Is it worth getting a lawyer?

[Inuki 0]

Would it really be worth having a lawyer during the i29f k1 visa process? I'm the US Citizen and while I'm nervous, I'm also confident. Would the costs outweigh the benefits of having a lawyer on file during this process? Or is it not really needed for this sort of immigration?

[rade2rising 205]

lawyer is needed for ppl that are nervous and want less risk. so if you need a lawyer or not you have to decide.

[Brady&Aija 1]

lawyer is needed for ppl that are nervous and want less risk. so if you need a lawyer or not you have to decide.

I don't think you need a lawyer as long as you don't have a special set of circumstances. IE: old criminal charges, multiple petitions, something that is needed to include in the petition that you can not obtain.

It is best if you are a little #######, like me:), and make sure you give everything needed in your petition. If you have any question about how much or how much is too much etc. or anything. Just ask. There are really great and knowledgeful people here to ask. They respond quickly. It is great! I think that the people here with their combined experience have a lot more great advice and experience than any one lawyer.

I can tell you one thing. Have patience. Expect to wait the longest time for your NOA2. and Pray for the things that are important to you.

[Tintin and Mike 127]

I don't think you need a lawyer as long as you don't have a special set of circumstances. IE: old criminal charges, multiple petitions, something that is needed to include in the petition that you can not obtain.

It is best if you are a little #######, like me:), and make sure you give everything needed in your petition. If you have any question about how much or how much is too much etc. or anything. Just ask. There are really great and knowledgeful people here to ask. They respond quickly. It is great! I think that the people here with their combined experience have a lot more great advice and experience than any one lawyer.

I can tell you one thing. Have patience. Expect to wait the longest time for your NOA2. and Pray for the things that are important to you.

:thumbs:

No need for a lawyer. Save and spend your money on something else.

Good luck!

[filipinaasian 5]

You dont need a lawyer if you want to save money. You and your fiancee can do the paperwork. It just really needs time,effort and patience. Most VJ members have completed the whole process without a lawyer. Just feel free to ask infos you need here. People are so nice and patient enough to answer your queries. Like me and my fiance, we have never done immigration paperwork in our whole life. We are both first timers, but because we read a lot here we are able to gather useful information and help from the members. You can also check from the USCIS website. It explains how to go about the K1 visa.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide here's the link for you to check on how to about the K1 visa. I

Edited November 12, 2012 by sweetie811

[KS_Jayhawk 5]

ditto to the above post. we didn't use a lawyer and never experienced much friction.

[Moomin 292]

When you ask a lawyer, they'll say it's more secure/better to have a lawyer to take care of things.

When you ask a DIY immigration forum, most will say it's better to DIY and stay on top and know the future stages.

A lawyer cannot speed up the process or promise to have your petition(and later on; visa) approved. The biggest advantage I see is that an immigration attourney usually has more experience with the forms and would know how to address any red flags or specifically which papers and documentation are needed.

The downside is that you'll have to find an immigration attourney who is up to date with the K1 process and who knows if your case needs frontloading or not(due to the embassy). Without knowing your country or if there are any issues, it's hard for me(or us) to give a yes/no reply.

VJ has members who used lawyers and were satisfied, even without having any red flags to begin with. And then members who eventually found out that the attourney waited months to submit petition and didn't include everything so they were issues an RFE(requesting the missing information - which takes a month or two extra). Basically, if you're more secure about someone else to handle it, then go ahead.

If your case is straigh forward, the lawyer will be doing nothing else than ask you to gather all sorts of papers, a few pictures and sign papers. THen a lawyers is basically pocketing the money after having spent a a few minuted essembling the petition. In that sense, you will be doing more than a lawyer.

Personally, we acted as our own lawyers and I'm more than satisfied. Try searching for !i129 checklist" or keywaords like that on Visa Journey. It's somewhat standard one here to include a coverletter in the petition, and the cover letter acts as a checklist as well. Those would be all the documents that your attourney will ask for anyways.

[J J Moose 3]

I would say that it depends on the consulate you are dealing with. Even though the process is handled by the U.S. government no matter where you are filing, the way that individual consulates operate varies A LOT.

For starters, we did not have any special circumstances or unusual difficulties. And we didn't have an issue with USCIS. Filing our I-129F went as expected. But once the case was turned over to the consulate in Ghana, it was pretty much a nightmare. I was so glad we had lawyer, because during every single step of the process the US consulate in Ghana misguided us or failed to live up to its responsibilities. They gave us incorrect forms that were outdated and unusable, they gave us incomplete packets, they gave us print-outs of information that told us to bring the wrong amount of passport photos and the wrong amount of money, they scheduled the interview on a public holiday so that the consulate was closed when we arrived and then wouldn't give us a rescheduled date for a week, even though we went there every day and asked when we should come... Once we were interviewed they even handed us copies of my fiance's background check which said "Confidential: to be read by DHS only." That took a call from my lawyer to the state senator, who connected her with the state department, before it got straightened out. And after all that, they misspelled my name on my fiance's visa.

We used our lawyer ALOT. She called the State Dept. on our behalf twice, and our state senators three times. And again, our case was easy- my fiance had never left Ghana, and we had tons of evidence of a 5 year ongoing relationship. The lawyer was expensive, but worth it in the end. If I were you, I would read the consulate reviews here on VJ to know what to expect from your consulate to help you decide whether to hire a lawyer.

By the way, I filed the AOS myself and would definitely recommend skipping the lawyer on that end. In my experience the USCIS is really straightforward, if tedious, and works as expected.

[aws&ndd 103]

I never used a lawyer. Its a waste of time and money because everything is so simple. Just follow instructions and you will be fine. I mailed our petition july 3 and tomorrow she has her visa interview.

[lalla 0]

I never use a lawyer either.I just follow the instructions and did excatly how vj instructed and all went fine. If you have lots of red flags and you will feel comfortable taking a lawyer, then go for it, otherwise you dont need one.All the steps are on here to follow and ask question if you have one.

Good luck with your Journey!!!!

[Hannah B 16]

We had a complicated case and received noa2 with no lawyer. Just a lot of care and attention to our application, researching our questions on this website and a lot of patience. No lawyer will know your lives and relationship better than u. If u are confident u meet the criteria then i would advise u to do it yourself.

[Xanax 349]

This is a DIY process, as long as you can read,write and understand English and your fiance(e) can also (or has someone who can translate) and you have no complications in your case.

[P A U L 14]

isn't there an interview somewhere here where a USCIS adjudicator said lawyers are unnecessary? now where did that go...

[afoyoswa 178]

We went the DIY route, and just received K-1 visa approval from a fairly difficult consulate. I spent a LOT of time and energy on the initial petition & accompanying evidence, and it seems to have paid off with an RFE-free NOA2 and a very quick, pleasant interview/approval. I'm not sure how a lawyer would have made this any more straightforward than it was, and it would have added stress to the process for me not to be able to double-check everything before it was sent in. Even if you use a lawyer, you still need to be educated enough about the process to know when the lawyer is getting things wrong, so in my opinion it doesn't seem like it would really be too helpful except in a complicated case.