Lawyer vs. Boundless/SimpleCitizen/etc. vs. DIY

[ultrasoul 51]

@smpcole my answer is DIY all the way- filling immigration forms and preparing the necessary package for filling isn’t harder than being a  home maintenance DIYer- especially with all the great guides, support and help from this forum

 

 Because of the robust info on the forum, I’ve filed EIGHT I-130 packages (4 online, 4 via lockbox mail), THREE I-485 AOS packages (including the I-864, I-131, I-765 supplemental), TWO N-400’s, ONE I-90, TWO NVC cases (AOS and IV packages) to correct an incorrectly printed green card in total for me and my wife’s families.
 

All thankfully have never gotten any RFE’s and have been approved.

 

 Bottomland- SAVE your money. Legal fees ain’t worth it unless you have a complicated situation (criminal record or illegal presence)

Edited July 28, 2020 by ultrasoul

[retheem 554]

2 minutes ago, ultrasoul said:

@smpcole my answer is DIY all the way- filling immigration forms and preparing the necessary package for filling isn’t harder than being a  home maintenance DIYer- especially with all the great guides, support and help from this forum

 

 Because of the robust info on the forum, I’ve filed EIGHT I-130 packages (4 online, 4 via lockbox mail), THREE I-485 AOS packages (including the I-131, I-765 supplemental), TWO N-400’s, ONE I-90 to correct an incorrectly printed green card in total for me and my wife’s families.
 

All thankfully have never gotten any RFE’s and have been approved.

 

 Bottomland- SAVE your money. Legal fees ain’t worth it unless you have a complicated situation (criminal record or illegal presence)

Increase the volume for us at the back to hear!

[Loren Y 2,748]

My friend is using a lawyer to prepare his forms for him. I told him when he got it to video call me and we will go thru it. The 129f is 13 pages. We went thru it and found 3 errors. Wrong birthday, they had his employer name wrong as well as the zip code for his employer. Then we found a whole section left blank the questions 49a thru 50a where you have to put your fiance's address in their native alphabet, was just blank. The rest of the package looked good, I'll give the lawyer credit, but looks are not going to get you thru the process. He is waiting for the lawyer to send him a new page 7 to print out and replace the one he has, we were able to redo the other 2 pages with errors on them and replace them. I did my K1 myself, and you are right about the hundreds of hours you will be researching and learning how and when to do everything. But you will feel really good at every step of the process knowing you did it. Like many have said, no one is going to be as careful as you will be knowing how important this is for your future. Honestly you're just another paycheck to any attorney or service in my experience.

[Hilde 381]

15 hours ago, smpcole said:

Hi all! New here.  I'm a US citizen and my fiancé lives in Latin America.  We are going to get married as soon as COVID allows, then start the spousal visa application process.  We're trying to decide whether to lawyer up or use a service like Boundless, SimpleCitizen, etc. Based on what I've read, it seems like the general consensus is that it's better to lawyer up if you can afford it, but I am wondering what the SPECIFIC advantages of an attorney over these services are, especially since Boundless and SimpleCitizen provide you with an immigration attorney as part of their services. I would certainly feel more comfortable with a lawyer (and we consulted with one who seems really good), but our case is pretty straightforward (no previous marriages, kids, crimes, etc.), so maybe it's completely unnecessary?

Anyone out there have experience with Boundless, SimpleCitizen, etc.?  If so, how was your experience? Did they actually connect you with an immigration attorney? If so, how available were they? Were you able to consult with them as much as needed?  Did they seem competent and trustworthy?

Thanks for all your input!

I can tell you from experience of having hired a lawyer that it was a very frustrating route. I often would get more accurate information in the VJ forums and it made me crazy to constantly correct their work and still have to pay them.

I am not sure what the outcome would be if I didn´t have a lawyer - I will never know.

But if you choose to follow these forums closely, you are defintiely on the right path.

[JeanneAdil 6,303]

2 stages??

what are they USCIS and then NVC?

sounds like he /she intends to just do the application and then try to charge you for the next step

both are straight forward if there are no issues 

the agencies or lawyers do mess up paperwork often and a person receives RFE for a missed checked box or information

Do it yourself as you will be doing all the work and an agency or lawyer just copies your documents and mails them

this is an expensive mailing cost

BTW keep copies of everything you send / keep it all till the person is a citizen

[smpcole 3]

All, thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful comments!

 

We are still leaning towards hiring a lawyer.  The bottom line is that we are simply not comfortable doing it ourselves and would feel better if we had a single person we could go to with all of our questions, who would be with us from start to finish.

 

One thing that I've seen some people mention are "red flags."  What are some examples?  Neither of us has ever been convicted of a crime or anything like that, but we met under somewhat unusual circumstances, and I send my fiance money periodically to help her make ends meet (she's putting herself through university and supporting her unemployed mom).  Do you think either of those things would raise eyebrows at immigration?

[smpcole 3]

41 minutes ago, smpcole said:

One thing that I've seen some people mention are "red flags."  What are some examples?  Neither of us has ever been convicted of a crime or anything like that, but we met under somewhat unusual circumstances, and I send my fiance money periodically to help her make ends meet (she's putting herself through university and supporting her unemployed mom).  Do you think either of those things would raise eyebrows at immigration?

Other possible "red flags":

- We are planning to apply immediately after getting married.

- We are going to sign a prenup before getting married.

- We have never lived together before.

