Attorney Frustrations...

[sara..... 371]

I have a good lawyer who has helped me through a tough journey. Not everyone is the same. May be VJ should have a forum section that is dedicated to writing reviews for lawyers in local regions. I would have been lost without his help. And yea, K3 isnt worth it. We got the K3 interview papers 4 months ago, but lawyer tolf me if I wanted to go K3, I dont have to pay AOS/IV bill, but it would cost me another $1500 to file for status adjustment. Hope stuff goes smooth for you. good luck!

the problem with that and there are lots of us that would like to see that added to vj........it opens up law suites from lawyers ........most here on vj have not had very good results from their lawyers

sara

[hindocha 0]

Right, I was in the same boat, but my attorney isn't as bad. I-130 did take 9 months to process; K3 being much quicker. Now, they process about the same time. My attorney first filed a I-130, paid the $455 filling and then onceNOA1 arrived, we then filed the I129f petition. I129f and I-130 got approved on the same day (check my time-line). We received the notice from NVC stating:

They are forwarding the petition to London with the assigned case number LND2009xxxxxx. On 02/10/09 my attorney received a invoice for two bill payments that NVC were requesting, AOS $70 and IV $400. We received this 18 days after I130 got send from CSC to NVC.

I assume this step used to take much longer (not 100% sure though). My attorney then stated that I130 would be cheaper. She informed us that before going ahead with I130, she'd call the US Embassy in London and ask for estimated time frame for both pathways. We got told that they get processed about the same time. At this point we switched. I paid the two invoices, and now have sent the documents to NVC.

We haven't specifically told the NVC to drop one petition. I received "Packet 3" from London on 07/10/09 and haven't proceeded with anything.

I was/still am just as frustrated cause I wasn't happy with level of priority the attorney was giving to my case. Once NVC receive the petitions, you can proceed with CR-1, IF you wish.

There are suggestions here that I130 takes longer to approve if you file for I129f, this is cause you have to state on the form if you are going to submitted any other forms with the I130, but I've seen nor heard any proof of that, so not sure.

Keep paperwork like:

Emails to each other

Phone conversation - both mobile and landlines

MSN conversations - if any

Proof of postage when sending things to each other

Print screens of Video conversation - if any

Receipts of gift, with stated name of the recipient and sender

and anything else. Keep it all for the interview. Not everyone will all of the above, that's fine. Also tell the beneficiary to get Vaccination history, print of the vaccination requirements, take it to the GP and get any shots if required.

Don't worry and stay positive. Email your attorney again, be forceful sometimes you have to to get your stance across and give them a little remain that you are the customer paying then for a service. Attorneys are strange individuals, they take on so many cases; they forget the priority level they must give to all cases.

Like I said, I lost it with my attorney cause she wasn't giving us a clear answer and assumed we knew it. My wife eventually when to visit her and we got back on track. But we need a attorney otherwise we wouldn't understand the process. Yes Visa Journey is great, but still.

[JustJ 0]

I swear, I had to re-read this to make sure I wasn't the OP. It sounds so similar to our own experience.

We chose to use an attorney because we are expecting a denial and waiver due to a 28-yr old CIMT.

We were ready to go & consulted with an attorney in December 08 who charged us $200 for the initial consultation, then never returned our calls/emails. In April 09, I finally went to another attorney.

Plopped down $1500 in April and another $2000 in May. There were so many typos in the documents that I was concerned, but thought okay, I'll point them out, stick with him, and maybe he'll be more careful. Now, these funds are a retainer, that is supposed to be for filing fees, and to take us through to the end. However, I've not received an actual accounting of our funds, so I have no idea what's left.

First major red flag was when he filed our I-130 with the VSC instead of with the Chicago Lockbox. I emailed him to ask why he did that, and he never answered me. It just so happened that we received our NOA1 on the day I asked, so he simply responded with "we received your NOA1 today."

Here's the funny part. I WORK in a law firm. So when I call and somebody puts me on hold, just to come back on the line with "he's in trial" or "he's in depositions," I know it's bullsh*t and he just doesn't want to take my call.

I ended up assembling and completing our I-864 and DS-230 forms. As it was, I had to wait weeks for him to review them. Had I waited for him to tell me what documents needed to be attached to them, I'd STILL be waiting. In fact, he should have known that we needed court records for the UK PCC that showed traffic violations. Instead, he filed the DS-230 and never mentioned it. It resulted in an RFE that has seriously delayed us.

