Doing paper work yourself

[saj102965 1]

I would like as many comments as possible on this subject because my new son-in-law is getting conflicting information from other friends of his from SA who have married US citizens and then filed to adjust status from H2B visas.

Several of his friends are telling him that they did their paperwork by themselves only to have it returned and then they had to employ an attorney. They are telling him that they highly recommend that he get an attorney to avoid prolonging the process. One of them even told them that it took them 5 years to get his green card because all of their paper work was returned then they got a lawyer involved (and I told my son-in-law that the attorney is probably taking to long to file documents and doing them wrong) that is why it has been delayed.

I am a paralegal for 20 years (not in immigration) and I know I can handle preparing and filing all the paperwork. I want to get responses in black and white form VJers so I can show him that this process can be done if the instructions are followed to a "T", and you double and triple check the forms and provide all required proof of your marriage. I explained to him that all an attorney is going to do is take all your information and plug it into the forms, collect your check payalbe to USCIS, along with the attorney's fee which is outrageous since his paralegal will be doing all the legework (I'm speaking from experience) and send all the documents and follow the case just like I would be doing.

Thank you in advance for backing me up on my theory that an attorney, most of the time, will make more mistakes than you would in preparing the doucments because you care more about your own case then the attorney does.

[Winonan 3]

Most of us here filed ourselves without any problems. If you follow the instruction here on the website and the forms itself, you shouldn't have any problems. No need to pay someone to do something you can do it yourself. Unless of course you have a complicated case.

[moroccogirlny 100]

I did the paperwork on my own for AOS, it took a few hours but I saved a grand or more This site definitely helps too

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Thank you in advance for backing me up on my theory that an attorney, most of the time, will make more mistakes than you would in preparing the doucments because you care more about your own case then the attorney does.

I would not agree on this statement.

I have seen more mistakes from non-lawyers doing their own case than the other way around.

However, it really depends on what type of lawyer you go to - a family law lawyer would be more prone to make a mistake than one that just handles immigration.

With that said, I think everyone should know in advance the process (reading the instructions, following guides that are on this site IE) and keep track of what their lawyer is doing. Ask questions, demand answers, since your paying for them to do this for you.

After all - it's your process, you should have some insight on the basics.

I do my own legal work when it comes to immigration, but I know when I am in too deep and seek legal guidance when I need to.

[HappyKnappy 30]

Having to go through the process myself, I don't see how these people had their stuff delayed. Our case was filed in June, and I am now waiting for the card, meaning I am done for 2 years with USCIS, in under 3 months.

Honestly, it takes a bit of time, reasoning and care to file the packets, but once you send them, and do it as instructed in VJ's guides, your success rate is incredibly high. The forms are as you say black and white, and if you have experience in legal paperwork, your son in law has a big plus in his corner.

The only reason I think you should hire a lawyer, is if you had something out of the ordinary, really. If he has a clean record, hasn't overstayed, and did not violate any terms of his visa, you are good to go! All that money you'll save can go to something else.

[Clementina 1]

After reading your concerns, I have a few things to say.

It is not necessarily a response that will support 100% one way or another way of doing things.

I am not particularly fond of lawyers, specially because of the price they charge for their time. However, some lawyers are experienced and can be very helpful. Some complex cases, for sure, would require one. Even though my AOS is not a complicated one, my husband and I met with a lawyer just before we started the process and we feel like we received very good advice. There are some "cracks" in the system, a few unsaid or not as obvious situations and an experienced lawyer can make a difference. We paied for her time, and felt it was worth it every penny, but decided we could do the whole process itself on our own. It takes work, but can be done.

What I find by reading some of the questions in this forum is that people do not take their time to read the forms and instructions very carefully. Some of the answers to their questions are very clearly stated in the instructions for each form. So, my perception is that it can be done without a lawyer, provided that your case is not complicated. Knowing if your case is complicated or not is the key issue. I do not regret paying the time of a lawyer before I started the process. It made me feel more secure and diminished my personal stress level to deal with this issue.

[USUY2010 4]

We did everything ourselves we thought we could spare ourselves spending that extra money.

I agree with HappyKnappy, unless there's a serious issue, I wouldn't think of hiring a lawyer.

However, and this is from experience, please read all the forms carefully, and ask any questions you may have here!! Better safe than sorry.

I assumed a lot and that resulted in my I-485 (AOS paperwork) being returned and had to do that all over again. Not fun and slows down things a little bit.

You should be fine. Most everyone here does it on their own and if you read their signatures most of them are stories with happy endings!

Good luck and Happy filing!

Edited August 26, 2010 by USUY2010

[pixie77 2]

We did it ourselves., as long as you read and follow instructions carefully I don't see why you can't do it. As you said, you are a paralagel and you can put your experiences to good use by helping your son in law. In our case, sometimes the paper works became too consuming, confusing, and overwhelming and when that happenened we turned to this forum and did some research on the web and the USCIS website. You can perhaps use your connection as a paralegal to find someone who does immigration. We were very ####### with our paper works, and made sure that it will be easy for USCIS to distinguish which forms and paper works go with what.

