Is hiring an Immigration Attorney worth the money?

[Ben Murphy 11]

We are about to start this process, and I have been receiving mixed messages over whether or not I should be engaging the services of an Immigration Attorney to help with it. 

 

However, I know that this doesn't come cheap so I only want to do it if it is really going to benefit us to do so.

 

Could anyone offer any advice on this please? Is it straight forward enough to go through the process ourselves, or should I be looking at using a specialist?

 

Will having an Immigration Attorney speed up the process, reducing the time between filing the I-130 Petition to receiving my Interview invitation?

 

Thanks for your help, in advance.

 

Ben

[cbro 58]

16 minutes ago, Ben Murphy said:

Immigration Attorney speed up the process, reducing the time between filing the I-130 Petition to receiving my Interview invitation?

I would say it depends on your specific case, as to whether or not you would benefit from having an attorney.  They don't help speed any of the processing per se, unless they help up front to clear any issues that otherwise would delay you had you not had them spot them out!

[Miriamc 34]

We hired an attorney and I am glad that we did . We did our research and I found one that had a good reputation.  Assuming that the world of immigration is new to you( as it is to me) I wanted someone with experience and understanding of this world.

 

No- an attorney can’t make your papers move faster. But ours has been their to support us, answer our questions and give us guidance, has check in teleconferences with us and has left me at ease while we wait for this process to finish.  

 

i suggest if you choose an attorney to do your research first- not just hire the first ( or cheapest) attorney.

best of luck!

 

[Dashinka 23,418]

1 hour ago, Ben Murphy said:

We are about to start this process, and I have been receiving mixed messages over whether or not I should be engaging the services of an Immigration Attorney to help with it. 

 

However, I know that this doesn't come cheap so I only want to do it if it is really going to benefit us to do so.

 

Could anyone offer any advice on this please? Is it straight forward enough to go through the process ourselves, or should I be looking at using a specialist?

 

Will having an Immigration Attorney speed up the process, reducing the time between filing the I-130 Petition to receiving my Interview invitation?

 

Thanks for your help, in advance.

 

Ben

The only answer is that it depends on your case and what you want for apparent peace of mind.  Keep in mind hiring an attorney is really just a consultant to help educate your regarding immigration questions.  You will still need to do all the legwork, and you are a fool if you do not double check their work (many stories of attorneys screwing up cases which is why I said "apparent peace of mind").  Most folks here (VJ is a self-help immigration site) will say if your case is straightforward (no criminal issues, no overstay issues, etc.) and you are competent at reading instructions and filling out forms, there generally is no need for an attorney unless it is simply for that apparent peace of mind.  If you do have a complicated case, then a competent attorney is probably warranted.  In the end, the decision is yours.  If you do go the lawyer route and any lawyer advertises or tells you they can speed up the processing, run away and look for someone else.

 

On a personal note, we started this process back in 2013 with no experience, and my wife and I made it just fine all the way through naturalization with no issues.  Back when I started, I had a family friend immigration lawyer review my I129F application, he looked at me and said save my money, do it yourself.  Best lawyerly advice I ever received.

 

Good Luck!

[Unlockable 7,309]

This question gets asked all too often here. There was another thread just last week asking the same thing. A quick search will show people asking the same question and their responses.

 

 

[carmel34 3,538]

Don't hire an attorney or anyone else.  Save the money and use it to visit each other during this long process.  Good luck!

[Wuozopo 4,289]

If you are willing to read the actual form instructions, then it is straight forward. If you need somebody to spoon feed you and fill in the forms for you, then use a lawyer.

[wanderlust88 17]

myself and everyone i know have done it without a lawyer. straightforward cases. a relative consulted a lawyer before starting the process and was surprisingly straight up told that if your English is good and you can follow instructions on the form, you don't need a lawyer. they cannot speed up the case in any way.

