Is a K-1 Fiance Visa Lawyer a waste of time?

[goodlucklife 44]

I have a lawyer that actually went through the K-1 process himself. So I feel great about having him as he is talkign through each step and taking that nervousness out of the process for me. I think its worth every penny!!!

[Waiting234 18]

Some might think a lawyer is good to have, but most of the questions you will have can be answered in this forum or in the Guides. If your case gets complicating and someone here recommends to see a lawyer who would rather not answer your question, you could always go see a lawyer for that particular issue. They would probably only charge you for 15 or 30 minutes if you asked all your questions together.

If you do use a lawyer, be prepared. If the lawyer has to spend hours preparing what you should have done in the first place, then you just wasted hundreds of dollars for things you are going to wind up filling out or researching anyway. Most lawyers do not mind spending 30 minutes with you here and there.

In NJ, lawyers get $400 per hour, so $100 for a 15 minute consultation. In other areas, usually much less.

[Bree01 0]

I read in some prior posts that obtaining a lawyer for your K-1 visa processing is a waste of time because they slow down the process and have no pull with the embassy. But is there any added security to hiring a lawyer(specifically the online K-1 fiance visa lawyers)when beginning your application. My fiance is coming from a high risk country and I was considering hiring a lawyer online and spending no more than a $1000 for their services.

I thought a lawyer could help me dot all my i's and cross all my t's. This is very important to me and I'm willing to pay for some added security if it exists. However, the forum posts I read have given me second thoughts seeing how I've already purchased a book on filing a K-1 Fiance Visa and have a good understanding of the process.

I like to error on the side of caution when dealing with bureaucracies so does a visa lawyer have advantages?

It can be done on your own, just make sure you follow all instructions word for word when filing. Also be aware that it can POSSIBLY be a lengthy process depending on what road blocks could arise...one thing that messed my fiance and I up is when he went to his medical exam they asked him is he had ever used recreational drugs, specifically marijuana and he admitted to using it even though it was over 2 years ago, which he shouldn't have even admitted to, although according to the guidelines they use to determine substance abuse or addiction his admitted use was not considered by either definitions and he took a urine drug screen, which was negative, but the physician performing the exam actually put on the documents he sent to the embassy that my fiance used 6 months prior!!! This was false but we had no way to do anything about it. They made us wait an additional 6 months and go for a second medical exam, which was a huge headache for us but in the end it all worked out...So one pointer that we were unaware of is (if your fiance has ever tried anything) tell your fiance just say no when asked about this because even if your honest they will screw you over and deny you. Many times they seem to pass judgement based on looks so often they will require a drug screen either way so as long as there is no self admittance of drug use and the test is negative then that can prevent having to go through what we went through. Also after we finally got approved we were in administrative processing for 6 weeks prior to finally receiving my fiance's visa, which we actually just received yesterday! Just giving you some ideas of things that may happen so that you feel prepared even if the wait is longer then expected...we had no clue about these things and it would have been nice to know. We didn't use a lawyer and while they might have been able to give a few pointers to prevent what we went through I think you can do it on your own and have many questions answered on this site. WIshing you all the best and that your process goes smoothly

[Moomin 292]

You can pay me 200 dollars for checking the i's and t's and I'll do a better and more efficient job than a lawyer.

1 - search VJ for words like red flag and your country, or look at embassy reviews from your embassy. This is to understand what exactly a lawyer can't prepare you for unless he/she asks those specific questions. Things you might not consider possible bumps could easily turn out to be one - or on the contrary; it may help you calm down.

2 - A lawyer can't provide a guarentee that the petition will be approved. Not only that, but he/she can't always help on the other side of the pond(non-USC gathering documents).

3 - A good immigration attourney won't only charge you 1000 dollars unless they're just out to make easy money because there really isn't anything stopping you from doing it yourself. In such case, the only thing the lawyer does is put it in an envelope after YOU submitted all documents to the lawyer. Some on VJ got "a good deal" with a lawyer but found out later on that they couldn't just ask the lawyer questions through mail/phone/in person more than twice unless they wanted to be charged extra. Too bad when the first question was "any news yet".

If you decide to hire a lawyer, make sure you have a copy of the i129f petition that they submitted, a copy of NOA1 and NOA2 and any other correspondence to/from USCIS.

And if you're really, really bad at paperwork, paying a lawyer is an expensive way to never learn how to submit paperwork. You'll have embassy, later on AOS, then ROC and then citizenship(if so) and lawyering up each time will cost you the down payment of a house, basically.

Edited March 2, 2013 by moomin

[Sveta & Ron 23]

as many here knows I hired a lawyer and only had complaints about it even had lack of advice in which case caused a 2 month delay and cost to change ticket

[nunya business 20]

I used WWW.Rapidvisa.com very helpful and they will answer any concerns you have and they will even talk to you to ease your fears while you wait and it costs alot less then a lawyer.

Edited March 2, 2013 by AndyandMarissa

[Sayha or bust. 71]

It was worth the 2000 dollars I paid. I didn't have time because of work. Another thing was her English was very poor and her country's language was not her primary language so they brushed her up on her Vietnamese and English a month prior to interview, So people can have their opinions of not hiring an attorney and if you don't and not well prepared it could be a very long time before your loved one is with you.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

You can pay me 200 dollars for checking the i's and t's and I'll do a better and more efficient job than a lawyer.

1 - search VJ for words like red flag and your country, or look at embassy reviews from your embassy. This is to understand what exactly a lawyer can't prepare you for unless he/she asks those specific questions. Things you might not consider possible bumps could easily turn out to be one - or on the contrary; it may help you calm down.

2 - A lawyer can't provide a guarentee that the petition will be approved. Not only that, but he/she can't always help on the other side of the pond(non-USC gathering documents).