Here's the best part - he has yet to advise me that we've received an RFE! I only know because I contacted the NVC. Thank God my husband was able to get the checklist items quickly. I totally bypassed the attorney and sent them in myself. Bet I get a letter from him any day now that says, "We received a request for more information...blah, blah, blah." To which I want to reply, "Oh really??????????????????????????????? Good thing I took care of it, huh?"

As most people here have suggested, THEY get to go home to their spouses - we can't. So what do they care, really, as long as your retainer shows up on the firm's monthly printout?

I've been toying around with firing our attorney, but now is when we really need one, because we'll be heading for an interview/denial/waiver shortly.

All I can suggest to you, OP, is that if you decide to stay with your current attorney, you're going to have to act like a Border Collie and herd her a$$ into the pen at every corner. Just be ready for the next step before she is. If you've just filed your I-130, then start assembling the documents you need for the NVC. Your attorney probably won't even tell you what those are, so if you want to PM me, I can at least help you with that. Or, check out the NVC threads on the CR1 forums. Lots of help there with the next step.

Best wishes,

Julie

[MrZonaCat 0]

Man, I wished I had found this website prior to hiring an attorney. I wonder if anyone else has encountered the same frustrations I'm having now...?

Has anyone else had to deal with attorney's who just don't seem to know or care???

I hear ya and I totally agree. What I found is that when it comes to attorneys... you get what you pay for. Here in the city I live in in Arizona, there is one immigration attorney (that was recommended by pretty much everyone I asked) that specializes in Chinese - American type immigration cases. I heard she was very good. Yeah. She better be for $3,000.00!

Anyway, I knew that I just needed minimal, if any help. So I found one on the Internet that was very inexpensive. Just $250.00 for the first round of paperwork (I-130, I-129F, the two 325s) and then if I liked his service, I could pay another $250.00 for the next part, including some light preparation advice for the consulate interview for my wife.

Needless to say, I never used this attorney for the second phase of the K3 paperwork process.

Like you, I totally wished I knew of this site before I paid the $250.00. Even though $250.00 is considered dirt cheap as far as immigration law advice goes, all it bought me was a generic template of the entire process which I have seen in different forms on here. I did email him once and phoned him a couple of times (once I paid the fee, it took about 3 days for him to return my phone call, before he got my fee, he called me back within an hour) and he gave me advice that I pretty much already got from browsing the Internet.

In short, lawyers nowadays don't give much or any help for the tiny fee I paid. I feel that the two questions he answered were about what a typical lawyer deems reasonable for a paltry $250.00 fee coupled with the generic, prefab, template I received in my email the first day from him. In other words, I didn't feel I got totally ripped off, but then again, neither did I feel I got a good deal either.

Anyway, you get what you pay for. If I knew about VJ ahead of time, I never would have paid the fee to begin with as I all I needed was minimal if any instructions on filling out the paperwork although I did have a few specific issues (questions) in my case which is why I justified paying in the first place.

Good luck. I guess that you have probably already figured out that the expertise bantered on here is more valuable than a cheap Internet-based lawyer. Although, I am sure to someone where money is plentiful and not an issue, paying the $3,000.00 to a lawyer that specializes in immigration from the country that is pertinent to your case surely has many advantages. Good luck.

Mark in Arizona

[thongd4me 69]

I've said it time and time again.

Unless there is something in the case (beneficiary is illegal, getting unstuck from polygamy charges),

there is NO reason to hire an attorney.

It just puts one more layer of delay into the process, many more chances of mistakes

on the part of the lawyer, law clerks or both and a price tag that would make Donald Trump wince.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Man, I wished I had found this website prior to hiring an attorney. I wonder if anyone else has encountered the same frustrations I'm having now...?

When my husband and I decided to hire an attorney to help him emigrate to the US, we thought it was the most intelligent choice. We figured that everything would be submitted correctly, the forms would be perfect, all info would be right and since they do this every day, it would be a relatively simple process. In other words, hire someone else to deal with the headaches...

The problem is, it's the ATTORNEY that has been the headache. Most obvious is the fact that we were, I feel, duped into doing the K-3 rather than just going for the CR-1 - so we have to pay an extra fee once he gets here so that he can change his status to permanent resident.