[TampaRishon 38]

I used Boundless to begin with. They were SUPER Slow. They kept blaming it on Coronavirus. They told us something would take 3-4 days to review, then they said 8-10 days, then 3 weeks later I stilll hadn't heard anything and so I canceled their help and did it myself. Not sure if I did anything wrong just yet (USCIS has had my stuff since the first week of July so they still have time to send me an RFE), but I have been studying the topic for months, I've read other people's situations, and so I decided to file myself. We had lawyers here in Israel helping me with immigration on this end (just to let my husband and I be together here in Israel) They were pretty much not helpful, told us to commit fraud here in Israel (we didn't and were appalled), and they did absolutely nothing to help us. When they did do something useful, they charged an extra $500 after we paid them $5000 to help us. I was over the top with it all and decided to handle our American situation myself. I will do the best job out there because I actually care about our situation. 

With our lawyers here, I am still waiting on information we asked them about 2 months ago and they've yet to help me figure it out. 

I am very knowledgeable on politics, immigration issues, government rules. I've been involved with governmental stuff since 2012 and its a passion learning all about how stuff works. SO I am just trusting myself on this issues. I may have mess-ups, but I'm pretty convinced I will do a much better job than someone who's life isn't affected by if I get it or not. I will give my all and my best. I will say I was not so confident till I found Visa Journey. They helped give me the confidence I needed to file it myself.

Edited July 28, 2020 by TampaRishon

[TampaRishon 38]

2 hours ago, smpcole said:

Other possible "red flags":

- We are planning to apply immediately after getting married.

- We are going to sign a prenup before getting married.

- We have never lived together before.

My husband and I did all that too. I wouldn’t think there would be a red flag. In our case we applied 6 months after marriage (Pretty soon), we didn’t sign a prenup, and we never lived together because of religious reasons. So I don’t think those would be red flags.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

2 hours ago, smpcole said:

Other possible "red flags":

- We are planning to apply immediately after getting married.

- We are going to sign a prenup before getting married.

- We have never lived together before.

None of these are red flags. Red flags could be things like big age gap, different religion, etc. If neither of you has a criminal record, record of lying to immigration, messy divorces, etc you're fine. 

 

My spouse and I did everything on our own - K1, AOS and now ROC. At no point did we ever think we'd need a lawyer. The process is very straightforward. 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Orangesapples

[Orangesapples 1,954]

Also, there are a lot of threads here on VJ where you can ask others to see the list of documents you have prepared and to tell you if they're enough. You can also ask if you have questions about checkmarks, etc. You don't need to spend money on a lawyer but it's your call. 

[KelleFat2020 2]

21 hours ago, smpcole said:

Hi all! New here.  I'm a US citizen and my fiancé lives in Latin America.  We are going to get married as soon as COVID allows, then start the spousal visa application process.  We're trying to decide whether to lawyer up or use a service like Boundless, SimpleCitizen, etc. Based on what I've read, it seems like the general consensus is that it's better to lawyer up if you can afford it, but I am wondering what the SPECIFIC advantages of an attorney over these services are, especially since Boundless and SimpleCitizen provide you with an immigration attorney as part of their services. I would certainly feel more comfortable with a lawyer (and we consulted with one who seems really good), but our case is pretty straightforward (no previous marriages, kids, crimes, etc.), so maybe it's completely unnecessary?

Anyone out there have experience with Boundless, SimpleCitizen, etc.?  If so, how was your experience? Did they actually connect you with an immigration attorney? If so, how available were they? Were you able to consult with them as much as needed?  Did they seem competent and trustworthy?

Thanks for all your input!

My spouse and I used Rapid Visa because we didn’t want to go DIY and we couldn’t afford a lawyer. When he goes for citizenship, we will use a lawyer, but Rapid Visa did a good job for us. We’re stuck at NVC waiting for an interview to be scheduled but we did not have a single RFE or other delay. They helped us through the process and I’m sure we could not have done it ourselves without delays. Rapid Visa was affordable and very helpful throughout the process. I admire people who DIY. 

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

We were K1 and used Rapid Visa for the initial visa, they were minimAlly helpful and gave us incorrect information on 2 accounts. We did however have no issues with the process, I discovered this site and used ONLY this site and went DIY for AOS, ead, and AP, ROC and our naturalization. We have had no hiccups, no RFE or any derogatory events. If you have a straight forward case there is no need for lawyers or paid help sites IMO

[Ontarkie 13,980]

~~Hijack post removed. Please start your own thread if you have questions about your own case.~~

[davemcphe 22]

On 7/27/2020 at 8:08 PM, smpcole said:

Thanks for the help, all!

 

I guess the biggest concern I have is proving our relationship is genuine and knowing exactly what evidence to include in our application.  We love each other very much and have every intention of building a life together in the US, but we have only been together for a little over a year, most of which has been long distance.  We video chat every single day (I think we literally have not gone a day without talking since we met), have met each other's family and friends, etc., but we have only spent about a month total together physically.  So I am kind of worried that immigration will think we are trying to pull a fast one on them if we don't provide the right sort of evidence.

What application do you use to video chat.  In SE Asia LINE is very popular, I was able to export the chat log which shows every video call, the date and duration.  It obviously doesn't show the content of the video chat but does show you are spending time talking.  My chat log started in Dec 2018 so I think it should be good evidence of an ongoing relationship.  I filed the I-130 myself and it was very straight forward.  I would say do it yourself.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

Dave