Lawyer or not

[Soapz 14]

I also adjusted from F1 - and did it without a lawyer.

I did consult with an immigration attorney - who admitted after some digging - that all he does is fill out the paperwork - check your evidence and then give you his personal opinion whether the evidence is enough or not. I figured I can do that myself.

I think the biggest issue is - like Jim said - if your case is rather simple (and your case sounds like it), you will not need the additional expense of a lawyer on top of the fees. But, if it makes you feel better, get a lawyer.

Now, finding a lawyer - like aosapplicant stated it - would be great. Problem here is, in my opinion, to find out if a lawyer is really good at immigration proceedings you will have to know much more than just some basic info in regards to immigration proceedings.

In general, I found out that there are actually lawyers out there who advertise as immigration lawyers and they barely know the basics.

Whatever you choose: Good luck! And if you have specific questions, just ask...

[Justine+David 218]

Thousands of people have gone through this process (who have uncomplicated cases) without a hitch, largely due to this site AND without a lawyer.

What types of responses would you expect from this kind of board?

[Darnell 8,479]

Is it only attorneys who are useless and fail to do their jobs properly?

So, no real interest on doing that homework. OK, I get it -

but

mostly? Lawyers are abhorred here, at the VisaJourney DIY Immigration Web Portal.

[Darnell 8,479]

ya, the choice for choosing an attorney is a tough one, you betcha.

Here's what I write about it, every few months here at VJ:

VJ is a great DIY immigration portal, with an emphasis on 'Y' and 'D'.

The guides are great, mostly (if only they'd kill the K-3 instructions)

and the mentoring here is great, also - we tend to 'pay it forward', most of the time.

Getting a lawyer sometimes is necessary, here's my guidelines about it:

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. You are concerned with time, I am concerned with your 'knowledge acquisition', as knowledge is power. You can have 'it' good, fast or cheap - pick 2.

[aosapplicant 3]

I can't tell what is your concern, but mine is that NO ONE ever falls victim and pays with their entire future life for any errors

committed that could have been avoided.

Hiring a good immigration attorney could be indispensable and save ones' future and future of the loved ones, all at the cost of

couple thousands of dollars that worth nothing in comparison to what might be at stakes.

[paojack 41]

I can't tell what is your concern, but mine is that NO ONE ever falls victim and pays with their entire future life for any errors

committed that could have been avoided.

Hiring a good immigration attorney could be indispensable and save ones' future and future of the loved ones, all at the cost of

couple thousands of dollars that worth nothing in comparison to what might be at stakes.

I am NO lawyer, have absolutely NO knowledge of US Immigration Laws AND was able to AOS myself very easily as many others here have done. I did not need an attorney to ''save my future and my loved ones for a couple thousands''...

But don't get me wrong, I have nothing against attorneys, Would I ever hire one? Maybe, if I had a very hard case I would, otherwise I would not.

In the OP's case, seems like their case is pretty simple and if they are willing and have the time to fill out the forms themselves I don't see why they would need to hire a lawyer and waste their money.

[BBCC 16]

In my brief experience with this process, my impressions are that using an attorney will only slow things down. They have absolutely no incentive to expedite their handling of document submission on your behalf. Further, since due to their case load, I can't imagine they would have any attention to detail at all. They know the general process so will have a general template in their minds and pursue it. There is no guarantee that they have the experience to handle every possible complication and you may be paying them in the end to reseach any resolutions to complications that arise in your particular process. You could easily do this leg work yourself.

Nothing can compensate taking the time and concentration to study the resource on this and other simliar sites, learning the process from beginning to start, getting your documents all ready to submit well in advance and moving it along at your own pace.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Anything CAN [not WILL but CAN] go wrong, including even an adjudicating officer having a fit of rage with her boyfriend in the morning and denying your case as a matter of having a horrible mood and all the rest around her supporting her decision as a matter of collegial solidarity.

Ridiculous. A IO cannot deny based on a bad mood. The adjudication process is not capricious.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

**** Many posts removed. If you wish to discuss lawyers or the trustworthyness of tradesmen/ professions in general, you can do so in the Off Topic forum. This is an immigration forum and if you do not have advice directly related to the OP's case, do not post. This is an official mod warning, thread bans are next. *****

Edited March 19, 2012 by Penguin_ie

[ddyluis 0]

THAT IS A VERY PERSONAL DECISION, BUT FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES I WILL RECOMEND HIRING A LAWYER, I HAD A FRIEND WHO DIDN'T HIRE A LAWYER WENT TO THE INTERVIEW AND IT WENT TOO ROUGHT, TO MAKE THE STORY SHORT THE OFFICER WAS AN A$$ AND GAVE HIM HELL. A LAWYER COULD ACTUALLY PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENENING JUST ADD YOUR PROS AND CONS AND AT THE END IT DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSONAL CASE.

[ValerieA 350]

My lawyer actually was a hindrance. She came highly recommended (when I was doing the CR-1 process) and she was well-experienced - in Mexican CR-1 cases. Unfortunately, she did not investigate the differences between Canada vs Mexico requirements, and thus failed to let me know I needed a more comprehensive criminal record check (because I had a criminal record). It takes 6 months to a year to get one of these, and I was already in the US. This was, obviously, a contributing factor (one of several) that caused us to decide to switch to AOS. In addition, it is not actually the lawyer who fills out the paperwork, it is a paralegal or even lower level employee. She was supposed to review it, I suppose, but when I picked up my copy, it was FULL of mistakes - wrong mother's maiden name, wrong marriage date, just to name two. In the end, I realized it would have been better for me to fill it out, since I had to get the info together for them in the first place anyway. I wouldn't have made any of those mistakes.

So, from my experience, well, I will certainly not be using a lawyer for ROC or naturalization. With the help of Visa Journey, you can fill out the forms easily yourself, save a bunch of money, get it done faster and more accurately.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I can't tell what is your concern, but mine is that NO ONE ever falls victim and pays with their entire future life for any errors

committed that could have been avoided.

Hiring a good immigration attorney could be indispensable and save ones' future and future of the loved ones, all at the cost of

couple thousands of dollars that worth nothing in comparison to what might be at stakes.

By the same token, a lawyer who does a shoddy job can actually CAUSE these problems, and STILL take your money. Spend some time on these forums and you'll find a sufficient number of horror stories by people whose lives have been wrecked by incompetent attorneys, usually because the client didn't know any better and just let the attorney handle everything.

I've had both good and bad experiences with attorneys. Every good experience was because I educated myself as much as possible, and was able to be an active client. I helped my attorneys avoid mistakes, and also made sure they were aware of facts that were important and relevant. I didn't ask boneheaded questions, and my attorneys appreciated that they didn't have to explain simple concepts to me. What I relied on them for was their prior experience, their insight into the judge hearing the case, and their knowledge of courtroom procedures.

As I said before, immigration is usually a bureaucratic process rather than a legal one. Most people with average intelligence, who are willing to study a little and learn what they're supposed to do, will not need an attorney. Someone who isn't willing to expend any effort at all into educating themselves has a much higher chance of failure, even with the best attorney.