Approved without lawyer

[HalAndOlive 5]

Hello all.

 

I just wanted to come here to tell of my experience.  I am doing so because I have used this site in the past while gathering information, producing the I-129F application and while waiting.  This is not to say what I think is good or bad, but just how my I-129F was and is being handled.

 

First:   

Second:Olive and I knew from the beginning that our end goal for our relationship was to be married and live together in the US.  So, with that in mind we started reading "how" and a lot of the information we collected came from this website.  We know we would have to meet in person within the two years of application and we also knew we would need to document our relationship.  We 

 

[Joe Kano 327]

4 minutes ago, HalAndOlive said:

Hello all.

 

I just wanted to come here to tell of my experience.  I am doing so because I have used this site in the past while gathering information, producing the I-129F application and while waiting.  This is not to say what I think is good or bad, but just how my I-129F was and is being handled.

 

First:   

Second:Olive and I knew from the beginning that our end goal for our relationship was to be married and live together in the US.  So, with that in mind we started reading "how" and a lot of the information we collected came from this website.  We know we would have to meet in person within the two years of application and we also knew we would need to document our relationship.  We 

 

Great Post

[HalAndOlive 5]

Interesting.  White typing, I pressed tab and the post was submitted with only a few sentences. And for the life of me, I see no way to edit it.  Anyway... This is what I planned to say.

 

Hello all.

 

I just wanted to come here to tell of my experience.  I am doing so because I have used this site in the past while gathering information, producing the I-129F application and while waiting.  This is not to say what I think is good or bad, but just how my I-129F was and is being handled.

 

My name is "Hal" and I am a retired American living in South Carolina.  "Olive" is my fiancé and she is from Singapore and soon to be retired.

 

Olive and I knew from the beginning that our end goal for our relationship was to be married and live together in the US.  So, with that in mind we started reading "how" and when and a lot of other information we collected this website (and other places on the web).  We knew we would have to meet in person within the two years of application and we also knew we would need to document our relationship.

 

Our 10,000 mile long distance relationship began and was sustained for all the time we have been together with an average of 5 or 6 emails exchanged a day for 8 months, followed by 2-3 hour conversations over the phone (whatsapp) every day since moving on from the emails.

 

In spring of 2019 we initially planned for our first meeting to be in Singapore where I would go meet her in January of 2020.  But as our conversations got more intense we decided we did not want to wait that long, so we planned a more immediate trip for her to meet me in Las Vegas in November of 2019.  For each of these trips we took a LOT of pictures to capture the moments for ourselves, but also for "proof of relationship" (POR) purposes.

 

All along this process we kept debating between ourselves when we should send in the I-129F.  At first it was to be right after our November get together.  But I wanted to wait because there was a personal matter that I thought had to be settled that would not be resolved until May-June of 2020. So, I thought it would be best to wait.  Then after the January get together in Singapore, I hesitated because the personal issue looked like it would not be resolved until later.  After the January trip, we decided that our two previous trips were good, but also that they should be backed by a longer time living together.  So we decided Olive should come to live with me for the month of March and part of April.  So, we put off the application again.

 

This time we put off the application because we did not want to be in a situation where we had already applied for a K-1 visa, and yet Olive was traveling to America to visit shortly after the application was submitted.  We were afraid that having sent the application in, the Agent might reject Olive entering the US thinking we  were trying to sneak something by them.  Knowing the process now - how long it takes and that the USCIS wouldn't even have looked at the application at the point Olive would be trying to enter the country, I now know we should have submitted the application immediately AND had Olive visit.  Anyway, that didn't happen and so we waited. 

 

BTW, we made this decision that we should not apply and then travel under advice from an immigration lawyer I had god to see to get a consultation about the immigration procedure and to inquire of his rates and process.  I won't say that his advice not to take a chance on traveling was bad - but I don't think it was good.  Another thing about the lawyer was that he wanted $4000.00 to do the application for us.  I thought about that, I thought about all the information I needed to gather and I thought also that every scrap of information the lawyer needed, I would have to get for him.  And so for $4000, he would essentially be typing up the application and putting the POR document into the right format.  Is that worth $4K?  

 

Also (unfortunately for US) as March approached, Covid was starting to getting more press and American started dying.  At the same time, Airlines and countries started to lock down.  So again we made a decision to delay the March 2020 trip a few months until Covid was better under control.  (I would be shocked if anyone called me stupid at this point.)

 

Then, after waiting far too long, we decided to forget the planned month or so living together and just to submit the application.

