Hiring a lawyer or doing it on your own....

[stacey2008 0]

How many of you have hired a lawyer to handle the K-1? We hired one because I am swamped with college and work and was so scared about messing up the paperwork. Also if a glitch came up he could work it out better than me.

[Cassie 8]

We didn't use a lawyer. However, we took the precaution of having an initial consult with one, before deciding to do it ourselves.

My humble advice -- keep an eye on your lawyer, and make sure he/she is doing things in a timely manner and that he/she is familiar with the process. I know you are swamped with college, but it behooves you to keep on top of things and become completely familiar with the process yourself. This is an important document that you are seeking, and you cannot afford to let this slide.

Best wishes to you!

[YuAndDan 153]

The K-1 was so simple, especialy with the guides here on VJ, no lawyer was needed, we saved a pile of $$$ doing it our selves.

I read of many nightmares of lawyers messing up cases, and they cannot make anything go faster.

[SnowyTater 0]

Ah get rid of the lawyer, come on.

Sorry, it's none of my business and completely your own decision, and you might have a lot going on in your life. My own personal experience is I'm in my last year of college and work too (but not like...that much. I work about 15 hours a week, usually), but I've got overloaded and pretty killer honors classes and I'm doing my bachelor's essay and all that.

If I were a student (which I am) I'd much sooner say "I don't want a lawyer because they'll charge exorbitant amounts and I'm poor." Honestly it sounds like lawyers screw people up more than actually help; there's been a few outright horror stories on here, and many many glitches. It does sound like you have to keep an eye on your lawyer, hold his hand, because he's just rummaging through the confusing government instructions too and much less likely to not care if he messes something up since well...it's not his life, I guess.

VJ is all you need and has all the guides, VERY accurate information and a huge resource of people that definately know what they're talking about. Just consider it another class assignment, I guess. I mean it took me maybe two weeks to get all the documentation together for our Petition, and then it was sent and done. Now we wait on our butts for four months or so, you know? It's not bad.

But I guess if you've already got a lawyer you might already be past this state...but yeh, it might still be worth getting rid of him, if he messes anything up. Probably next stage you have to start doing things will fall in the summer, which is maybe better for you and your fiance?

Anyway, best of luck to you. But try not to be intimidated by this whole process. It's not that bad once you get used to the terminology, and Uncle Sam's not gonna bite your head off.

[mox 298]

Yeah, hiring a lawyer doesn't necessarily guarantee they won't mess it up. In fact, some of the biggest fiasco's I've seen on these boards were caused by lawyers. I know you've already hired him, but at the very least make sure he's got a lot of immigration experience, especially K visas. If your lawyer doesn't specialize in immigration then he's almost as behind the curve as you are. And whereas you would take the time to bone up and educate yourself, your lawyer will only pick up enough to get himself basically familiarized.

As Cassie said, stay on top of it. Don't assume your lawyer is keeping an eye on it for you. Find out what your case number is when you get the NOA1, and track the status online. And take a day out of a weekend to completely familiarize yourself with the process. You'll be glad you did.

Best of luck to you!

[stephncorrie 0]

After reading a million pages online about immigration lawyers my fiance and I decided to do it ourselves with the help of VJ. I am so happy with my decision seeing everyones success here and how easy it is to get it all gathered together. Hopefully I dont get any RFE's and it goes smoothly but the whole process has so far been easy. I hope you have a good lawyer that does a great job

[likes2ride 0]

If your case is straightforward (no prior K-1's, visa overstays, or criminal charges as described in the I-129), then go for it yourselves. The guides on this site and a little organization on your part will get you through it. There is also a wealth of information on this site available from those of us who have done it. My wife and I still talk and get smiles from the experience we have shared by doing it ourselves. We just sent our documentation today for her AOS. A little late, but hey, she's here now! Have fun and good luck!!

[BigCityDave 0]

Just as it has been said before, with VJ here, why do you need a lawyer? All the help and instruction is right here.

[stacey2008 0]

I will keep up on the process and watch the lawyer. We looked at many different lawyers and he seemed very credible and specializes in the K-1 visa. And a friend of mine's brother hired him for his K-1 and was very pleased with his service. So hopefully he will do his job as he says he will. I have been happy so far with what he has offered. I was so scared to do it myself because I had so much going on in my life at the time - full-time job, 3 part-time jobs, college full-time, moving and job hunting. I figured hiring a lawyer wouldn't make the process go any faster but I hoped it would go smoother for us and so far it has.

[mox 298]

Well welcome to the process and don't be afraid to ask questions. Let us all know your progress!

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Unless you have some very special circumstances, hiring an attorney does nothing but drain funds better spent on yourselves and your future together. An attorney stands in the same line we do, with no time savings what so ever. The paperwork is far from complicated if you can read and follow instructions. Have a question? There are tons of folks here that are in your same shoes.

Too many here have tossed hard earned money on overpriced useless attornies. Do not feed the lawyers. It only keeps them strong causing them to breed out of control and further weakening us.