is VJ the place that can help you get the visa without a lawyer?

[hanysalama 0]

i wonder why everybody tells you not to use a lawyer?i'm using one but would like to go without hi services ,

but do you think you could go without their advice?

i just want to know .

i need real replies from people who actually did it .

[Reba 2]

Pretty much everyone here does it without a lawyer.

Why'd you hire the lawyer in the first place? Why did you think it was necessary?

Unless either the petitioner or the beneficiary has a criminal past, I can't think of a reason a lawyer would be required for marriage based immigration.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

We also did ours without a lawyer- most people here did. Lawyers are expensive and can actually sow things down as they have to mail things back and forth and don't always react quickly when forms are being sent. That being said, if yours is a complicated case (criminal past, drug convictions etc), or you have a very short attention span and trouble filling in forms acurately and literally, then a lawyer might be an idea.

[Y's_habibitk 2]

I didnt even think of doing it with a lawyer. submitting documents, and fighting with a gov agency for approval..thats what i do for a living basically. lol

I think you hear of people saying you dont need a lawyer because they were able to go through the whole process on their own.

There are also TONS of threads that basically say "my lawyer screwed up" AND there are lawyers with little to no experience with immgration that will take your money anyway and just read the instructions and do what you woudl have done.

Like someone else said..unless you have a criminal background, multiple immi petitions or something else out of the norm:

1 read instructions

2 mail the packet in

3 wait

this is what most lawyers do anyway

[hanysalama 0]

I didnt even think of doing it with a lawyer. submitting documents, and fighting with a gov agency for approval..thats what i do for a living basically. lol

I think you hear of people saying you dont need a lawyer because they were able to go through the whole process on their own.

There are also TONS of threads that basically say "my lawyer screwed up" AND there are lawyers with little to no experience with immgration that will take your money anyway and just read the instructions and do what you woudl have done.

Like someone else said..unless you have a criminal background, multiple immi petitions or something else out of the norm:

1 read instructions

2 mail the packet in

3 wait

this is what most lawyers do anyway

the problem with not hiring a lawyer is that you would never know that what you are being told is right or wrong ,

but i agree that lawyers are scams , the only one i will respect is the one who takes care of very complicated petitions not sucking money for filling out forms , they charge for complicated cases while they know your case is simple

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

I assume you are not the petitioner... forgive me if I am wrong... But in my experience it was my husband who really needed the assistance most, not me. If there had been someone in Egypt who could have helped him in completing the paper work there it might have been worth a few LE to hire them, but a lawyer here couldn't have done anything for him over there.

My best friend's children both married people who were living outside of the USA and she and her husband hired attorneys to handle it, because they have more money than time for dealing with these things.

Some people think using an attorney will make things move faster, I have no idea if that is true or not.

But in my experience if the petitioner is educated and can follow instructions and ask good questions when necessary there isn't a lot of need for an attorney. Also hiring an attorney who actually has experience in handling cases for Egyptians would be my main requirement IF I ever recommended that someone hire an attorney. Knowing the "personality" of the Embassy you're dealing with is important.

If your fiancee/wife isn't a member of this group and is trying to file the case on her own, I'd surely recommend she join and read things here. I've learned a LOT of good info here and basically attribute alot of our success to reading information posted here.

Good Luck!

[hanysalama 0]

I assume you are not the petitioner... forgive me if I am wrong... But in my experience it was my husband who really needed the assistance most, not me. If there had been someone in Egypt who could have helped him in completing the paper work there it might have been worth a few LE to hire them, but a lawyer here couldn't have done anything for him over there.

My best friend's children both married people who were living outside of the USA and she and her husband hired attorneys to handle it, because they have more money than time for dealing with these things.

Some people think using an attorney will make things move faster, I have no idea if that is true or not.

But in my experience if the petitioner is educated and can follow instructions and ask good questions when necessary there isn't a lot of need for an attorney. Also hiring an attorney who actually has experience in handling cases for Egyptians would be my main requirement IF I ever recommended that someone hire an attorney. Knowing the "personality" of the Embassy you're dealing with is important.

If your fiancee/wife isn't a member of this group and is trying to file the case on her own, I'd surely recommend she join and read things here. I've learned a LOT of good info here and basically attribute alot of our success to reading information posted here.

Good Luck!

