Just starting the K-1 process. Lawyer needed? Fees?

[Mateo&Raquel 28]

I have a lawyer and my fees were no where near $3740. Plus not everyone's case is the same. When looking for a lawyer, you do not just go for the best sounding firm you see.. Its called doing some research and being smart before hiring. People can find very helpful info here..and yes a person can do this on their own..but anyone can make a mistake, not just a lawyer. It all comes down to if the person feels better with a lawyer, or on their own. I was about to do this all on my own with info from others in this process, and then by the Grace of God, found out that I was very misinformed..So I for one am Very Glad I have a lawyer..and no Im not rich. In fact I have been unemployed for the last 3 months..my employer fired me because my fiancee is latina..he said that he is doing me a favor because its not natural to be with someone from another race..well he did me a favor alright..Im about to be working with some amazing people and making a better living for Raquel and I ...back to the topic..I just felt it was best for my fiancee and I to go with a lawyer, and it was for us. With that being said, the person filing needs to do what makes them feel the most comfortable. God Bless!

[tazzie 6]

You really don't need a lawyer if your application is straight forwad. We used one for the K1 Visa Application and it was money wasted! The lawyer cost us a 8 week delay. Honestly if you follow the guidelines and post any queries you will be fine. We are about to start of AOS no lawyer this time. Best of luck no matter which way you go.

Edited July 28, 2012 by tazzie

[inlovebutstressed 1]

Hi, all. I'm new, and confused! I live in the US and my fiancé is from Canada. We just visited an attorney and were given the fees as follows:

Attorney flat fee: $2100

Adjustment of status: $1080

Filing fee per person: $1300 (=$2,600)

In the end she is expecting over $6,000 from us.

Does this make any sense? I've not seen anywhere where any site says that it will cost over 1,000 dollars per person to file. Our case is pretty straight forward and we're wondering if we would be better off hiring someone to prepare the documents, or do it ourselves, rather than hire a lawyer.

I've done a fair amount of research so far, but am still having trouble with these particular concerns.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[jkelly07 120]

if you dont have any problems in the past with immigration, you dont need a lawyer to full in the blanks on the 1-129f with the information you supply to him. do it yourself read the guides follow some examples forms ask vjmembers for help you will be o.k.

[LSnBigBear 61]

This process may seem overwhelming at first but it is truely not if you follow the great guides on this sight. I hired an Attorney in 2008 which cost me more money and more work. In the end I broke it all off even with my ex (not due to Attorney). This time I did our I129F along with my Fiancee. I found doing this journey together brought us even closer then we were. So far it only cost me an extra DHL shipment for her Documents as I did not notice an error until I received it. No big deal it just delayed us two weeks. Save your money and do it on your own...

[Que Saudade 284]

To add my 2 cents in. I concur wholeheartedly with not needing a lawyer, except (as one wise post pointed out) if there is a unusual or criminal background involved.

With the being said, I would encourage you to read BEFORE filing the guides and read some posts. A few extra days spent researching may save you a RFE later (which may cost you weeks). Most mistakes I have seen involve the petitioner not doing something correctly. If you choose the K1 process, get an idea of the entire process versus the CR1. There always seems to be some confusion between the two at some point. Knowing what comes next also keeps the mind busy preparing for that event.

On my signature are links that are helpful. The first 2 would apply to you. Dive in, the water is not too deep. If you have concerns, ask specific questions. People will respond quickly here.

Be prepared to wait. It is the hardest part of this process. We all have either done our part of waiting, or still waiting for something to be approved. We understand being apart and how bad it sucks. We know the elation when someone says approved. VJ becomes like a second home because everyone understands how difficult this process is on our psychological well being.

Good luck and welcome to VJ

[Jamnan_n_Steve 17]

I decided to hire an attorney (in Thailand) not so much to assist me with filling out forms, but to provide support for my fiancee in her language. For the cost of one airline ticket I have local support for her, which has worked well for us so far (our K1 application was approved promptly and is on its way to NVC).

I urge anyone considering an attorney to evaluate where you and your fiance(e) may need help with the process and choose accordingly after thoroughly vetting whomever you find - the internet search is a starting point, but cannot substitute for due diligence.

steve

of Jamnan_n_Steve

[David M 0]

You do not need an attourney......they charge worthless fees.....you can do this yourself...someone here will be glad to help you......it really is not difficult

Why pay a lawyer for what you can do yourself. Many lawyers take your money and this is when the problems begin. I prepared all of my wife's forms for immigration. On the VisaJourney website, this site, there are a lot of us that will help you for free. Others helped us and now we will help you. Have faith, you can do this a lot easier yourself without the headached and overpriced cost of a lawyer who won't lift a finger to do anything but sign documents his secretaries prepared for you. Are you as smart as a typical secretary. If so, proceed on your own. We will help you.

