Paid Service VS DIY

[poppscc 0]

Did you pay for a service to do your paperwork or self service?

A buddy of mine is doing a k1 soon, and he suggested that I let someone else handle the paperwork. Is it worth having someone else handle your paperwork?

[kitkat1 5]

Most people here would recommend doing the paperwork on your own - it's not worth it to pay someone since you will still have to gather all of the required documentation. If you feel confident filling out the form and providing the necessary documentation, there really is no reason to pay someone and it may end up slowing things down.

[Waiting in Vancouver 6]

We have done all of our own paperwork up to this point and will continue that way till we are complete ... I am not sure how we would have got this far without the help from the members of VJ though ...

The way I see it is, who better to give you advice than 1000s of other people who have been through the process or are going through the process ... VJ is filled with so much knowledge and experience ...

If you do decide to get a lawyer then make sure that you are getting an experienced immigration lawyer ...

[rosyanne 0]

I believe many people have the same concern. I once too asking myself should I hire an attorney? I almost did. But then I found out that no one could help you speed up the process. I did it myself. By using a visa kit and visit the forum often, we manage to get the visa just fine. And I am so happy that I didn't spend $1500 on an attorney.

[Caladan 19]

It's probably worth running your case by an experienced attorney, even if you don't use them throughout the whole process.

But as for submitting the paperwork, if you're just worried about time, the I-129F and G-325A, letter of intent, itself took about three hours, total. Gathering the evidence and organizing it took longer, but you'd have to do that on your own anyway.

[Jasman0717 9]

We did all the forms ourselves using the examples here on VJ as a guide and blew right through the K1 and the AOS. Unless there is some sort of complex situation I would recommend doing it yourself and save a few bucks.

[Dean iWait 0]

I used a service. Paid $575. They prepared all the documents etc. and sent them to me and my fiancee for signing. I sent them the package before I sent it in to USCIS for them to review and make sure everything was in order. If I had found VJ before I may not have used them. But they advised me to send a copy of my fiancee's birth cert. The advise here on VJ has generally been not to send it. Recently some peeps here on VJ have received RFE's asking for a copy of the fiancee's (beneficiary) birth cert. So now that I have seen that I'm glad I used them.

[Arazia 0]

We handled all our paperwork ourselves. Still too early in the game for us to know if it will pay off or not.