A request

[rebeccajo 14]

Ah, gawan, gawan, gawan.................

heh, as if. I'm sure you know where to find the threads. Oops, probably right in this forum!

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.................

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I know this is likely to go over like a lead balloon, but...

if you see an immigration question posted here and your reply to said question is a 'guess' - PLEASE refrain from hitting the 'add reply' button. If you absolutely MUST post something in response, please post a few words of encouragement to the OP, and feel confident that someone knowledgeable about that particular topic will happen along and give the correct answer.

I know this is a peer to peer information sharing service where everyone is encouraged to post their experiences. VJ is obviously NOT a legal information site and all info here should be checked by the recipient of said information. It is ultimately up to the person posing the question to weigh the advice they were given, do their own research, and act according to their own conscience.

At the same time, the amount of bad advice and misinformation lately seems to be getting worse (IMHO). People will post something that is blatantly wrong, then never come back to the thread to see that they were corrected - so what happens? They continue to post that misinformation anytime the question is asked. Its a vicious cycle that can all be rectified if the responder replies only when they are confident in the voracity of their answer.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Funny isn't it, the timely advice that was posted AGES ago?!

Seems more useful than ever now, Tracy.

Here's another very timely thread of yours; check out some of the comments! (seems like troll calling and newbie bashing is the sport of the day over here now) Calling out trolls, suddenly not allowed?

yay she's back! :dance: :dance: :dance:

Yay! meauxna. My Fav! You helped us so so much through the journey!

[William33 110]

Ah, gawan, gawan, gawan.................

heh, as if. I'm sure you know where to find the threads. Oops, probably right in this forum!

sister meauxna has spoken wisely, and I agree with your main points indeed. And I, for one, am a frequent user of the report button. I use it as much as I type "please read the guides" and "ask an organizer to move you to so and so thread so you get more responses".

Though I do think that when anyone posts something online, specially really personal #######, they are exposing themselves to all kinds of responses. Not just the ones they like. Immigration law does not care if we (and I include myself on the "we") think it's unfair, sluggish, anti-family unit, bla bla. The law is what it is. And I think you help more people telling them off the bat "yup, USCIS svcks. Read up the guides, and get ready for a bumpy ride" than to go all Pollyanna and say "oh, don't worry, it will ALL be ok". Naaa, don't think so.

If you've taken my comments to mean that the collective we should blow sunshine up everyone's azz, you couldn't BE more wronger! I seem to recall the fluffy kittieh posse not liking a lot of my straight talk either. A review of my posts will surely show that.

It's pretty clear that it's sport for a group of people. While I appreciate the warm comments of the past couple of days, I'm hardly going to get upset if people don't 'like' it that I'll speak up for the new folk who phear speaking up.

I don't advocate giving people only the answers they want. I also don't advocate organized mocking of the people who come here for help.

Now, about'em panties with flame retardant... I have a friend that farts too much.... would said panties help my friend????

I think your friend should look into those charcoal-embedded panties for catching their, er, aroma problem.

Pleased to meet you, the name's Ron, I don't go out of my way to make enemies, I far prefer friends. But I also stand my ground, just so's ya know.

All's fine and good, but please don't call me young.

I'm many things, but no longer young.

You may have VJ seniority on me, but that's about where it ends.

Hi Ron, nice to meet you too, but speaking of taking oneself a bit on the serious side... familiar with the Star Wars much?

How's that friend-making working out?

Glad to see you again Mo.

You rock, but you already knew that!!!

[Ladylethal 12]

I have to say, I agree with Meauxna in the fact we should refrain from jumping on a person that asks a stupid question, like Len, I usually point the person the guides if the question is obvious, or to fill their timeline when the question is vague and we can't really help the person if we don't know what she applied for, and when. Also I'll only ask for more info if that info is needed for the matter.

BUT, I do jump on people that make 3 to 5 different topics to ask the same thing, or that will get upset with a true answer that does not satisfy them, even though I know I'm not as dry as some of the others members from C4C are.

