Always Hire a Lawyer ?

[MikeMinusWife 42]

So I'm just about at the due date for receiving my NOA2, and obviously like many others I still have a long and painful wait before I can bring my family to the US to live with me.  I work with a very diverse group of people many of whom have themselves been through one or other of the variations of this process and almost without exception every single one of them asks me the same question - "do you have an immigration attorney, it really helps speed things up".

 

So am I missing something here ?  Is it wise to bring an attorney on board even if there are no immediate issues with your application ?

 

Any advice appreciated.

[Boiler 47,536]

What did they say when you asked them how a Lawyer speeds things up?

[MikeMinusWife 42]

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

What did they say when you asked them how a Lawyer speeds things up?

They just repeated the mantra of "everyone I know got a lawyer and they just said it helped".  To me you only get a lawyer involved if and when you hit a snag with the application, but maybe I'm missing something ??

[Boiler 47,536]

If they know it helped follows they must know how it helped? Ask for examples.

[MikeMinusWife 42]

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

If they know it helped follows they must know how it helped? Ask for examples.

Once again - I did, and that is what they said.  Now I'm asking everyone else.

[Boiler 47,536]

Nobody I know used a Lawyer.

[Unlockable 7,322]

27 minutes ago, MikeMinusWife said:

So I'm just about at the due date for receiving my NOA2, and obviously like many others I still have a long and painful wait before I can bring my family to the US to live with me.  I work with a very diverse group of people many of whom have themselves been through one or other of the variations of this process and almost without exception every single one of them asks me the same question - "do you have an immigration attorney, it really helps speed things up".

 

So am I missing something here ?  Is it wise to bring an attorney on board even if there are no immediate issues with your application ?

 

Any advice appreciated.

They have no idea what they are talking about. And quite frankly, it sounds like they are living in their own bubble of beliefs. I went through the process of my now wife's immigration AND have helped a few of her family members with theirs. All without the help of a lawyer. And I have not seen any lawyer speed anything up.

 

If I knew any of your coworkers I would challenge them a years pay to prove a lawyer speed things up.

 

P.S. Visajourney is a DIY site. If everyone went through a lawyer VJ would not be as popular or good as it is now. The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of users who have visited this site did it without a lawyer.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Unlockable

[Crazy Cat 44,620]

1 hour ago, MikeMinusWife said:

So I'm just about at the due date for receiving my NOA2, and obviously like many others I still have a long and painful wait before I can bring my family to the US to live with me.  I work with a very diverse group of people many of whom have themselves been through one or other of the variations of this process and almost without exception every single one of them asks me the same question - "do you have an immigration attorney, it really helps speed things up".

 

So am I missing something here ?  Is it wise to bring an attorney on board even if there are no immediate issues with your application ?

 

Any advice appreciated.

We used an attorney and it caused a 3 month delay due to mistakes by his office......there is no speeding up the process........

[Nat&Amy 623]

1 hour ago, MikeMinusWife said:

So am I missing something here ?  Is it wise to bring an attorney on board even if there are no immediate issues with your application ?

It's a myth. Reason why so many people believe a lawyer is needed in immigration is because they subscribe to the theory that everything related to it takes forever, is tricky and difficult to understand, which might be true when you first read the forms and the USCIS website, for example.

 

There are, however, multiple tools that one can use to educate themselves and Visajourney is by far the most useful I have seen. The forums and guides will literally give you everything you need, and more, to go over every single step of the process without using an attorney.

 

What your co-workers don't know (or conveniently forgot to mention), is that hiring a lawyer comes with multiple risks, such as: the attorney you hire might be "living in the past" when it comes to deadlines and procedures, for example, and misinform you in a variety of ways (and you will only notice when it is way too late). Then there is always the chance that the attorney doesn't actually know as much about immigration as they say they do, and their team will commit all kinds of mistakes (be it with advise on what documents to provide, or just gross errors such as filling out forms incorrectly). Finally, they might be late sending your documents or responding to queries. You will find really horrifying stories of people here on VJ who will tell you they regret hiring attorneys for those reasons and more.

 

So, obviously, everyone is free to hire an attorney if they want to. But to say they speed things up? Nah.

 

It's an urban legend at best.

[JMPM 507]

I didn't use a lawyer. 
My coworker whom filed shortly after me (I had just transfered this property found out he was in the same boat) got a lawyer.

I tried to get him to do it himself. I told him it was easy. He got to the NVC stage 2 months ago. They have yet to finish uploading his wife's documents and fill out the DS-260. I repeated it to him, to fire them, but he already paid up front and feels that they should do the work. He's been a bit more aggressive on nagging them and I have been assisting him in double checking what they upload so far. They messed up on his wife's passport scan and did it sideways. They fixed it, but they have yet to submit since they haven't gotten all the required stuff. She's missing a NZ police clearence. You would think the lawyer would have advised him and her to get all this stuff before the stage..He instructed them not to submit anything until he reviews them because of that scan error. 

So if you can read, write and understand english you can surely do it yourself. Remember you're vested in this, the lawyers are just processing paperwork to make money. Not all laywers are bad, but if you do want a lawyer find one that has court experience those are the ones that got their stuff together instead of the form fillers that never go to court. 

[igoyougoduke 1,680]

8 hours ago, MikeMinusWife said:

So I'm just about at the due date for receiving my NOA2, and obviously like many others I still have a long and painful wait before I can bring my family to the US to live with me.  I work with a very diverse group of people many of whom have themselves been through one or other of the variations of this process and almost without exception every single one of them asks me the same question - "do you have an immigration attorney, it really helps speed things up".

 

So am I missing something here ?  Is it wise to bring an attorney on board even if there are no immediate issues with your application ?

 

Any advice appreciated.

Attorney helps but is not required in most cases unless you have too much money to throw away.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

unless you have a difficult case - as in previous legal issues or previous immigration issues, an attorney is MORE likely to CAUSE problems.

 

Most of us on here did not use an attorney, and none was needed. having an attorney does NOT speed anything up.

 

My husband and I filed several different petitions (Started as a k1 then changed course and adjusted directly) and had no issues, with anything at all. If you are organized and can read and follow instructions, it is not difficult. You would have to provide all the info to the attorney ANYWAYS so its not as though you get out of doing anything by hiring one.

 

No one will care more about your case than YOU.

[FeelingYoung66 16]

In my own case (K-1 fiancee), having an experienced immigration attorney has helped me. Gave me some piece of mind that things were submitted correctly and has also freed-up my time to do other things. Not cheap.. but would do it again. My 2 cents..

[Georgia16 2,858]

Done K-1, AOS, ROC and now N-400 without an attorney and my process is the same as everyone else not faster or slower. 
 

it’s a myth that it will go faster with an attorney. I mean what should they do knock on USCIS door? Get put in a special pile for those that file with an attorney? No specific treatment for them it’s the same. 
 

in fact when you do use an attorney you still have to provide them with all the info and papers and we have seen many times on here how they have screwed up so cases took longer and cost a ton. 
 

will not recommend anyone that can follow a guideline to use one unless it is for a complicated case. 

[SalishSea 18,469]

10 hours ago, MikeMinusWife said:

"do you have an immigration attorney, it really helps speed things up".

 

This is incorrect.  Having a lawyer involved in your case does not result in the petition being put at the top of the pile.  Lawyers cannot impact the speed of the process or the outcome of the decision.