lawyer or no lawyer

[allie1978sall 5]

Hi Everyone,

I am so confused. I am on the fence about whether or not to hire a lawyer to do all the paperwork for me, any advice would be wonderful!! What is my best bet in filing the I-130 visa.

 

[britishandusa 446]

Unless you/your spouse has ever been in trouble with the law, I'd go with no lawyer. All the answers you need is in this forum. Lawyers tend to make a lot of mistakes as well.

[allie1978sall 5]

Okay, thank you for responding.

[Laststop 5]

Hubby and I have used this site from the very beginning. Take your time and read the documents and ask experienced members for advice. Save the money for a much needed vacation when this process is over😉

[allie1978sall 5]

I have something on my record from many years ago, so I’m probably going to have to get a lawyer ,

[buenavides1 7]

It will be better if you will just do it by yourself, hiring a lawyer will only complicate things up. 

[Loren Y 2,731]

7 minutes ago, allie1978sall said:

I have something on my record from many years ago, so I’m probably going to have to get a lawyer ,

Unless it is a disqualification charge, or something serious all you have to do is declare it and send in the court records from the finial outcome. Should be easy enough to get records from the clerk or courts, and you can still file yourself without an attorney.

[allie1978sall 5]

When I spoke to a lawyer for a consultation she said it wasn’t a disqualification charge, and I shouldn’t worry about it at all. 

[C90 376]

9 minutes ago, allie1978sall said:

When I spoke to a lawyer for a consultation she said it wasn’t a disqualification charge, and I shouldn’t worry about it at all. 

Than you wouldn't need a lawyer, but in the end you've gotta do whatever makes you feel most comfortable. The last thing you want is adding more stress to this process.

 

My now husband and I (came here on K1) filed K1 and AOS ourselves (we had a pretty straight forward case), but I've seen tons of people on here that have some kind of record and they still DYI and get approved. So no, you don't NEED a lawyer. 

[allie1978sall 5]

I think I am going to sit down with my husband when I go back to Senegal in May and we can do it together. 

[carmel34 3,523]

If you do it yourself, spend lots of time here on VJ and review the CR-1 visa guide, the many experiences of others, especially regarding what to send as bona fide marriage relationship evidence with the I-130 petition, and research the Senegal embassy/consulate reviews, and experiences of others coming from Senegal.  If there are any potential red flags like age difference, previous issues with US immigration, language, culture, religion differences, or a high-fraud country, you need lots of in-person time, multiple visits, evidence of all that, plus co-mingling of finances evidence.  Good luck!

[Bethany123 56]

Even lawyers can make mistakes. A friend of mine went through this process and their lawyer failed to tell them to submit a document and it delayed their process significantly.  I did it on my own and I didn't have any delays or issues. 

[allie1978sall 5]

I do have a question for you all, if I need help from any of you, will any of you assist me? Like I don’t understand the whole lock box that they are talking about on the immigration site. So, do I mail the petition to this lockbox?

[accumbyte 148]

58 minutes ago, allie1978sall said:

So, do I mail the petition to this lockbox?

Yes. They do the intake process: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/directorates-and-program-offices/lockbox-intake/lockbox-intake-processing-tip-sheet

[allie1978sall 5]

Thank you so much!! It is just all so confusing to me, (not to seem dumb)