 

So, In September of 2020 I decided to eschew using a lawyer and completed the application using all the information I had such as sampling of emails, home/family photo exchanges, whatsapp phone logs, and pictures of us together traveling to create the "proof of relationship" document.  I submitted the application on 22 September 2020.

 

Yesterday, May 20th 2021.  I received the approval letter.  Now it is onto the next steps.

Edited May 21, 2021 by HalAndOlive

[Keithn85 400]

5 minutes ago, HalAndOlive said:

 

 

So, In September of 2020 I decided to eschew using a lawyer and completed the application using all the information I had such as sampling of emails, home/family photo exchanges, whatsapp phone logs, and pictures of us together traveling to create the "proof of relationship" document.  I submitted the application on 22 September 2020.

 

Yesterday, May 20th 2021.  I received the approval letter.  Now it is onto the next steps.

The entire post was inspiring, but for quoting sake I grabbed the last 4 lines.  Thank you for this!

[JustineC85 119]

Thats awesome! We used a lawyer for the filing and we still got RFEd and after we got the approval a few weeks ago I reached out to see if they have any suggestions for the next step. Nothing at all. 

 

I think we are going to do AOS ourselves. 

[rndz 12]

3 hours ago, HalAndOlive said:

And so for $4000, he would essentially be typing up the application and putting the POR document into the right format.

Yes, for straightforward cases.  I'd recommend that anyone with a straightforward case do the I129F submission themselves.

 

We used a lawyer (but for much less than $4K) and lost time going through two rounds of correcting transcription errors before the application was in a form that could be submitted.  When the DS160 preparation exercise started along the same path after NOA1 approval I criticized the work product and process, resulting in a heated conversation that ended up with us agreeing to part ways and a refund of the fee.

 

Good luck!

Edited May 21, 2021 by rndz

[Nitas_man 3,100]

Most folks here never used a lawyer

[Cathi 5,771]

50 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

Most folks here never used a lawyer

This. An attorney is not needed or recommended if you have a straightforward case.

[Vivibabylol 1]

Congratulations on the approval! I just received my passport with the visa today and we did it without a lawyer as well. Wish all the best for you.

[AishaniA93 108]

12 hours ago, JustineC85 said:

Thats awesome! We used a lawyer for the filing and we still got RFEd and after we got the approval a few weeks ago I reached out to see if they have any suggestions for the next step. Nothing at all. 

 

I think we are going to do AOS ourselves. 

I think we will do the same. Our application is still in the NOA2 process and we are hoping for something by July but I have spotted 2 mistakes already on the petition that I kNOW would not have happened if I had been doing it. I am an extreme perfectionist so the only good thing about using the lawyer was that we submitted everything and it was sent, if it had been me I would have been going over and over the paperwork and probably delayed our submission. The mistakes have now probably earned us an RFE which would not have happened. 

 

I plan to do AoS ourselves too. We only paid for the petition part of the fee so might just part ways once I land in the US. Frustrating! 

[martinzl 91]

Congratulations.  You reached the same conclusion I reached.  The lawyer wanted $4000 and I would have to do all the heavy lifting anyway.  So, I figured better to just do it myself. Unless you have unusual circumstances, especially legal ones, I see no real need for a lawyer.

[HalAndOlive 5]

15 hours ago, martinzl said:

Congratulations.  You reached the same conclusion I reached.  The lawyer wanted $4000 and I would have to do all the heavy lifting anyway.  So, I figured better to just do it myself. Unless you have unusual circumstances, especially legal ones, I see no real need for a lawyer.

 

A note here for those who felt they lost time with or without lawyers.  I lost a lot of time to trying to figure out what format the Proof Of Relationship should take.  I kept looking and hoping there would be a sample document somewhere on the USCIS site... But I never found one so I hemmedand hawed until I figured out a format I thought would work.

Edited May 23, 2021 by HalAndOlive

[HalAndOlive 5]

Thanks to all.  And good luck to all.

[Chancy 6,241]

20 hours ago, HalAndOlive said:

I lost a lot of time to trying to figure out what format the Proof Of Relationship should take.  I kept looking and hoping there would be a sample document somewhere on the USCIS site... But I never found one

 

If you mean format for "proof of bona fide relationship", you really would not find one from USCIS because there is no such requirement for the I-129F petition.  The actual requirement is for proof of in-person meeting within two years prior to filing.  There is no specific format required for that either, but the instructions do provide examples of evidence to submit.

 

[Keithn85 400]

Unneeded

Edited May 24, 2021 by Keithn85