Getting rid of attorney

[kpathak 0]

Hey fellow-suffers,

I am sure there must be others who must have felt the urge to fire their attorney and do things themselves. I was very unsure of this process and hence hired an immigration attorney who is not doing anything. For example, the NVC reports that it sent out an affidavit of support and immigration visa fee bill to my attorney over 3 weeks ago and my attorney is not entertaining my inquiries.

After reading the forums, I feel confident enough to take this on myself -- especially use James's NVC Shortcuts :-).

So my question -- since my attorney is my current agent, how do I go about changing that at NVC? Also, has anyone fired their attorney? Anything I should watch out for? Is there a recomended process (if there is, then that's pretty scary <grin>).

Thanks in advance,

KP

[jlay2006 0]

Hey fellow-suffers,

I am sure there must be others who must have felt the urge to fire their attorney and do things themselves. I was very unsure of this process and hence hired an immigration attorney who is not doing anything. For example, the NVC reports that it sent out an affidavit of support and immigration visa fee bill to my attorney over 3 weeks ago and my attorney is not entertaining my inquiries.

After reading the forums, I feel confident enough to take this on myself -- especially use James's NVC Shortcuts :-).

So my question -- since my attorney is my current agent, how do I go about changing that at NVC? Also, has anyone fired their attorney? Anything I should watch out for? Is there a recomended process (if there is, then that's pretty scary <grin>).

Thanks in advance,

KP

Hey,

We fired our attorney in January because she messed everything up and we had to refile everything. But later I learnt that she was still our attorney of record. I emailed NVC and had her withdrawn. Here is an email I got from NVC:

"Your inquiry has been received at the National Visa Center (NVC).

All correspondence concerning your petition has been sent to you in care of your attorney of record. You should contact your attorney concerning the present status of your case. If you no longer wish to utilize this attorney as your representative, please send a letter/e-mail to our office stating that you wish to withdraw your representation from the case. You will need to include the NVC case number and the beneficiary's name. Regards, National Visa Center"

After I emailed them a letter they sent me a following confirmation:

"Dear Sir/Madam:

Your inquiry has been received at the National Visa Center (NVC).

The attorney of record has been withdrawn in the case. Future correspondence pertinent to this case will be directed to the beneficiary and petitioner.

Regards, National Visa Center"

Hope this helps,

good luck

[wmhurd 0]

Hey fellow-suffers,

I am sure there must be others who must have felt the urge to fire their attorney and do things themselves. I was very unsure of this process and hence hired an immigration attorney who is not doing anything. For example, the NVC reports that it sent out an affidavit of support and immigration visa fee bill to my attorney over 3 weeks ago and my attorney is not entertaining my inquiries.

After reading the forums, I feel confident enough to take this on myself -- especially use James's NVC Shortcuts :-).

So my question -- since my attorney is my current agent, how do I go about changing that at NVC? Also, has anyone fired their attorney? Anything I should watch out for? Is there a recomended process (if there is, then that's pretty scary <grin>).

Thanks in advance,

KP

Ken Pathak

Like yourself we also had an attorney who was a piece of S#@*!! Everything she told us was fabrication

hell she was so damned bad that when my wife complained to her main office we received a full refund as well as an apology. When we filled put our paperwork pro se (By ourselves) not only did it go through but my wife case was approved six months faster than what the attorney predicted. So ditch the witch and do the paperwork yourself. This forum can answer any questions that you may have concerning it.

Good Luck to you....Wayne

[diadromous mermaid 36]

Hey fellow-suffers,

I am sure there must be others who must have felt the urge to fire their attorney and do things themselves. I was very unsure of this process and hence hired an immigration attorney who is not doing anything. For example, the NVC reports that it sent out an affidavit of support and immigration visa fee bill to my attorney over 3 weeks ago and my attorney is not entertaining my inquiries.

After reading the forums, I feel confident enough to take this on myself -- especially use James's NVC Shortcuts :-).

So my question -- since my attorney is my current agent, how do I go about changing that at NVC? Also, has anyone fired their attorney? Anything I should watch out for? Is there a recomended process (if there is, then that's pretty scary <grin>).

Thanks in advance,

KP

Not knowing if there are any intricacies in KP's case, wmhurd, don't you feel it irresponsible to recommend that Ken "ditch the witch and do the paperwork" himself?

If an attorney is not responding to your enquiries, a brief visit to his office is always recommended. That's not to suggest that the attorney continue to represent you, but being busy is not always an indication of incompetence, in fact, it could be the reverse. Good attorneys can be inundated, because they're good.

