Starting the process! -or- are all lawyers this useless?

[Boiler 45,467]

Whether or not you use an attorney is really up to you but we had a recommendation for one with a good track record and they deal specifically with immigration issues. Yes it was expensive but then our journey only lasted 7 months which I like to think was value for money. It is good piece of mind to have a good lawyer talk you through the options and they also prep you for the interview.

My advice:

1. If anyone you know successfully immigrated to the US with help from a lawyer, visit that lawyer for a consultation

2. Know your stuff - if the lawyer knows less than you, they are either ill informed or you don't need one.....

3. Know the cost - we got caught out a couple of times and ended up paying more

4. Check everything - spelling mistakes can be your undoing and even lawyers make them

My lawyer gave me good peace of mind during the process and a good lawyer looks good on paper to people reviewing your case.

Most of all I wish you the best of luck with your application and I hope that you get to be with your loved one soon.

Lawyers make no difference in principal to timelines.

[sjr09 155]

Whether or not you use an attorney is really up to you but we had a recommendation for one with a good track record and they deal specifically with immigration issues. Yes it was expensive but then our journey only lasted 7 months which I like to think was value for money. It is good piece of mind to have a good lawyer talk you through the options and they also prep you for the interview.

My advice:

1. If anyone you know successfully immigrated to the US with help from a lawyer, visit that lawyer for a consultation

2. Know your stuff - if the lawyer knows less than you, they are either ill informed or you don't need one.....

3. Know the cost - we got caught out a couple of times and ended up paying more

4. Check everything - spelling mistakes can be your undoing and even lawyers make them

My lawyer gave me good peace of mind during the process and a good lawyer looks good on paper to people reviewing your case.

Most of all I wish you the best of luck with your application and I hope that you get to be with your loved one soon.

Lawyers make no difference in principal to timelines.

Whether or not you use an attorney is really up to you but we had a recommendation for one with a good track record and they deal specifically with immigration issues. Yes it was expensive but then our journey only lasted 7 months which I like to think was value for money. It is good piece of mind to have a good lawyer talk you through the options and they also prep you for the interview.

My advice:

1. If anyone you know successfully immigrated to the US with help from a lawyer, visit that lawyer for a consultation

2. Know your stuff - if the lawyer knows less than you, they are either ill informed or you don't need one.....

3. Know the cost - we got caught out a couple of times and ended up paying more

4. Check everything - spelling mistakes can be your undoing and even lawyers make them

My lawyer gave me good peace of mind during the process and a good lawyer looks good on paper to people reviewing your case.

Most of all I wish you the best of luck with your application and I hope that you get to be with your loved one soon.

Lawyers make no difference in principal to timelines. Neither will DIY!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Whether or not you use an attorney is really up to you but we had a recommendation for one with a good track record and they deal specifically with immigration issues. Yes it was expensive but then our journey only lasted 7 months which I like to think was value for money. It is good piece of mind to have a good lawyer talk you through the options and they also prep you for the interview.

My advice:

1. If anyone you know successfully immigrated to the US with help from a lawyer, visit that lawyer for a consultation

2. Know your stuff - if the lawyer knows less than you, they are either ill informed or you don't need one.....

3. Know the cost - we got caught out a couple of times and ended up paying more

4. Check everything - spelling mistakes can be your undoing and even lawyers make them

My lawyer gave me good peace of mind during the process and a good lawyer looks good on paper to people reviewing your case.

Most of all I wish you the best of luck with your application and I hope that you get to be with your loved one soon.

If you mean your journey from filing to your fiancee arriving, that is not remarkable in any way. Our petition was approved in 2 months and no questions asked interview. It was only by our choice because of business concerns that Alla was not here in under four months...no attorney. Attornaeys cannot and do not affect processing time. Except tp make it slower. There is no one that can do it faster than you can do it yourself. That is just a fact. No attorney is going to work on your case on Sunday evening, or at 2 am, it is something you can choose to do. YOU can make it the highest priority in your life...your attorney could also, but will not.