Edited September 25, 2019 by wanderlust88

[Carpe Vinum 2,314]

It's not rocket science. Even I managed to do it.....twice!!! :-)))

[payxibka 10,044]

27 minutes ago, boris64 said:

It's not rocket science. Even I managed to do it.....twice!!! :-)))

Rookie 

[Bajinga 136]

I had used an attorney in a law firm provided for by my employer for AOS. It was more of a pain than being a help. the paperwork itself is filled by paralegals and not the attorneys themselves. I discovered a number of silly mistakes i probably would not had made myself and had to proof read every form they filled multiple times to make sure there were no issues. from my experience over the period of 10 years with immigration attorneys (for H1B and AOS ), most attorneys add at least a month to the process just for the filling time, as they would not send the paperwork and will sit on it for no reason.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

54 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Rookie 

No kidding.  We did it way more times.

[JeanneAdil 6,291]

you gather all the documents

provide the proofs needed

give it to the attorney 

and he copies it for his files and mails it in

so,  if you have to do the work,  why would you want to pay someone else to be your post office?

[Loren Y 2,747]

11 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

The only answer is that it depends on your case and what you want for apparent peace of mind.  Keep in mind hiring an attorney is really just a consultant to help educate your regarding immigration questions.  You will still need to do all the legwork, and you are a fool if you do not double check their work (many stories of attorneys screwing up cases which is why I said "apparent peace of mind").  Most folks here (VJ is a self-help immigration site) will say if your case is straightforward (no criminal issues, no overstay issues, etc.) and you are competent at reading instructions and filling out forms, there generally is no need for an attorney unless it is simply for that apparent peace of mind.  If you do have a complicated case, then a competent attorney is probably warranted.  In the end, the decision is yours.  If you do go the lawyer route and any lawyer advertises or tells you they can speed up the processing, run away and look for someone else.

 

On a personal note, we started this process back in 2013 with no experience, and my wife and I made it just fine all the way through naturalization with no issues.  Back when I started, I had a family friend immigration lawyer review my I129F application, he looked at me and said save my money, do it yourself.  Best lawyerly advice I ever received.

 

Good Luck!

Excellent advice here. I did just about the same thing. Went around to a few attorneys that specialized in immigration, and they were all wanting thousands. That's a chunk of change and I am better at spending my money frivolously than he is. But, I did find one of the paralegals that slipped me her card and she does work on the side. Most of the time the poor 15 dollar an hour paralegal does all the work so the lawyer can bill you at 100 an hour. She told me I had an easy case and to do it myself. I did the whole I129f by myself, met her at a Starbucks a week later and she looked it over, made some suggestions, told me what to fix, then the next week she checked my final draft and said good to go " I'd ship it", and ship it I did, no problems and no RFE's or anything and I was only out a few hundo for her time to review the packet. Once you get the hang of it you can work just about any of the forms. I did my whole AOS package myself and we have our interview next week. She said she has filed hundreds, if not thousands of I129's, and she seemed to know her stuff. So maybe look for a paralegal that does immigration to give your petition a once over to avoid any big errors, and I'm sure you will be fine.

[Highmystic 234]

14 hours ago, Ben Murphy said:

We are about to start this process, and I have been receiving mixed messages over whether or not I should be engaging the services of an Immigration Attorney to help with it. 

 

However, I know that this doesn't come cheap so I only want to do it if it is really going to benefit us to do so.

 

Could anyone offer any advice on this please? Is it straight forward enough to go through the process ourselves, or should I be looking at using a specialist?

 

Will having an Immigration Attorney speed up the process, reducing the time between filing the I-130 Petition to receiving my Interview invitation?

 

Thanks for your help, in advance.

 

Ben

We did it ourselves, by reading,  downloading blank forms to study, and of course, asking questions here.  You can do it too, unless you have a lot of complications of the couple where some legal expertise is needed.  They ask you questions, you answer, they check the box yes or now and charge you thousands to do that for you.  Yes, there are many who successfully  used legal help and those with horror stories of lost paperwork.  And when you have only one original, and it gets lost.  oh oh...   My advice,  spend a few days and look at the blank forms you would be required to file, then make up your mind.