Anyway, there are a lot of people here on VJ who can help you and you can learn from their experiences as well. You can also save money.

Good luck on your Visa Journey!!!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Immigration is not a legal process. There are no briefs, no free form petitions, no hearings, courts, or judges. There are no rules of courtroom procedure, and no absolute rules of evidence. Immigration court is an exception, but if you find yourself in immigration court then you're in deep doo doo.

Immigration is 80% bureaucratic, and 20% discretion. If your experience as a paralegal involves dealing with bureaucracies then it may be useful experience. If you find you want or need to read and understand immigration law, then paralegal experience may be helpful, but most people find they can understand the law without prior legal training, and few actually need to read the law in order to navigate the system successfully.

What an immigration lawyer has that most of us lack is specific experience dealing with the bureaucracy, and an understanding of what evidence is likely to persuade. Most of us have only done this once, while an immigration lawyer may have handled hundreds or thousands of cases. You don't actually need a law degree for this. There are many services that have as much experience as most lawyers, and can handle most cases just as well.

What VJ offers is the collected experience of many people who've done this and succeeded, and step-by-step guides based on that experience. It's not the same as the experience a good immigration lawyer can offer, but it's more than enough for most people.

[saj102965 1]

I wanted to thank off you for your responses so far. They all contain great information I intend on passing along to my son-in-law. I totally agree with Jim that there is really no necessity to know immigration law for this process unless you have a complex case. This case is in no way complex. We are filing while his I-94 is still in good standing, he has no criminal history and he has done nothing wrong to complicate his current Visa. I hope more VJers comment on this topic. Please keep it coming. The more evidence I have the more my son-in-law will understand. Thanks again.

[Darnell 8,479]

The thing I like about Visa Journey, much, is that the focus is on DIY - Do It Yourself.

That pre-supposes, mostly, that one either can READ and understand, or accept guidance and use guidance from others.

Personally, I'm not 'anti-lawyer' as much as I am 'pro-DIY' - but - even with that said -

Other considerations on a lawyer -

I'll suggest a coupla things, maybe (maybe...) help you to decide whether you need an attorney or not.

a. read the VJ guides. map the steps out on paper and pencil. See if anything doesn't make sense to you.

b. Read the USCIS web portal about the forms. Map out the steps on paper and pencil. See if anything doesn't make sense to you.

c. Practice filling out the forms, at least 5 times. See if anything still doesn't make sense to you.

d. Have any red flags? Practice writing up attestation letters about each red flag.

Now, after doing (with major emphasis on DOING ) all of the above, if you do NOT understand the forms and the process and potential red flags for your petition,

then I'd suggest getting a good IMMIGRATION lawyer.

[saj102965 1]

Thank you Darnell. That is the thing. I have been studying this website since June and have read so many threads about sucess and failure (more success than failure I might add) and I feel very confident that I am ready (and will begin soon) to start filling out the forms, via the examples, and processing and I feel I will be successful in my endeavor as long as I continue to study and ask questions.

I am not anti-lawyer either (i work for them) but I am of the opinion if you can do it yourself you might as well.

Edited August 26, 2010 by saj102965

[ValerieA 350]

... all an attorney is going to do is take all your information and plug it into the forms, collect your check payalbe to USCIS, along with the attorney's fee which is outrageous since his paralegal will be doing all the legework (I'm speaking from experience) and send all the documents and follow the case just like I would be doing.

Thank you in advance for backing me up on my theory that an attorney, most of the time, will make more mistakes than you would in preparing the doucments because you care more about your own case then the attorney does.

All of the above is correct, with a straightforward case. My lawyer did not just cost me money, she cost me time, and I ended up switching from a CR-1 to an AOS because she did not do her research on required documents from Canada for a CR-1. (Long story). I filled in my own AOS forms because the admin that filled the CR-1 docs in made WAY too many mistakes. She couldn't even get my husband's last name right!

Having said that, ask lots of questions on here, if anything doesn't feel or look right when you are filling them out. And file the I-130 package with the I-485 package (2 envelopes in one package), or you may have issues, we've seen a few of those lately.

[DebbyNSeyi 15]

We did everything ourselves we thought we could spare ourselves spending that extra money.

I agree with HappyKnappy, unless there's a serious issue, I wouldn't think of hiring a lawyer.

However, and this is from experience, please read all the forms carefully, and ask any questions you may have here!! Better safe than sorry.

I assumed a lot and that resulted in my I-485 (AOS paperwork) being returned and had to do that all over again. Not fun and slows down things a little bit.

You should be fine. Most everyone here does it on their own and if you read their signatures most of them are stories with happy endings!

Good luck and Happy filing!

Why did you need you guys need to file an I-485 with your I-130? Are you in the States now?

[Darnell 8,479]

hey - this is the AOS forum - adjusting status from Work, tourist, student visas.

Always, when this type of 'casefile', is best to file I-130 and I-485 concurrently.