Filing Yourself vs. Lawyer?

[Justdazed 1]

My FH and I just had a consultation with our lawyer on Friday. During the consultation the Lawyer said that his fee's will cost about $5000+ for filing, paralegal etc.

My question is for those who have filed themselves, how much were the fees compared to $5000+? Did you find it easy?

I'm afraid one small thing will set me back when it shouldn't have.

[KarenCee 3]

I do believe if you read the guides, you will see this is a process you can do yourself....and for a heck of a lot less than 5K. Unless you have a complicated case, you really don't need a lawyer.

[britbird 4]

It's easy...all the lawyer will do is charge you for asking you questions that the application form will ask you to provide anyway. You might as well cut out the middle man unless you have particular problems with your legal history or language problems that prohibit you from understanding the forms correctly. $5000 is a crazy amount to spend when you will be doing all the work anyhow.

[Mand 1]

We used a lawyer for the K1, though it didn't cost as much as that!!! We didn't know about VJ and all it offers which is why we went the lawyer route. BUT, we found out that USCIS approved our case BEFORE the lawyer did!! as Rob had signed up to track the case. So, we were kinda ahead of the lawyer after all that!

We did the AOS ourselves and to be honest..I prefer it this way. It gives me some sense of control over the whole process. Plus, if it's a straight-forward-case, the lawyer merely fills out the paperwork...you still have to collect all the documentation (birth certs, etc) And as it's your own life you're dealing with, I think you're more inclined to check, double-check and re-check everything. It also helps if paperwork doesn't freak you out. I found filing for AOS ourselves, gave me something to do here, as I can't work here yet.

I would suggest to read over the guides here (are they pinned somewhere since the seerver issue?) and see how comfortable you would be going solo.

Best of Luck to you

Edit: Spelled freak as "freal"!

Edited January 30, 2006 by Mand

[Justdazed 1]

It's easy...all the lawyer will do is charge you for asking you questions that the application form will ask you to provide anyway. You might as well cut out the middle man unless you have particular problems with your legal history or language problems that prohibit you from understanding the forms correctly. $5000 is a crazy amount to spend when you will be doing all the work anyhow.

We have a cut and dry case: no previous marriages, no criminal records, no children. The lawyer just scared us by telling us how this one couple furthered their K1 process by 2 1/2 years because of errors.

[araz87 0]

Don't be afraid to do it yourself...once you start the process you will see that there are no mysteries to it. Just read the guides here, ask questions, and pay attention to detail. You'll be glad you saved the $$ in the end. Good luck!

[Justdazed 1]

We used a lawyer for the K1, though it didn't cost as much as that!!! We didn't know about VJ and all it offers which is why we went the lawyer route. BUT, we found out that USCIS approved our case BEFORE the lawyer did!! as Rob had signed up to track the case. So, we were kinda ahead of the lawyer after all that!

We did the AOS ourselves and to be honest..I prefer it this way. It gives me some sense of control over the whole process. Plus, if it's a straight-forward-case, the lawyer merely fills out the paperwork...you still have to collect all the documentation (birth certs, etc) And as it's your own life you're dealing with, I think you're more inclined to check, double-check and re-check everything. It also helps if paperwork doesn't freak you out. I found filing for AOS ourselves, gave me something to do here, as I can't work here yet.

I would suggest to read over the guides here (are they pinned somewhere since the seerver issue?) and see how comfortable you would be going solo.

Best of Luck to you

Edit: Spelled freak as "freal"!

That's another thing I'm concerned about, while I know what the k-1 does, I'm not entirely familiar with all the separate paperwork or when to file what.

I'm sure if I had everything in hand I could handle it better.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

When I initially started this process I had a consultation with a lawyer -- I called around to several, and they were all, at most, half of the 5 grand your lawyer is quoting.

[Justdazed 1]

When I initially started this process I had a consultation with a lawyer -- I called around to several, and they were all, at most, half of the 5 grand your lawyer is quoting.

yeah I was floored when he said that much *roughly*

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

If you have a cut and dried case and going through Canada, I wouldn't spend that money. For me, the consultation was enough and worth it, but I did the rest myself, using the guides on this site. I wouldn't spend 5k, no way.

[Mand 1]

That's another thing I'm concerned about, while I know what the k-1 does, I'm not entirely familiar with all the separate paperwork or when to file what.

I'm sure if I had everything in hand I could handle it better.

Believe me you can, read the guides, take your time and you'll be fine. It seems daunting and scary, but you can do it This site offers so much info, and people will guide you when you need help. There are example forms above that you can fill out with your own info and print off.

Print off the guides and take a week to read over them at your ease. Write a list of everything you need...official forms, copies of birth certs etc, and tick each one off as you gather it.

Realx, breathe and you WILL be able to do it

[Justdazed 1]

That's another thing I'm concerned about, while I know what the k-1 does, I'm not entirely familiar with all the separate paperwork or when to file what.

I'm sure if I had everything in hand I could handle it better.

Believe me you can, read the guides, take your time and you'll be fine. It seems daunting and scary, but you can do it This site offers so much info, and people will guide you when you need help. There are example forms above that you can fill out with your own info and print off.

Print off the guides and take a week to read over them at your ease. Write a list of everything you need...official forms, copies of birth certs etc, and tick each one off as you gather it.

Realx, breathe and you WILL be able to do it

Thank you! I will def talk with my FH about this. I'm pretty sure he'll agree we are more then capable of completing this by ourselves.

[alexcrv76 0]

We did everything by ourselves, from initial K1 to CPR, and despite finding the paperwork kind of annoying, the whole thing wasn't hard at all. It is just a matter of paying attention to what you are doing, we refused to pay crazy money to have someone else do it when we were more than capable to do it ourselves. I never actually thought of how much the total fees were but I can tell you for sure they were way less than 5000 $.

I have to lift conditions in august this year and we are doing it by ourselves once again.

If your case doesn't present any special problem from the beginning, I'd say you do not need a lawyer.

Edited January 30, 2006 by alexcrv76

[mychelle 1]

My FH and I just had a consultation with our lawyer on Friday. During the consultation the Lawyer said that his fee's will cost about $5000+ for filing, paralegal etc.

My question is for those who have filed themselves, how much were the fees compared to $5000+? Did you find it easy?

I'm afraid one small thing will set me back when it shouldn't have.

i just sent ours last saturday although it took me about a month to check and re-check the guides. i browsed the forums and ask questions. also me and my fiance reviewed our application a few times over before giving it a final go ahead.

if you must get a lawyer then you must (if you feel comfortable with that and you don't mind paying for it) but at least try to get a quote from another lawyer. a K1 visa processing should be around 1500-2000 (give or take 500 bucks). oh and if you must know...since the lawyer mentioned a paralegal...i would bet half of that 5 grand that it will be the paralegal doing everything. =/ i should know...i'm a paralegal. we pretty much do everything except give legal advice and represent clients in court. =/ since it's just a visa application (and i don't know if you have show up in court for anything)...i say, you guys should see if you can do it yourself first. if you need help...you can always ask people here at VJ who's been through it and survived. i think everyone has been pretty helpful ever since.

thanks by the way!

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Check the guides!

It may seem overwhelming at first, but most of the people on this board did K-1 (or K-3, or whatever the case may be) all by themselves, as well as the subsequent paperwork required once your significant other gets to the US.

Don't be scared, it's completely and totally do-able. My fiance got to the US a little over 9 months after we filed our the first paperwork.