That being said, it was all in good fun although I can see how it could be considered too much at times (not on the noobs thread, but when everyone went to post in a topic linked there).

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Can we get the organizers to please move this thread around to the various forums? I am sure there is so much left unsaid, that more folks should be given a chance to participate.

[daboyz 36]

Some particular induhviduals have zero class and need to be b1tch-slapped back to OT.

Si, man. Perhaps it's most prudent to handle things by a (comparatively) classy open post, or perhaps by PM, and if something truly crosses the line, "report" it. Don't let them feel the rod in their hindquarters until it's already on the way out.

Beyond newbie-bashing, my enraging peeve is the all-encompassing, sweeping advice that advocates a casual or cavalier attitude toward ANY aspect of this infernal immigration process. As just ONE example, how many times must we read the knee-jerk "You do not need to have a lawyer!" when such respondents cannot possibly know the circumstances, reading/perception/responding abilities, or other factors that are integral to whether a poster truly might (gasp, shudder) NEED a lawyer? More strikingly, how many NEW members of VJ even know all the factors to CONSIDER as they search for answers through the VJ fora and individual threads? Did any of us know even a fraction of "what was significant" when we began, or are some of us sadder and much wiser after learning the hard way? I, for one, probably should have consulted a GOOD lawyer before submitting my original papers, and I have relied on several excellent ones to drag me from subsequent hellholes. Who are others to say "no one needs a lawyer"?

Almost as bad are the posters who "parachute in" to a multipage thread that they obviously haven't bothered to read, and they answer the original post (usually copying the entire thing, rather than clipping pertinent sentences) with answers or opinions that have already been stated multiple times. In such instances, let's ponder whether we have something genuinely of value to add. I'm not perfect at this, but I will force myself to read a multipage thread to see if someone has crafted an excellent answer -- and I usually conclude that theirs is better than mine would have been.

If the above extra peeves are off THIS topic, I apologize, but perhaps they're worthy of discussion, si man. If not, so be it.

As far as the lawyer issue, I just tell people how the lawyer I hired who claimed to have over 10k successful K visas totally jacked up my case. I feel a responsibility to let people know what happened to me. I neither advocate nor disagree with the hiring of a lawyer. My only advice is once you sign the G-28, you are stuck. So you had better know who you are dealing with. They guy I hired claimed to be "GOOD" and delayed my case for no less than 3 months.

I think it's great people have had success with lawyers, but I also think they should know there is possibility of them getting screwed.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

They guy I hired claimed to be "GOOD" and delayed my case for no less than 3 months.

I think it's great people have had success with lawyers, but I also think they should know there is possibility of them getting screwed.

just curious - how did the lawyer delay your case?

[daboyz 36]

They guy I hired claimed to be "GOOD" and delayed my case for no less than 3 months.

I think it's great people have had success with lawyers, but I also think they should know there is possibility of them getting screwed.

just curious - how did the lawyer delay your case?

I sent in all the required info, and he didnt file it for 2 months for starters. Then he was telling me to make out the money order for the IV bill to USCIS, when it should be made out to Department of State. Thanks to VJ I caught all of the errors.

[TBoneTX 43,157]

Si, man -- not prequalifying one's lawyer is like not prequalifying one's doctor. If any of us were to undergo major surgery, we'd probably want to know the most minute details about our surgeon's capabilities. And, we'd certainly ensure that our heart procedure was to be done by a cardiac surgeon, rather than by, say, a proctologist!

The challenge is that prequalifying an attorney is, in general, almost certainly harder than doing so with a doctor, for a host of reasons -- perhaps the most fundamental that we might not know the correct questions to ask.

Edited June 29, 2009 by TBoneTX

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Because of early complications with USCIS, I used an attorney recommended by my congressman's office. They did a great job up until my attorney left the office and a paralegal was swamped with her work....so its hard to say.