Getting an Attorney or personally doing the filing,which is better?

[Kweencee 0]

Pls which is better,getting an attorney or doing d filing oneself?

[Abell 11]

it is up to you, if you don't have a complected case like having conviction on your or you fiance record and you know how to read and have few free hours to read and fill all the docs then no point in getting an attorney, process is pretty straight forward, but some people just have extra cash they don't need

[sweet cakes 326]

Pls which is better,getting an attorney or doing d filing oneself?

Lawyers are not necessary. You can simply follow the VJ guides here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

And there are tons of helpful people here too should you have any question.

Most have simply followed the guides and had no problems. Unless, of course, your case is complicated (relative, of course) or you have lots of cash to spare or you have a lawyer in your family.

Will share a little secret. We hired a lawyer in assembling our I-129f (waaaayyy before I discovered VJ), and guess what?! We had an RFE. Turns out, they are expecting us to re-use their services. Sooooo... in the end, their interest is not really to make your life easier.

[Mbrennan 15]

We hired an attorney. Ours (so far) is a relatively straightforward case, no criminal records, no past spouses etc.

Why did we hire an attorney? I didn't discover VJ until after we were $1,000 down!

Would I recommend it? Possibly. If you have the time then you could do it yourself. We opted for one as we were lost, and just wanted the whole process to go as smoothly as possible.

So far so good.

But really it's a personal choice, and there are pluses and minuses to both options really.

Hope that helps

[Tiff&Babs 62]

Pls which is better,getting an attorney or doing d filing oneself?

As stated previously if you have a straight forward case you don't need a lawyer. The guides on here are very comprehensive. Follow them and if you have any questions you can post them to the K-1 or Sub-Saharan forum or the Nigeria country portal. While not lawyers, many people on here have a wealth of knowledge and experience dealing specifically with the visa process in Nigeria. They can probably offer you advice and suggestions that a lawyer can't.

[PabloGarcia 36]

I used an attorney and wouldn't recommend it unless you have a history of not following directions very well

[Dusty&Mono 6]

I hired an attorney and I just basically went to the interview to be told my visa was approved. We didn't have time to be sitting around reading and filling out forms so we hired a great attorney that could help us with that. We didn't get any RFE and had always a PROFESSIONAL ready to help us with our doubts. Each case is different so it's not that the VJ posts are going to necessarily guide you though your process accurately. I recommend you my attorney. They speak Spanish too

http://www.dyerimmigration.com/attorneys/irina-manelis

[augusta23 8]

for $500 i fill your papers

[Kiwinyc 62]

We did not use an attorney, and we were relatively complicated, both divorced, I brought my two kids with me, and i've lived and worked in 3 other countries previously (including the US). Aside from the initial Petition which my husband did I, as the beneficiary most of the rest of the work, filling out all the forms required by the embassy, ordering police reports, getting the medicals done, etc etc. If both of you can understand how to fill out a form (and all the answers to do it are available here) and how to gather all the documentation to support it then you certainly do not need a lawyer.

[Tommytoys 1]

With an attorney, I am not sure I would have even saved any time. Because if you hire an attorney, you still have to spend time talking to him/her and give them all the details. So might as well use that time to fill in the government forms yourself. They have to be filled out and someone needs to know all the required data to do so - you can not just pick up the phone, spend 2 minutes with them and go to the interview.

And everyone needs a medical. Lawyer or no lawyer.

The government forms also have official instructions that can be very helpful. If you have trouble following directions and are very nervous or impatient - then by all means get a lawyer to fill the forms out for you.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Tommytoys

[ForeverLove4u 8]

I'm curious?!

Those that have an attorney cerses those that don't have an attorney.................was there any difference in the time period for case approvals?

That could be a reason for paying the extra $1,000 or so dollars for an attorney. Just curious and it could help some folks trying to make the attorney/non-attorney decision

Blessings!

[baron555 934]

Pls which is better,getting an attorney or doing d filing oneself?

If you have too much money, then the attorney is the way to go.

[LEISEROM 32]

I went thru the whole process in 1988. I thought about an attorney but really didnt have the cash. This was pre-internet. Just read the instructions and filled them out. Really didnt have a problem. Started in May and she had visa by sometime in October. However friend of ours used attorney. Said he didnt have time as he was working all sorts of ot at good pay and too tired to mess with it. Didnt have any trouble either. He met his future wife in South Beach in Miami when he was there on vacation. She was there from Brazil with a friend(didnt have trouble getting tourist visa). They actually met in USA. But she went home back to work until they could get paperwork done.

[Protocol417 161]

As many others here have said, we've done this 100% by ourselves (well, with the help of many people here, of course) and have had zero issues so far (well, at least, no issues that an attorney would've been able to help with). It seems really confusing and overwhelming at first, but once you get used to how the forms work and how to use this website, it's actually kind of easy.

One thing to consider is that hiring an attorney may actually cause more problems than it would solve. Sweet cakes mentioned getting an RFE despite having a lawyer... I've read many similar stories here, including one where the attorney left the RFE sitting for over 6 months and the petitioner didn't find out about it until she called in herself to find out why her application was taking so long. In another case, the petitioner was filing for his spouse and children, and the lawyer left one of the children off the application. In yet another, the attorney made several questionable mistakes on the forms, and then charged another $2,500 to "fix" the mess this caused.

Reading those stories certainly made me very grateful that we couldn't afford to use a lawyer.

[Kweencee 0]

Thanks guys for honest contributions.I'm gonna do it myself.