[Old Dominion 26]

All attorneys are NOT useless, if you really need one. In the process of filing AOS, I did contact an immigration attorney who is well-known for her work with those who cannot afford her services at all. She works half-days pro bono, the other half for fees. Her paralegal advised that I was probably capable of preparing the AOS papers myself, but when they were completed, the paralegal would be glad to look them over if need be, but I didn't follow up with her. They went through without a hitch.

The K-1 papers are easy so long as one is careful to follow the very clear instructions. I've done several as favors to friends. I'm amazed at how many ads exist for K-1 preparers, though. I had no idea there were that many lazy USCs.

[sjr09 155]

is it violation of site to call my attorney out and ask for my money back knowing full well he reads this site?

sara

objectionable Content on the Forums

Your video content has no place on the site, let alone on the main forum. Abide by the TOS rules! As a long time member you should no better please remove it.

[sjr09 155]

Not to mention that it's very unlikely that someone from the Philippines would even be granted a tourist visa..... for exactly the reason above..... trying to circumvent the immigration process.

In 2008, the US Embassy in Manila issued 104,243 (B1/B2) visas to Filipinos and another 4,707 (B1) and 811 (B2) visas. It's pretty amazing number for a country that is identified as high fraud.

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY08-AR-TableXVII.pdf

Yeah, sorry. I guess I should have been a little more specific in that I was reading a lot of instances where the visitor visa applicants were turned down for failure to prove that they weren't trying to bypass immigration. In other words.... doing what the lawyer said.... enter as a visitor then marry and adjust status. Sorry. Having a hard time getting my point across. I guess I'll shut up now. lol

On another note...... we are receiving reports regarding some of the posts. This may be a good time to post this information from the TOS:

No Endorsement. Visajourney.com does not endorse, support, represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any communications or Content Posted via the Service. These communications and Posts express the views of the author and not necessarily the views of VisaJourney.com. You acknowledge that any reliance on Content Posted via the Service (including but not limited to the discussion forums) will be at your own risk.

Information contained on or made available through VisaJourney.com Websites and Services (including but not limited to the discussion forums) is not intended to and does not constitute legal advice, recommendations, mediation or counseling under any circumstance and no attorney-client relationship is formed. Do not act on or rely on any information from VisaJourney.com Websites and Services without consulting with a licensed attorney as this site is not a substitute for obtaining appropriate legal advice from a competent, independent legal counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.

objectionable Content on the Forums

Your video content has no place on the site, let alone on the main forum. Abide by the TOS rules! As a long time member you should no better please remove it.

[Guitarlo 2]

Yes actually they are that useless, they have no choice.

You need to understand that an attorney will do nothing for you and can do nothing for you. There is nothing they CAN do. It is not a legal process. There are no dep[ositions, no objections, no court rules, no motions, no court appearances...it is not a lawsuit.

YOU will gather all the information and give it to them, they cannot fill out a form without you providing the information...impossible. They have no idea of the name of your fiancee's father or his birthdate. How will they get that? YOU will fill it out ona questionaire they give you. Why not fill it out on the G-325a? They do no thave your birth certificate or evidence you have met in person. So, after you produce all the documents and fill out all the forms, in a different format but all the sae information, the attorney gives it to his clerk who i spaid $12 per hour (no need for a para-legal, a data entry clerk will do) and they type the infomration you gave into an online form. That is if they haven't invested some money into a program that scans and scrapes your info and parses it into the I-129f in about 1 second. They print the forms, make some copies and charge you what? $2000? What a deal. Your fiancee goes to the interview, what does the attorney do? Nothing. Goes golfing. IF you get denied he may or may not be of use (for much more money of course, you think the $2000 includes anything but the clerk filling in the forms?) when your fiancee arrives, the attorney will inform you that for "only" an additional $2000 he will file for the AOS for you. What a guy!

If you need to pay someone to fill in your forms, use a visa service which is cheaper and offers more SERVICE. Attorney defenders will be along to point out that visa services are not licensed or regulated (this is a good thing and results in lower costs for you) and that attorneys have malpractice insurance. Malpracticie insurance protects the attorney from YOU, it does nothing FOR you.

