Lawyers

[desertbunny 0]

So heres a question...

I'm coming up on the expiration of my conditional residency (4/13/09) so Im mentally preparing myself to start working on the application.

Previously, we hired a lawyer to help us with the paperwork, simply because I felt it was too important to make a mistake.

There were just alot of different things to file and I was overwhelmed (this was before I found VJ). I just didnt want to chance anything.

Ofcourse the lawyer himself made THE mistake when he *FORGOT* to mail in the application...

I reminded him a month later when I informed that I was worried no letter had been received nor had the check been cashed (oh Im sorry my paralegal forgot to mail it) WHATEVER!

I also remember the bad lawyer made me fill out a removal of residency conditions when we filled everything out, which I only found out after the fact that you cant submit till the end of the 2 years.

Yes, he left a bad taste in my mouth.

So this time around, Im wondering if I should hire a lawyer again to help with the paperwork, or do it all myself...

Im still very afraid of gooffing up and getting thrown out of the country cuz things expired and such...

It seemed like I did all the work for the lawyer anyway...

The list of things to do still look long, but it *looks* like just the one application triggers everything (is my assumption correct?)

SO, my long winded explanation to my question is:

Do yall recommend getting a lawyer for the removing the conditions on my residency, or in your experience is it a pretty straightfoward application that I can do on my own?

I appreciate any advice.

Edited November 20, 2008 by desertbunny

[skoopie 0]

Save the money and do it yourself. If you do it yourself, worst case they'll send you an RFE if you forgot to include something. Also, chances are you'll be more thorough and accurate than a lawyer anyway..Also, the I751 is a lot easier and straight forward to fill out than the initial I485;I130/etc. etc.

just my two cents..

So heres a question...

I'm coming up on the expiration of my conditional residency (4/13/09) so Im mentally preparing myself to start working on the application.

Previously, we hired a lawyer to help us with the paperwork, simply because I felt it was too important to make a mistake.

There were just alot of different things to file and I was overwhelmed (this was before I found VJ). I just didnt want to chance anything.

Ofcourse the lawyer himself made THE mistake when he *FORGOT* to mail in the application...

I reminded him a month later when I informed that I was worried no letter had been received nor had the check been cashed (oh Im sorry my paralegal forgot to mail it) WHATEVER!

I also remember the bad lawyer made me fill out a removal of residency conditions when we filled everything out, which I only found out after the fact that you cant submit till the end of the 2 years.

Yes, he left a bad taste in my mouth.

So this time around, Im wondering if I should hire a lawyer again to help with the paperwork, or do it all myself...

Im still very afraid of gooffing up and getting thrown out of the country cuz things expired and such...

It seemed like I did all the work for the lawyer anyway...

The list of things to do still look long, but it *looks* like just the one application triggers everything (is my assumption correct?)

SO, my long winded explanation to my question is:

Do yall recommend getting a lawyer for the removing the conditions on my residency, or in your experience is it a pretty straightfoward application that I can do on my own?

I appreciate any advice.

Edited November 20, 2008 by skoopie

[Bulanglang 1]

So heres a question...

I'm coming up on the expiration of my conditional residency (4/13/09) so Im mentally preparing myself to start working on the application.

Previously, we hired a lawyer to help us with the paperwork, simply because I felt it was too important to make a mistake.

There were just alot of different things to file and I was overwhelmed (this was before I found VJ). I just didnt want to chance anything.

Ofcourse the lawyer himself made THE mistake when he *FORGOT* to mail in the application...

I reminded him a month later when I informed that I was worried no letter had been received nor had the check been cashed (oh Im sorry my paralegal forgot to mail it) WHATEVER!

I also remember the bad lawyer made me fill out a removal of residency conditions when we filled everything out, which I only found out after the fact that you cant submit till the end of the 2 years.

Yes, he left a bad taste in my mouth.

So this time around, Im wondering if I should hire a lawyer again to help with the paperwork, or do it all myself...

Im still very afraid of gooffing up and getting thrown out of the country cuz things expired and such...

It seemed like I did all the work for the lawyer anyway...

The list of things to do still look long, but it *looks* like just the one application triggers everything (is my assumption correct?)

SO, my long winded explanation to my question is:

Do yall recommend getting a lawyer for the removing the conditions on my residency, or in your experience is it a pretty straightfoward application that I can do on my own?

I appreciate any advice.

You already had a bad experience with a lawyer. It’s still your call if you wanted to hire again or not after all that you went through.

I applied without a lawyer and things are going well so far…

Anyhow, the application and instruction for I-751 is quite straightforward. Just submit whatever you have for evidences.

Most important docs I know of are:

• Joint Tax returns

• Joint bank accounts

• Any insurance documents – both names on it

• Utility bills – both names

• Birth certificate of the baby if you have one

• Joint lease agreement/rent if you rent a house or anything that has both your names on it.

Just apply at the right time and/or 90 day window (90 days before the expiration date of CPR).

[GregS 0]

I definately do not think you need a lawyer for this phase. Most of the work is gathering your information for the submittal, which only you can do. Plus, there is ALOT of good advice and experiences that you can tap into in this forum. Any questions that come up, someone here will be able to provide a reasonable answer.

Good luck

[CanAmCharlotte 0]

So heres a question...

I'm coming up on the expiration of my conditional residency (4/13/09) so Im mentally preparing myself to start working on the application.

Previously, we hired a lawyer to help us with the paperwork, simply because I felt it was too important to make a mistake.

There were just alot of different things to file and I was overwhelmed (this was before I found VJ). I just didnt want to chance anything.

Ofcourse the lawyer himself made THE mistake when he *FORGOT* to mail in the application...

I reminded him a month later when I informed that I was worried no letter had been received nor had the check been cashed (oh Im sorry my paralegal forgot to mail it) WHATEVER!

I also remember the bad lawyer made me fill out a removal of residency conditions when we filled everything out, which I only found out after the fact that you cant submit till the end of the 2 years.

Yes, he left a bad taste in my mouth.

So this time around, Im wondering if I should hire a lawyer again to help with the paperwork, or do it all myself...

Im still very afraid of gooffing up and getting thrown out of the country cuz things expired and such...

It seemed like I did all the work for the lawyer anyway...

The list of things to do still look long, but it *looks* like just the one application triggers everything (is my assumption correct?)

SO, my long winded explanation to my question is:

Do yall recommend getting a lawyer for the removing the conditions on my residency, or in your experience is it a pretty straightfoward application that I can do on my own?

I appreciate any advice.

I would definitely forgo the lawyer as well. We used one for the first step and it was a colossal waste of money. This so-called lawyer works at one of the most prestigous legal firms in the country. We just asked her to check through all our stuff to make sure it looked OK. She sent us an exhorbitant bill (we had agreed on a price at the outset which I guess she hadn't made note of). She had blatant errors on the application and had also written a cover letter to the USCIS with our names spelled incorrectly. In the end we simply refused to pay and that was that. I feel confident we can get through the rest of the process on our own.