3 - A good immigration attourney won't only charge you 1000 dollars unless they're just out to make easy money because there really isn't anything stopping you from doing it yourself. In such case, the only thing the lawyer does is put it in an envelope after YOU submitted all documents to the lawyer. Some on VJ got "a good deal" with a lawyer but found out later on that they couldn't just ask the lawyer questions through mail/phone/in person more than twice unless they wanted to be charged extra. Too bad when the first question was "any news yet".

If you decide to hire a lawyer, make sure you have a copy of the i129f petition that they submitted, a copy of NOA1 and NOA2 and any other correspondence to/from USCIS.

And if you're really, really bad at paperwork, paying a lawyer is an expensive way to never learn how to submit paperwork. You'll have embassy, later on AOS, then ROC and then citizenship(if so) and lawyering up each time will cost you the down payment of a house, basically.

I was able to do the AOS without a lawyer . I too hired one for my K1 and K2. I say the latter part of your statement is untrue unless the petitioner lacks a basic understanding of English.

[Karee 4,191]

My lawyer basically didn't even know IR-1/CR-1 existed. He kept telling me K-3 was my only option. He sat on my paperwork for 1 month minimum before sending the I-130, and then when NVC time rolled around, it took him 3 months to get through that. They ONLY reason he got through that was because I kept pushing him and telling him what needs to happen next with information I got from this website. If it wasn't for this website, my wife might still be sitting in Thailand.

So I basically paid $1800 to delay my wife's visa for 3 months. Doesn't seem like that good of a deal to me. And this from a lawyer that claimed to have 10k plus marriage/fiance visa approvals under his belt.

Basically your just another piece of paper to the lawyer. They get your money up front, so what reason do they have to make sure your paperwork gets done in a timely manner or gets done correctly? Pretty much no incentive. Hiring that lawyer was a HUGE mistake. As someone stated above, all they do is fill out the forms. The petitioner and the beneficiary have to do all the legwork collecting documents etc., not the lawyer.

If there's some issue like a criminal conviction, deportation or ban, then by all means a COMPETENT lawyer is needed. If you don't have anything like that hanging over your head, and as someone stated above, can fill out a job application, I can't see any benefit in hiring a lawyer. Quite frankly it's somewhat comical to even think a lawyer is needed to fill out a few forms. I wish I had found this website before I hired them. The lawyer had me convinced without legal representation I was taking a huge risk trying to go it alone.

[X Factor 1,112]

My lawyer basically didn't even know IR-1/CR-1 existed. He kept telling me K-3 was my only option. He sat on my paperwork for 1 month minimum before sending the I-130, and then when NVC time rolled around, it took him 3 months to get through that. They ONLY reason he got through that was because I kept pushing him and telling him what needs to happen next with information I got from this website. If it wasn't for this website, my wife might still be sitting in Thailand.

So I basically paid $1800 to delay my wife's visa for 3 months. Doesn't seem like that good of a deal to me. And this from a lawyer that claimed to have 10k plus marriage/fiance visa approvals under his belt.

Basically your just another piece of paper to the lawyer. They get your money up front, so what reason do they have to make sure your paperwork gets done in a timely manner or gets done correctly? Pretty much no incentive. Hiring that lawyer was a HUGE mistake. As someone stated above, all they do is fill out the forms. The petitioner and the beneficiary have to do all the legwork collecting documents etc., not the lawyer.

If there's some issue like a criminal conviction, deportation or ban, then by all means a COMPETENT lawyer is needed. If you don't have anything like that hanging over your head, and as someone stated above, can fill out a job application, I can't see any benefit in hiring a lawyer. Quite frankly it's somewhat comical to even think a lawyer is needed to fill out a few forms. I wish I had found this website before I hired them. The lawyer had me convinced without legal representation I was taking a huge risk trying to go it alone.

This website is really invaluable.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

This website is really invaluable.

It sure is, thats how I found the best immigration attorney in the world that practices in Vietnam.

[Brit Abroad 166]

If you are intelligent enough to read all the accompanying notes to the forms you need to complete (and, of course, the guides at the top of this forum) then you're certainly capable of filing for a visa yourself.

The most important thing is to make sure you understand all the evidence that is required and double check your "packet" before you submit it. Check the latest fees, the latest forms and ask any questions here on VJ.

[samiam95124 1]

Used a lawyer, paid $1000. I found the lawyer to a great help in knowing exactly what was required, and

keeping the process moving along. It probably helped that the lawyer was a specialist in that particular

country and spoke the language.

My 2 cents.

Scott

[Kolewenoik31 57]

I read in some prior posts that obtaining a lawyer for your K-1 visa processing is a waste of time because they slow down the process and have no pull with the embassy. But is there any added security to hiring a lawyer(specifically the online K-1 fiance visa lawyers)when beginning your application. My fiance is coming from a high risk country and I was considering hiring a lawyer online and spending no more than a $1000 for their services.

I thought a lawyer could help me dot all my i's and cross all my t's. This is very important to me and I'm willing to pay for some added security if it exists. However, the forum posts I read have given me second thoughts seeing how I've already purchased a book on filing a K-1 Fiance Visa and have a good understanding of the process.

I like to error on the side of caution when dealing with bureaucracies so does a visa lawyer have advantages?

Let me just say that I appreciate this question being asked because it has given me confidence. I would also like to thank all those that made comments and encouraging words on the reasons why you can do it yourself. As well as the couple on the attorney being use only if you do not want to deal with the paperwork. I believe that we will be filing ourselves!

[Bayareaguy 156]

I would be hesitant to give a lawyer even one extra penny that I didn't have to. Read the guides here and file it yourself.