AOS. Debate on hiring a Lawyer

[Redford 0]

I have readed all the instruction, answered all the form needed, followed the VisaJourney Immigratiom Guideline and collected all the documents and evidence (even the optional). Base on your experience did you hire a lawyer or did it your self. Would hiring a lawyer help in increasing the odds of getting approve. Share your experience and thoughts. 

 

Im kinda hesitant to spend $1,500 hiring a lawyer but still if they providw a big help why not spend

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

Just now, Redford said:

I have readed all the instruction, answered all the form needed, followed the VisaJourney Immigratiom Guideline and collected all the documents and evidence (even the optional). Base on your experience did you hire a lawyer or did it your self. Would hiring a lawyer help in increasing the odds of getting approve. Share your experience and thoughts. 

 

Im kinda hesitant to spend $1,500 hiring a lawyer but still if they providw a big help why not spend

If you have a fairly simple case then a lawyer will not help at all. I only did a lawyer for my wife's K1 was because I was in Afghanistan working at the time. But I did AOS and ROC all.by myself and VJ. 

[geowrian 22,335]

Unless you have a complicated case, hiring a lawyer won't speed up or increase the chance for approval. The facts are the facts, and the long processing times are long processing times.

 

Whether or not you should get a lawyer, I'd highly suggest looking at the guides here, reading the instructions, then asking questions. If you still aren't getting it, then consider professional help. Even if you do get professional help, you still need to be on top of everything in the process...there is no set it and forget it.

[pushbrk 12,114]

How does this person determine whether they have a complicated case?  Please answer carefully.

[Roel 7,191]

Hiring a lawyer will not increase your chances. 

 

I'd say 90% of forum users here did AOS on their own. 

 

Unless you have: a lot of red flags, criminal history (petitioner of beneficiary), little to no evidences of bona fide marriage - I wouldn't waste money on lawyers. 

[pushbrk 12,114]

18 minutes ago, Roel said:

Hiring a lawyer will not increase your chances. 

 

I'd say 90% of forum users here did AOS on their own. 

 

Unless you have: a lot of red flags, criminal history (petitioner of beneficiary), little to no evidences of bona fide marriage - I wouldn't waste money on lawyers. 

And some of those who did it on their own had big problems.  Are you recommending somebody you don't know, BET on the "odds"?  Really?

 

The problem with "not knowing" is that a person never knows WHAT it is they don't know.  Do YOU even know how this person is USING the abbreviation AOS for sure?  I don't.

Edited June 10, 2018 by pushbrk

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

Just now, pushbrk said:

And some of those who did it on their own had big problems.  Are you recommending somebody you don't know, BET on the "odds"?  Really?

 

The problem with "not knowing" is that a person never knows WHAT it is they don't know.

And some using lawyers had big problems cause their lawyers screwed up something very simple that's been outlined in our guides and forums a hundred times.

Not all lawyers are as good or as well versed in immigration as you pushbrk. I'd hire you in a second if I thought I needed help, but the amount of nitwits calling themselves lawyers who are screwing up simple applications, is astronomical. Just look around on this forum. 

 

To TS, I agree with above posters. If you have a straightforward case, are a meticulous person and got all the evidence lined up, I would do the application myself. If you have any doubts please do contact a lawyer, but make sure it's one that's familiar with immigration laws. 

[Roel 7,191]

39 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

And some of those who did it on their own had big problems.  Are you recommending somebody you don't know, BET on the "odds"?  Really?

 

The problem with "not knowing" is that a person never knows WHAT it is they don't know.  Do YOU even know how this person is USING the abbreviation AOS for sure?  I don't.

Damn, who stepped on your toes today? 

 

I'm just assuming OPs not an idiot  and he knows what he's filling. 

 

But sure. From now on we can all just tell people to use lawyers for everything. Just in case .;) 

[debbiedoo 2,339]

Did you use an attorney for the K1? Were there any issues or problems (beyond a simple RFE?) in getting that approved? For most people, an attorney is not necessary, and hiring one will not increase your odds of approval. Only you know the specifics of your case, but in general, unless there are previous criminal issues or chances of it not looking like a bona fide marriage (little to no time spent together, no financial or other ties that are common in marriage, etc), it really is not necessary. If you can read and follow instructions and are detail oriented, filling out and organizing paperwork and documents just isn't that difficult.

