Lawyers and attorneys! are they realy needed??

[colinjess 0]

hi i just got off he phone from a lawyer based in the usa!! and he has told me that without an attorney representing me then i will not be able to get a visa as i will not have the relevent information!!

is this true!!??

or is it just his way of him trying to get my money!! he was chargin $6000!!

has most people on this site done the whole fiance process on their own or is it best to get an attorney!!!

any help would be great as i was about to send off our I-129 f but have delayed it ! after hearing what the lawyer has

told me!!

colin

[reeses16 8]

Whether or not your need a lawyer, depends on your situation. If you have a complicated situation (ie. unable to obtain divorce decrees, custody issues with a minor child you want to bring to the US, criminal conviction, etc.) you may want to consider a lawyer...it still may not be necessary. If this will be your 1st marriage and you were never deported/banned from the US you don't need a lawyer.

In general I think 1/2 the difficulty is knowing which forms to fill out, but VJ can help you with that. Take a look at the forms here on the site. I imagine that even if you had a lawyer, you will be doing most of the work anyway; you'll have to find the information needed (birth certificate, tax transcripts, paystubs) and provided to them in order for them to fill it out.

You could always start the process yourself and then hire a lawyer if you run into difficulties.

[colinjess 0]

Whether or not your need a lawyer, depends on your situation. If you have a complicated situation (ie. unable to obtain divorce decrees, custody issues with a minor child you want to bring to the US, criminal conviction, etc.) you may want to consider a lawyer...it still may not be necessary. If this will be your 1st marriage and you were never deported/banned from the US you don't need a lawyer.

In general I think 1/2 the difficulty is knowing which forms to fill out, but VJ can help you with that. Take a look at the forms here on the site. I imagine that even if you had a lawyer, you will be doing most of the work anyway; you'll have to find the information needed (birth certificate, tax transcripts, paystubs) and provided to them in order for them to fill it out.

You could always start the process yourself and then hire a lawyer if you run into difficulties.

the only difficulties i can see is that my fiancee has two children and was married before but is divorced! ( she is th US citiezen)

[SapphireDreams 71]

DO NOT hire that lawyer!!! Simply because he is LYING! You do have all the information and you can do it yourself.

Plus, $6,000 is actually the most ridiculous price I have ever heard.

He sounds majorly sketchy!!!

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Here is my official "cut & paste" answer to this issue...

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 simple 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 and mostly useless attornies. Do not feed the lawyers. It only keeps them strong causing them to breed out of control and further weakening us.

[Credzba 0]

I am in agreement with Saphire.

Whether you need a lawyer or not depends on your situation, but if you need a lawyer, don't hire THAT one.

$6,000 would only be reasonable if the foreigner had a 10 year ban, had been convicted for terrorist, or drug activities, stuff like that where the lawyer is going to be pulling every string possible to get them into the USA.

If you have previously sponsored a foreign person for a visa, and recently divorced that person to marry this one, you might look suspicious, and consider a lwayer, but for this small risk item, it shouldn't cost you $6,000.

If you don't have any legal issues, then filing yourself is not difficult, and there are plenty of people here to give you good advice.

This is an anonymous forum, do you have any special issues ?

[colinjess 0]

I am in agreement with Saphire.

Whether you need a lawyer or not depends on your situation, but if you need a lawyer, don't hire THAT one.

$6,000 would only be reasonable if the foreigner had a 10 year ban, had been convicted for terrorist, or drug activities, stuff like that where the lawyer is going to be pulling every string possible to get them into the USA.

If you have previously sponsored a foreign person for a visa, and recently divorced that person to marry this one, you might look suspicious, and consider a lwayer, but for this small risk item, it shouldn't cost you $6,000.

If you don't have any legal issues, then filing yourself is not difficult, and there are plenty of people here to give you good advice.

This is an anonymous forum, do you have any special issues ?

I dont know what you mean by "This is an anonymous forum, do you have any special issues ?" im new to the site s i dont know about everything available to me!! on the VJ site!!

well the attorney said it was £ 3000 actually because he mainly deals with british immigrants! he also told me that i could visit in may marry and stay there and adjust status!! is this possible!!>>>???

my fiancee has been divorced for about 2 years now!!

[Elphie 0]

$6000 is completely ridiculous. I agree with everyone here and say that unless you have special circumstances, you should be fine filling out the paperwork yourself. Just read all the info you can here on the guides, etc. and ask questions if you cant find the info you are looking for. Everyone is really great here about helping out if they can.

[Credzba 0]

Avoid this lawyer like the plague !

The AOS route goes like this.

If you "happen" to meet while the foreign person is in America legally, fall in love and get married, he does not have to return to his foreign country. They will allow him to overstay his visa while you apply for AOS because he married an american citizen.

IF, however, he entered the USA with the intent of marrying you, then he MUST leave the USA before his visa expires. If he overstay the visa, he can be banned from entry to USA for up to 10 years.

For a lawyer to tell you that you could "sneak around" the system like this is stupid, and dangerous. Even if you thought you could get away with it, it is something better done between 2 people who both will keep the secret.

If you go this route, good luck, I think you will need a lot of it.

By anonymous forum, I mean there is no way for anyone to associate the real person you with anything you say, so its safe to say something that you might not want the US government to know. (drugs, visa fraud stuff like that).

Still, always be careful what you post. Big brother is always watching

If the only "risk" is that your husband was divorced 2 years ago, that is not an issue. You should file yourself and save the money in my opinion.

My wife was divorced for 2 years, I was divorced for 2 months when we married, and I filed for her (I went IR/1).

We are all approved, and awaiting the interview date now. My point is divorce alone is not a problem.

The only reason I mentioned divorce is a repeat pattern of marrying, letting spouse get green card, divorcing, and doing it again look like visa fraud.

[Mina76 0]

This site has bascially all the information you need!

With a little reading and research even the averge Joe could do this on his own without the help of a lawyer. The only reason for hiring a lawyer would be as Kazan' Tiger and the others here have said would be unless you have some very special circumstances, other than that you are lucky to have found and come to this site before losing more money then you have to and can go towards the visa fees and processing.

By the way, Welcome to VJ and Good Luck on your visa journey!

[colinjess 0]

OK i have a question .... what do i put on a form when it asks for state or provience since im from rngland and we dont have states

[Elphie 0]

Just use whatever county you live in for state or province.