If you feel as though your case is not being given enough attention, address that matter with your counsel, and if he or she has no immediate resolution, then ask if there is another he'd recommend. If you do decide to discontinue representation, you can do that in a simply conversation. Beware, retained fees may not always be refundable in full, but you can certainly request an itemisation of the work already performed and hold the practice to that fee, and only that.

Edited July 10, 2006 by diadromous mermaid

[henry34florida 0]

I hired an attorney and he was a waste of money. This website has all the information to do it yourself. Good luck and God bless!

[CanadaGirl 0]

Hello,

I can totally relate to your lawyer issues. If I had found this site earlier I would never have gotten a lawyer. However, I didn't find this site until about 8 months or so after we got married. My lawyer has been wrong every step of the way. He has constantly given us false information about everything. The only thing he has done right is fill out our forms properly which his assistant did.

The only reason I kept him on is because he required 1/2 payment up front and the other 1/2 once I was a permanent resident so he already had been paid about $1200. However, once I was in the states on my K3 I got a bill for the other half. I emailed and explained that the other half isn't due till I am a permanent resident. They replied that if we don't pay they will not work on our case. I figured since they have all of our documents/forms that we should pay and just get this over with.

So the only thing I would suggest if you don't fire your lawyer is to reference this site every step of the way! Always check what your lawyer is doing. If you have questions that aren't answered here or you want to make an inquiry about your case feel free to call USCIS or NVC on your own....all you need is your receipt number. My lawyer is still giving me false information however, now I just tell him to send me the forms and I will sign/mail. Once I get them in the mail I will review them and add what is necessary and send to the appropriate mail box.

I truly regret getting a lawyer and feel that if I did this on my own things would have gone faster and I would have saved $2800 plus the extra $300 my lawyer tagged on for phone calls, photocopying and mailing costs.

Good luck to you in whatever you choose and I'm sorry I don 't have much advice about firing your lawyer.

Edited July 10, 2006 by CanadaGirl

[hafiz 1]

i was going to use a lawyer but thank GOD i did not, cause it would have been a big waste of money($2500). After you have stumbled on to this site while surfing , or refered to this site(as i was) the only reason why you would use a lawyer(and i recomend it) is if your case is complicated(there are many reasons) or you dont have the time to do it yourself(way too busy).

[Reba 2]

If you do fire the lawyer, do it in writing, and keep a copy of the letter yourself.

Despite my protests, my husband and hired a lawyer who messed everything up entirely, delaying us several months. My husband personally went to his office to retrieve the files, and fired him verbally. the lawyer continued for several months to make unsolicited phonecalls to my husband to enquire as to our status, for which he later sent invoices for services rendered

If there are no circumstances which require you to retain the lawyer (like previous criminal record on part of the potential immigrant, or previous overstay in the US) then it is possible to do it yourself with not much hassle. If however there are circumstances that may require further paperwork like a waiver, then you may wish to keep the lawyer, but some here have managed without.

[kpathak 0]

Thanks everyone for your advise and concern about the lawyer issue. Actually, mine is a "plain vanilla" case with no complications and I had simply hired a lawyer because I had heard horror stories about immigration. Anyway, I did inform NVC (for I-130) about the change in agent (they sent me an confirming email), and am waiting for confirmation from USCIS (for I-129F) about terminating my atorney. Once I hear back from USCIS, the attorney is GONE. Can you believe it, he is still sitting on the IV bill and the DS-3202 and NOT responding to any emails regaring those document? He says that he is processing the K3 and so he is not paying attention to anything else (namely I-130). If I was in the same town, I'd given him a piece of my mind. Incidentally, this is some "director" at the law firm who is giving me lip. Complaint to the BAR association? You bet (after the wife is here and I have time).

Thanks everyone for your support.

KP

If you do fire the lawyer, do it in writing, and keep a copy of the letter yourself.

Despite my protests, my husband and hired a lawyer who messed everything up entirely, delaying us several months. My husband personally went to his office to retrieve the files, and fired him verbally. the lawyer continued for several months to make unsolicited phonecalls to my husband to enquire as to our status, for which he later sent invoices for services rendered

If there are no circumstances which require you to retain the lawyer (like previous criminal record on part of the potential immigrant, or previous overstay in the US) then it is possible to do it yourself with not much hassle. If however there are circumstances that may require further paperwork like a waiver, then you may wish to keep the lawyer, but some here have managed without.