[pushbrk 12,114]

38 minutes ago, Roel said:

Damn, who stepped on your toes today? 

 

I'm just assuming OPs not an idiot  and he knows what he's filling. 

 

But sure. From now on we can all just tell people to use lawyers for everything. Just in case .;) 

The place in between is to be prudent in your advice.  It's often the most intelligent people who rely on their common sense and logic instead of carefully studying and following instructions.  Dedication and study BEFORE action is the key here.  Why not advise careful and thorough study as part of making the decision to hire professional help?  That study would include how to effectively select a professional, if that's the way they go.  Easy platitudes often have terrible results.

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*moved to “general discussion” as question is not visa-specific and more a general question as to the pros and cons of hiring an immigration lawyer*~*~*

[Andsco 89]

14 hours ago, Redford said:

I have readed all the instruction, answered all the form needed, followed the VisaJourney Immigratiom Guideline and collected all the documents and evidence (even the optional). Base on your experience did you hire a lawyer or did it your self. Would hiring a lawyer help in increasing the odds of getting approve. Share your experience and thoughts. 

 

Im kinda hesitant to spend $1,500 hiring a lawyer but still if they providw a big help why not spend

Honestly..I feel like the lawyer will only help you to do what you can do yourself by following point by point the USCIS instructions. I applied for AOS on August 2017 and they accepted, I did my biometrics on September 2017 and I am waiting now for my interview date to be set up. 
Like I said, it is not that hard if you follow every step of the instructions they provide in the website. 

[NateAndJessica 200]

16 hours ago, Redford said:

I have readed all the instruction, answered all the form needed, followed the VisaJourney Immigratiom Guideline and collected all the documents and evidence (even the optional). Base on your experience did you hire a lawyer or did it your self. Would hiring a lawyer help in increasing the odds of getting approve. Share your experience and thoughts. 

 

Im kinda hesitant to spend $1,500 hiring a lawyer but still if they providw a big help why not spend

Avoid lawyers at all costs unless your forced to hire one. The only thing they add is cooks to the kitchen to do things like inverse your street address numbers you took the time to fill correctly first. you have 1 case they have 80 and minimum wage paralegals in employ who actually do the work. Lawyers have absolutely no special channel into the immigration system. They can only do what you can do yourself, but with less self interest involved. I paid 3k and the only 1 good thing they did(as well as many many bad) was to create a cover exhibits page and then list each item by the exhibit letters, my 129-f had an exhibit A separator page for example. Add an introductory exhibits page yourself save the cash, also save the frustration ironically.

Edited June 10, 2018 by NateAndJessica

[Loren Y 2,732]

2 hours ago, NateAndJessica said:

minimum wage paralegals in employ who actually do the work.

This is the key to everything. I am sure you can do what I did is find a paralegal ( Who make more than Minimum wage usually, mine did, but way less than the attorney) who works in a immigration attorneys office who has filled out hundreds, if not thousands of I129's and done hundreds and thousands of AOS applications, and kick them down some good old fashioned American dollars on the side to review your work. You have to round up most if not all the information yourself anyways, and they put it together nice and neat. Instead of making the payment on the attorneys Mercedes for the next few months, help out the struggling paralegal who is more than happy to help out on the side. I had everything pretty much put together, and a few Benjamins in the right hands and a few hours at a local Starbucks reviewing all your paperwork  was worth it's weight in gold. I had my package ready to go as I would send it, met with her for an hour to get some input, she made a few corrections, gave me some advice, I went back to the drawing board and revamped the I129 ( I probably scrapped 3-4 copies before I had a good usable one) met up again one last time for the final review and everything looked good. Literally sealed the whole package up at the table, and stopped at the local post office to mail it out. Now, while everything looked good to her and me, I am still waiting on my NOA2, and if everything goes well with this, she said she would be more than happy to help me with AOS, ROC, N400, anything I needed down the line. Saved myself a huge stack of cash so far, and if it was worth it is yet to be seen, but I have confidence that things will go good. Plus I get the satisfaction of mostly doing it myself, but I had someone that does it for a living at least review and point out a few good things. But I agree with the other posters that an attorney is not going to increase your chances, but it is also your call, and like they suggested find one that knows immigration.

[PollyC 119]

We did it by our own, we file our application on May 16 and received SMS / Email notification on Jun 4, and Jun 9 got the actual receipt & Biometric appointment letter by mail. (Biometric appointment will be on Jun 18)