If you need an attorney, you will know it when the time comes, pay them then. Paying them to fill out forms is silly and will get you nothing if you really have a problem as you will then just have to pay more. Keep the form filing fee to yourself and only pay an attorney if and when you need one.

This is the huge falacy of anyone suggesting you hire an attorney from the get-go. The fee they charge is ONLY to fill out forms for a simple application. If you get into some trouble or have problems down the road it will cost you a lot more and it will have nothing to do with how the forms were filled out, isn't possible. The worst you get for mistakes in filling out forms is an RFE, you correct the problem and go on with life.

I couldnt agree more. My attorney did nothing. I was naive. I should have joined VJ and saved myself $1800.00! BTW - I did all the follow up leg work with the Embassy and corrected the problems myself e.g. mispelled name, wrong sex. If it had been up to the attorney, who was never in I can't imagine what would have happened. Thank heavens I caught on and took over the process myself.

[Boiler 45,467]

I missed the video!

Anything interesting?

[sara..... 371]

I missed the video!

Anything interesting?

dont know i didnt get to see it either

sara

[Krikit 1,164]

I presume he's talking about the image in my sig.

[Boiler 45,467]

I was hoping for something more interesting.

[sara..... 371]

I presume he's talking about the image in my sig.

and that is tos why?

sara

[Kathryn41 3,205]

As per Captain Ewok's instructions, if you have any concerns about moderation, please send them to the Administration for review. You can contact Captain Ewok directly by using the contact form: http://www.visajourney.com/contact/

Post containing inappropriate comments has been removed.

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

Hi all. Let me clarify. It is understandable to be frustrated when there may be a decision made that you do not agree with by a mod. That is normal and I expect that not everyone will agree on things. That said, my concern is that sometimes the mods get beat up pretty bad for just trying to do their jobs. My general policy is that if you find a decision by a modthat you disagree with then to please contact myself via the contact us form and ask for me to review it. I will review the decision and uphold or modify as needed. Moderators are held to the same standards as every member (and then some) and I know they do try hard. If in general the issue is that I have not communicated a TOS policy to the mods to enforce (not properly given guidance) I will fix that. This process allows us to improve moderation and not foster a divisive or confrontation environment. I am here to help and the mods are too. Again feel free to shoot me a message via the contact us form any time -- I promise to review your concern and reply back (if I am offline it may take a little longer).

[FrostyMist 1]

First thing my fiance and I did when we started our visa journey was to buy a visa and immigration "how to" book. It cost us $30 each (I brought a copy for myself, he got one for himself) but I think it was a worthy investment. And, we can also sell both of them after we're done. The particular book I have is really good because whilst it's aim is to tell you pretty much what a decent attorney will do for my standard cases, it does also tell you when you would need to seek actual legal advice.

As most people on here have said already though; visajourney.com is a really invaluable resource for information. Since our packet 3 arrived, I've actually been using VJ far more than I have our visa book. Infortmation I've found here is oftentimes much more specific, and at least it doesn't get as easily out-dated (unlike the visa book I have, which already has forms in it that are out of date)

Only you can know whether your case really does require legal assistance. Myself, and other VJers here, can only advise you based on our own experiences. When I began my visa journey, I was strongly encouraged by many members of another community to seek legal advise. The outcome of our visa application was a concern to me, because our case isn't quite as straightforwards as some here. However, in the end, my fiance and I decided that at least for the I-129F stage, we would handle the application ourselves.

Our I-129F was approved with no problems, so whilst it was a bit of a leap of faith to trust we could get everything right (I know those forms can seem daunting!) it did pay off. Looking back, I think I would have only stressed and worried that our attorney (had we had one) was not making the effort to check and re-check every tiny little detail for errors, which I knew I would happily do until 5am if need be.

We've opted to continue the rest of our K1 visa journey ourselves. At this point, I really don't know what an attorney could do that we aren't able to do for ourselves already.