Attorney vs. filing yourself

[batallion9 50]

First, be prepared for the lawyer to be pissed. They will send you a bill. Before they contact you, send them a registered letter stating you are dissatisfied with their service and you are no longer in need of their assistance. If they harress you, contact your state BAR association with a complaint! This will get their attention. Now as far as filling out forms - this is not difficult. If you download forms from USCIS, they will also have guides on how to fill out forms. These are step by step and help with how to answer the questions. Look on here at guides and form examples. Reed the forums, especially on denials or REFs, as these are mistakes that you do not want to repeat ( ie like not putting in intent to marry letter the statement that you plan to marry within 90 days!) There is much information on VJ. READ, read, and then READ some more.

[Dieseltu 19]

Generally , Using an attorney in the US is a waste of time. I know a few people who got screwed. As in cost lots more time and refileing fees. And they can drag your case out to make more money off of you. However using an attorney in your fiancee's country is a better idea,. If , and only if, you find the right one. And to do that your fiancé has to know one. Why. maybe the attorney has the success record. Maybe the attorney is connected. And gets approved faster or easier. As in , making a deal. With the embassy people in their country.

In the end. A great attorney is worth their weight in Gold. Good luck finding them.

[Bill&Rox 0]

I paid to these same lawyers!! and they have done nothing but making our lives more complicated. The woman, Erika, was nice at first, answered questions and all..... once they got the money she stopped answering emails, and she's a good for nothing!!! Now, we are a week away from our visa appt, and we have nothing, they sent us all documents incomplete, forms wrong, and it's a disaster!!! We recommend NOT to hire a lawyer, and much less these ones, Law Office of Michael S Solomon, they are the worst. We will ask for our money back !!

[FloranteNlaura 2]

This site is all you need. Check Philippine Forum - plenty of help there. Good luck.

[Waiting4Love 0]

QUOTE (Maldez @ Oct 25 2008, 12:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi - I'm very interested in knowing the difficulty factor of filing a K-1 visa application on your own, vs. paying money to an attorney.

I just paid a lot of money, $1,750, to a big law firm (Michael S. Solomon) that specializes only in the filing of K-1 and K-3 visas, but am starting to wonder if I made a mistake.

It's been a month since I sent the money in and filled out their application. Since then they don't return my phone calls or e-mails. They haven't contacted me once for any sort of information, documents, photos or anything since the initial questionnaire that we completed.

I'm thinking of asking for my money back and filing myself. Is this a mistake?

Thank you!

The usual fee for this service appears to be about $500. Enough said. Filing for a K-1 is fairly simple unless there are problems with your situation.

Wish I had seen this earlier, I experienced the same thing with Michael S Solomon and it's been beyond frustrating.

[Waiting4Love 0]

The process is very involved and confusing so definitely hire someone. However, absolutely DO NOT choose the Law Offices of Michael Solomon http://www.k1-fiancee-visa-law.com/

Our experience with them has been terrible and while they have submitted everything and the process seems to be moving along, communication has been awful. Submissions of some things have been delayed, mistakes made and a sudden office move. I have been juggled around between 3 different people after Erika was assigned to my case and completely stopped responding. Now it seems the entire company is just Michael and his separated wife Erika randomly helps. This isn't a company this is now one man.

Be prepared for this process to take 1 year. No matter what visa companies or lawyers may tell you, there are multiple processes that each take several months. We hired the Law offices of Michael Solomon in October 2012, just getting the right paperwork submitted took over a month and we just now had our application approved. This "approval" doesn't mean much though because we are still waiting for an interview date which could be another few months.

SO make sure you do your homework and hire a knowledgeable lawyer that is willing to break down all the information with you, be honest and stay in constant contact!

I paid to these same lawyers!! and they have done nothing but making our lives more complicated. The woman, Erika, was nice at first, answered questions and all..... once they got the money she stopped answering emails, and she's a good for nothing!!! Now, we are a week away from our visa appt, and we have nothing, they sent us all documents incomplete, forms wrong, and it's a disaster!!! We recommend NOT to hire a lawyer, and much less these ones, Law Office of Michael S Solomon, they are the worst. We will ask for our money back !!

Erika did the exact same thing to us! Hope our posts help other people who are considering Michael S Solomon.

[Bill&Rox 0]

I agree with your Waiting4love. However I actually ended up filling out the paper work myself! It's not complicated at all! Many people I know have done it like that, and they have been successful. Can I have you personal email please? I would like to know if you'd be interested in something my fiance and I have been thinking and plan on doing.

[cjmc 10]

This forum contains all the information and guidance you need to do it yourself.....you just need to read, read and be very accurate with filling out the paper work, use a highlighter as you go through the forms to point out important steps and information, make lists, keep a file.

Some of the attorneys I am sure will just keep you in the dark on what is going on just so you think they are doing great things for you.

Just how I feel about that subject :-)

cjmc