[David M 0]

Why pay a lawyer for what you can do yourself. Many lawyers take your money and this is when the problems begin. I prepared all of my wife's forms for immigration. On the VisaJourney website, this site, there are a lot of us that will help you for free. Others helped us and now we will help you. Have faith, you can do this a lot easier yourself without the headached and overpriced cost of a lawyer who won't lift a finger to do anything but sign documents his secretaries prepared for you. Are you as smart as a typical secretary. If so, proceed on your own. We will help you.

[bobnleth 2]

I'm thinking of becoming a k1 lawyer, exclusively handling straight forward i-129f petitions/AOS. They make a bunch load of money on sending the papers you filled out and documents/evidence you collected for them.

With lawyer, the petition(i-129f, the first stage only) and lawyer fees will cost you.. 3740 dollars or something similar.

Without the lawyer, the petition(i-129f, the first stage only) will cost you.. 340 dollars (plus shipping it through mail). PLus you'll get the notifications directly from USCIS.

When your case is straight forward, save that lawyer fee, put it into an account and use it for the later fees you're going to run into. Medical, a neat honeymoon, AOS, an extra car after arriving in the US, or anything unforseen.

However, if you're more comfortable with having a lawyer, then go for it. From my own personal aspect, I'd be freaking out if somebody else was in control of my immigration journey. If anybody makes a mistake, I'd rather I'd be me not checking a box instead of an attourney.

I never used an Attorney for my petition. I just read a lot and used VJ for help. All the forms are available and easy to fill out. Attention to details is the key to no RFE's, so pay attention to every block on every form.

I would advise just doing it all yourself and forego the attorney and paralegal.

[akatheone 6]

I would say this is a personal choice i did not know anything about this process when i started and decided to go with a paralegal instead of an attorney . i found a website called rapidvisa and used them for the process. so far it has worked well for me their fee was reasonable ,,-under 400 dollars and everything was filled out online and then they reviewed all my documents for errors and answered any questions I had over the phone. Go with your gut. i think an attorney is expensive and more usefull if you have background issues that may affect getting a visa . Doing this by yourself is not easy and even though this site is helpfull i wont say its passes for legal advise on such a serious matter, plus its always good to have someone else review your petition as its very common to find errors that you missed even though u reviewed them several times. goodluck

[MSM 0]

I think you should not get a lawyer ... sometimes they do ridiculous mistakes like old forms .. wrong infos ... I already saw lots and lots of problems in a group of brazilians that americans laywers did ...

you will pay so much for something u could do by yourself ... my fiance did everything by himself and the only help he needed he called USCIS to resolve some problems ... or I asked a local group .. in my case the brazilian one .. so you will receive the right answers .. cause every consul will be diferent ...

like here we dont need the packet 3 anymore .. and we need to many proofs .. and we talks about experiences etc .. you should try to find a local group and try to get as most info u can before apply your k1 visa ...

Not hard at all ... read some posts and good luck .. you will be fine ...

[newlyweds2010 208]

I think you should not get a lawyer ... sometimes they do ridiculous mistakes like old forms .. wrong infos ... I already saw lots and lots of problems in a group of brazilians that americans laywers did ...

you will pay so much for something u could do by yourself ... my fiance did everything by himself and the only help he needed he called USCIS to resolve some problems ... or I asked a local group .. in my case the brazilian one .. so you will receive the right answers .. cause every consul will be diferent ...

like here we dont need the packet 3 anymore .. and we need to many proofs .. and we talks about experiences etc .. you should try to find a local group and try to get as most info u can before apply your k1 visa ...

Not hard at all ... read some posts and good luck .. you will be fine ...

This is called malpractice. There are remedies against it, such as filing a claim with the State Bar. The problem is not hiring a lawyer, but hiring an incompetent lawyer.

[CANbirdUSman 11]

Hello to Saralan, from beneficiary in Vancouver, CANADA.....

My fiance & I did our K1 ourselves, with LOTS of guidance from this site.

We considered hiring a lawyer at first, but realized it wasn't that difficult and we'd be saving $. This site is so helpful. You really can do it without a lawyer.

Whatever you decide to do is up to you. VJ will be here to help.

Cheers & Happy Journey!!

ps- I just got my K1-VISA last week

Edited August 2, 2012 by CANbirdUSman

[sara..... 371]

we are not attorneys we can not tell you NOT to use an attorney......as we dont know if your case is complicated or have the ability to make that kind of judgment for you

with that being said my first round with k-1 we used an attorney was a waste of money......we thought we had a complicated case and thought he would address the issues we thought we had that made it complicated he did not if we had done it our-self we would have addressed those two issues and would in most probability made our two year wait for noa2 a lot less time

just my opinion

sara