Additionally, we paid the attorney 5 weeks ago - and provided all documentation that was asked for - every stitch of it...but the case still isn't filed!! I cannot even begin to tell you how pissed I am about this. In my mind, if I had just done this myself, my husband would be here 5 weeks faster...

And every time I send information, it either gets lost, or is otherwise unaccounted for. Three times now, she's asked me to send information I'VE ALREADY SENT!! She had me fill out the G325-A and overnight it to her, but failed to mention that my husband also has to fill one out - something we could have done easily while he was here in the States, but now he has to send it overnight from England!!

And the continuing instances of "oops, I forgot to tell you, I also need (fill in the blank)" - I swear if I get another one of those emails I'm going to pull my hair out. I'm guessing, that because she does this for a living, and actually works for an immigration FIRM that she's done this once or twice before? Why am I being asked for information that I could have sent to her originally 5 weeks ago? Incompetence is the only answer I can come up with.

I understand, it's not HER husband...but really, she's in the business of people's LIVES - and I feel like she's wasted 5 weeks of mine.

As it stands - hubby is sending the G-325A tomorrow morning - after we FINALLY received the firm's FED-EX account number, so that we're not responsible for the $$. Fed-Ex says it will be there by Thursday morning. If it's not filed by Friday, I'm sure I will SCREAM...

Just venting enormous amounts of frustration and anxiety.

Has anyone else had to deal with attorney's who just don't seem to know or care???

the attorney doesn't care about the extra government fee, he is trying to make sure you have another process to use HIM...the AOS. I guess some of his clients do not wise up by that time and he collects some more doh-rey-me.

Your frustrations are felt only by those that used attorneys.

[Muhammad n Maryam 1]

Man, I wished I had found this website prior to hiring an attorney. I wonder if anyone else has encountered the same frustrations I'm having now...?

When my husband and I decided to hire an attorney to help him emigrate to the US, we thought it was the most intelligent choice. We figured that everything would be submitted correctly, the forms would be perfect, all info would be right and since they do this every day, it would be a relatively simple process. In other words, hire someone else to deal with the headaches...

The problem is, it's the ATTORNEY that has been the headache. Most obvious is the fact that we were, I feel, duped into doing the K-3 rather than just going for the CR-1 - so we have to pay an extra fee once he gets here so that he can change his status to permanent resident.

Additionally, we paid the attorney 5 weeks ago - and provided all documentation that was asked for - every stitch of it...but the case still isn't filed!! I cannot even begin to tell you how pissed I am about this. In my mind, if I had just done this myself, my husband would be here 5 weeks faster...

And every time I send information, it either gets lost, or is otherwise unaccounted for. Three times now, she's asked me to send information I'VE ALREADY SENT!! She had me fill out the G325-A and overnight it to her, but failed to mention that my husband also has to fill one out - something we could have done easily while he was here in the States, but now he has to send it overnight from England!!

And the continuing instances of "oops, I forgot to tell you, I also need (fill in the blank)" - I swear if I get another one of those emails I'm going to pull my hair out. I'm guessing, that because she does this for a living, and actually works for an immigration FIRM that she's done this once or twice before? Why am I being asked for information that I could have sent to her originally 5 weeks ago? Incompetence is the only answer I can come up with.

I understand, it's not HER husband...but really, she's in the business of people's LIVES - and I feel like she's wasted 5 weeks of mine.

As it stands - hubby is sending the G-325A tomorrow morning - after we FINALLY received the firm's FED-EX account number, so that we're not responsible for the $$. Fed-Ex says it will be there by Thursday morning. If it's not filed by Friday, I'm sure I will SCREAM...

Just venting enormous amounts of frustration and anxiety.

Has anyone else had to deal with attorney's who just don't seem to know or care???

Hmm ... I wonder if we have the same attorney

[Christi and Ian 24]

Hmm ... I wonder if we have the same attorney

Honestly, if I had this all to do over again, I would just do it myself...it would have saved us $1,500 in attorney fees and the $1,010 AOS fee that we'll eventually see...

But, at the moment, we're just waiting for the NOA2, there doesn't seem to be any glitches at the moment, and I'll count myself satisfied unless we get an RFE, which I'm not expecting...I sent practically everything but the kitchen sink to USCIS...

Now, I'm just waiting...waiting...waiting...very impatiently!!