... I do not think they are bad and can help the more nervous couples who don't do little details well.

 

THAT BEING SAID....I started with RapidVisa before I found this site.  If I found this first I probably would not have used RapidVisa.  This place is great and there are answers 24/7 here.  I personally don't think they are that bad but they are certainly not a requirement if you can handle small but important details.  

 

I am going to do AOS on my own with help from people here.  

 

My wife and I also used RapidVisa for our filing, and I'd say it was a mixed bag:

 

1) For the initial filling out of the petition form, RapidVisa's online forms were helpful, and most of the time they were decent at responding back to questions submitted via the internal messaging system. They weren't always responsive to the internal messaging system, however, and it seems like calling on the phone is better for responses from them at times. Having them review the forms (for the extra fee) was somewhat helpful for peace of mind for us. And no RFEs were generated. We actually got our initial approval really quickly, though that has as much to do with which office our petition was assigned as RapidVisa I think.

2) For the DS-160, their online forms were great and the worksheet they provided was very helpful; it also picks up a lot of information from the previous forms.

3) If you need police clearances for places the foreign spouse has worked, RapidVisa is completely useless to resolving that. They will simply tell you that there are too many countries for them to keep track of the rules (which I suppose is understandable). We had issues getting two of my wife's clearances, and had to resolve them ourselves. One required intervention from my congressman's office to resolve a dispute between two US agencies over who should issue a letter we needed in order to request a police clearance from Hong Kong. The congressman's office was very helpful on that but RV had nothing to offer.

4) If you have unusual circumstances in your petitions, RV may or may not be able to answer your questions. I think they struggle with anything that goes outside the standard process. They had a tendency to just send links to forms and such if the question was non-standard.

5) Once your spouse has her appointment at the embassy in Manila, visiting RapidVisa to have them review the documents and prepare you for the interview was somewhat helpful. They gave some useful advice on that. If you're going to take advantage of that, make sure you give yourself enough time to talk to them before the appointment so you can resolve any issues before going to your appointment.

 

Overall, if you are nervous and find the forms confusing, RapidVisa can be helpful for getting your forms filled out well. That was our situation. But they really are most useful at the start and end of the process and less useful in the middle part. I don't regret using them, though I also feel like their services are overpriced compared to how much usage we got out of them. That said, it's definitely cheaper than if you went with an immigration lawyer, and I don't think the lawyer would have been that much more useful.

 

For our AoS, we reviewed the forms and decided we could handle them ourselves rather than spend another ~$500 on RV for the AoS. Currently in pending status so we'll see how that comes out.

[Boiler 43,401]

I have lost count of the number is people who have had mega or even maga issues.

 

There was one who posted a few days ago, RapidVisa told him no need to file to adjust within 90 days, wife got a visit from ICE, fortunately not arrested.

Edited March 24, 2018 by Boiler

[praisejourney 25]

The thing I didn't like about RapidVisa is that is wasn't obvious that legal advice did not come as part of the package. I didn't find out until I started the service.  Why a big company like RapidVisa is unwilling to hire attorneys as part of their service surprises me.  I got to a point in filling out their form, where it simply stated, "We advise you to file a marriage visa instead of a K1."  At this point, you really are stuck in their process because legal advise is often needed. Luckily, I was on a payment plan and was able to back out of their service without having to pay $1200.  I think RapidVisa is probably a great service if your K1 is not complex and very straight forward. But without legal advice as part of their service, you may still end up paying for an attorney for their advice outside of their service.

 

If your K1 is going to be complex, I highly recommend going through an attorney.  Many immigration attorney's work on a flat fee of $2,000.   We decided to hire a good attorney who is in my financee's country.  This is nice because they can assist her in all stages of the visa.  Make sure your attorney has this service. 

 

Think of how much it will cost you if your K1 does not get approved.  The only alternative is to spend even more more and fly back and get married.  My advise, get an attorney.

 

Let me know what your thoughts are?

[Just Paul 4,591]

34 minutes ago, praisejourney said:

Why a big company like RapidVisa is unwilling to hire attorneys as part of their service surprises me.

They aren't selling legal  (representation) services.  They enter data on forms that anyone can do for free.

 

 

[praisejourney 25]

Correct and I feel like they should have attorney's on-standby in case you get stuck. Otherwise, yes they are just a document processing company.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,078]

14 hours ago, praisejourney said:

I think RapidVisa is probably a great service if your K1 is not complex and very straight forward. But without legal advice as part of their service, you may still end up paying for an attorney for their advice outside of their service.

The thing is if your K-1 is pretty straightforward, there's no reason you can't do it yourself. There's a lot of forms to fill out and documents to gather, but a prep service or attorney is going to have to ask you (or your fiance(e)) for all that information anyway; they can't (for the most part) get it for you. If you have any questions; post them here on VisaJourney, and you'll very likely get good answers.

[Sarge2155 4,565]

On 3/23/2018 at 6:38 PM, TakeTheSky said:

So is Rapid Visa really worth? I'm hearing very conflicting things. My fiancee and I are more than capable of filling out forms and putting together papers on our own. I hear tha RV pretty much back through your documents and send it to UCSIS for you. 

 

Would you guys recommend it Again, we very capable but we've waited far too long would it be wiser to just be safe rather than sorry?

Thanks.

Don't walk away from RV............RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Boiler 43,401]

1 minute ago, Sarge2155 said:

Don't walk away from RV............RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agree, why do it?

[SalishSea 16,748]

19 hours ago, praisejourney said:

Correct and I feel like they should have attorney's on-standby in case you get stuck. Otherwise, yes they are just a document processing company.

Seriously?  Do you know how expensive attorneys are?  RapidVisa fees wouldn't even begin to cover that.

[Ontarkie 13,904]

~~Zombie thread locked to further replies.~~