By the way my wife is the one who is asking for the help of a lawyer , because she finds the whole process very hard and confusing , and i know it is just a matter of papers and questions , its not a matter of needing help . people get scared when it comes to their own life . that's why they want to make it perfect

[Y's_habibitk 2]

I didnt even think of doing it with a lawyer. submitting documents, and fighting with a gov agency for approval..thats what i do for a living basically. lol

I think you hear of people saying you dont need a lawyer because they were able to go through the whole process on their own.

There are also TONS of threads that basically say "my lawyer screwed up" AND there are lawyers with little to no experience with immgration that will take your money anyway and just read the instructions and do what you woudl have done.

Like someone else said..unless you have a criminal background, multiple immi petitions or something else out of the norm:

1 read instructions

2 mail the packet in

3 wait

this is what most lawyers do anyway

the problem with not hiring a lawyer is that you would never know that what you are being told is right or wrong ,

but i agree that lawyers are scams , the only one i will respect is the one who takes care of very complicated petitions not sucking money for filling out forms , they charge for complicated cases while they know your case is simple

you mean being told by vj members, or by the uscis? The uscis does not give any special treatment to lawyers. If you mean here on VJ, YES you are totally right. If I read something here that is contridictory from what I have researched, then i go research some more and/or call or email the appropriate entity for an answer. ( i like research, so it doesnt bother me lol)

I think of VJ as more of a sounding board for my questions. Ultimately, it is up to you to gather the correct info.

[payxibka 10,047]

i wonder why everybody tells you not to use a lawyer?i'm using one but would like to go without hi services ,

but do you think you could go without their advice?

i just want to know .

i need real replies from people who actually did it .

VJ is not a place that can help you get a visa without a lawyer nor should VJ be a substitute for competant legal counsel.

VJ is one of several user driven communities on immigration issues... nothing more.

[Sinergy 3]

NO ONE on VJ should be telling anyone NOT to use a lawyer, no one knows the case and the issues that may come with it. we can advice that if its a simple case that doing it yourself will save you time and money. its a pretty easy process...read the guides, read the instructions, answer honestly and wait.

[Monica&Isha 0]

Usually we can easily do what a lawyer would do but saving money: fill out forms and get together proofs of a real marriage. Besides, we are more anxious to have this done sooner, so I believe we put more effort in the paperwork to have it ready and mailed faster. The only problem is that sometimes we get confused about the forms and which documents we really need. That's why we gather here at VJ and help each other. So you just have to research about the process because sometimes what works for one person doesn't work for another. It is not difficult. The wait for an approval is what sucks. But it doesn't depend on having an attorney or not.

So if u don't mind spending time filling up forms and doing research, it won't be a problem for you to do it without an attorney. Unless, as said before, the petioner or the beneficiary has a criminal background and stuff like that...

Good luck.

[Jasman0717 9]

This is a great do-it-yourself site

[Nik+Heather 121]

The "Do I need a lawyer??" observation that clinched the decision with me was that only the petitioner can gather the necessary documents (birth certificate, pass port, pictures, boarding passes, work history, and later financial documents etc). By the time all that has been gathered, 90% of the work is DONE. The easy part, filling in the forms, I decided I would also do myself, and save the money I would have spent on a lawyer to pay all the fees. (!!! I didn't know it was going to be this expensive!!!!!)

VJ has useful checklists (if you're afraid you've forgotten something)

As mentioned already above, special circumstances may warrant the use of a lawyer, but basic, straight forward cases are frequently navigated (successfully) by the petitioner/beneficiary without one.

Edited February 10, 2009 by Nik+Heather

[Nagishkaw 510]

We can't help you dye your eyes to match your gown, but VJ is a diverse community and lots of great advice is offered here free of charge. It is your case so therefor only you have to decide in the end.

[maggieNomar 0]

The "Do I need a lawyer??" observation that clinched the decision with me was that only the petitioner can gather the necessary documents (birth certificate, pass port, pictures, boarding passes, work history, and later financial documents etc). By the time all that has been gathered, 90% of the work is DONE. The easy part, filling in the forms, I decided I would also do myself, and save the money I would have spent on a lawyer to pay all the fees. (!!! I didn't know it was going to be this expensive!!!!!)

VJ has useful checklists (if you're afraid you've forgotten something)

As mentioned already above, special circumstances may warrant the use of a lawyer, but basic, straight forward cases are frequently navigated (successfully) by the petitioner/beneficiary without one.

The guides and checklists were invaluable for us. We did everything exactly as directed in the guides and bounced a few things off of people that had been through our same situation.