Lawyer Nightmare!!!.....RFE

[wife2be 0]

I’m a newbie here in VJ and I can’t tell you how happy I am for having found the VJ site. It has really helped me and my fiancé with the facts we have to know regarding K1 visa.

I hate to admit it but we hired a lawyer coz my fiancé was (and still is) very busy with work. We filed our K1 visa petition last March 2006. As time passed by our lawyer didn’t inform us of anything regarding the progress (or lack of progress) of our petition. To put it simply, we were left in the dark!....Trusting my intuition that something was wrong, I was able to convince my fiancé to fire our lawyer. He did fire the guy but opted to hire a new lawyer for the job…..luckily, our new lawyer is more reliable. He informed us that the CSC sent us a letter requesting for a letter of intent to marry from both my fiancé and I. I was really dumbfounded when my fiancé told me of the RFE and that the letter was just sitting (and collecting dust) on the table of our former lawyer….I felt hopeless, and annoyed coz we wasted 10 months of our lives with our useless former lawyer!

So my question now to you guys are :

1. do you think our K1 petition is still on “active file” considering the time that has elapsed from the time our former lawyer received the RFE?

2. do we have to refile our case or just send the evidence they asked for?

Thank you for your answers!

wife2be

[Turboguy 6]

Someone else may be able to tell you more but I believe an RFE has to be responded to within 90 days or they basically consider the application abandoned. I also belive you can write a letter explaining the situation and ask to have it re-activated. You might as well send the new Letter of intent along with that.

[ladykelia 0]

Wow that really sucks! Sorry about all that wasted time.. i hope you got your money back! The petition may still be on file, but you might want to contact the service center if possible, and ask. Otherwise, I guess you could just send in the RFE and find out what happens. But yeah, for future reference if you don't hear anything after 90-120 days, then you should probably contact somebody

[brnidokiegurl 0]

THink i would be getting small refund from his lack of merit to duties in not following thru.

[brnidokiegurl 0]

THink i would be getting small refund from his lack of merit to duties in not following thru.

[tonyeck 0]

Hi there sorry for your troubles

Which lawyer did you use and who are you using now? We are making a decision soon about who to use so any recommendations would be great

[ladykelia 0]

Sorry Tony. I don't have any specific lawyer information.

Something for both of you to consider is whether you are sure you need a lawyer... I honestly don't see how using a lawyer would be a time saver and it seems like way more trouble (based on all the horror stories I've heard) than filling out the forms yourself and sending them off. They are not terribly long forms or anything, and more or less the questions are simple.. I would only advise using a lawyer if you had a complicated case, couldn't speak english well, had children, etc.

You would have to provide exactly the same information and documents and photographs (not to mention the extra big wad of cash) to the lawyer as you would to the USCIS. Personally, if I was a busy person, hiring a lawyer would be the last thing I'd do, unless I was really concerned about my standing or my abilities.

edit: my mom (to help me out) did have some brief free consultations with lawyers to get started on this process, but we ended up not hiring one after we found VJ. I suppose if you really want to hire a lawyer, I would consult with at least 3, and see which of them gave you the better information

Edited January 14, 2007 by ladykelia

[wissooner 0]

Yes, I think Turboguy is right, it seems an applicant has 12 weeks to respond to a RFE. This might have changed though. I would call them. You might have to refile..................Ken

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-26371.htm

Edited January 14, 2007 by wissooner

[jennac13 0]

Oh my gosh that is AWFUL

I had a RFE and on that letter, they gave me a date which I needed to get everything to them. I think it was 3 months.... Firstly I think you should contact the service center you are using and explain about that stupid lawyer and what they did to you, then go from there... but pester the service center. DON"T GIVE IN.. it must have been so long since you have been together

Also, from my experience and a lot of other people's on here, I really think a lawyer is a waste of money and unnecessary... now that you have found this website you wouldn't miss a thing doing it without a lawyer. Everyone here is willing to ask any question, no matter how silly and if you look up at the top of the page, there are guides to help you, plus embassy info for your fiance's country...!

I hope that things work out. From my experience, as soon as they had the RFE the whole process moved along very fast!

GOODLUCK xox

[ausqueen 0]

Wife2be,

I replied in your other thread re CSC number. I didn't see this one, so I just went on and on abt how we dealt with the same problem. Sorry! People in here said most of it already!

As far as time limit for RFE - if it is 3 months - depends how long ago your rfe was received by your first lawyer! I don't understand how you just fired one and hired another? USCIS would still have your first lawyer's name on your file!

If your new lawyer has already taken over... then USCIS is aware of the whole situation. Or not? But... honestly... if you are asking these 2 questions here on VJ, then your second lawyer is not doing his job neither! Whatever he is charging you, it's too much

By the way, you've come to the right place. VJ is the best!!! Stick around and you'll be fine!

[Ladylethal 12]

You know, not dissing lawyers (I'm a law graduate, just not a lawyer 'cus I didn't sit my bar yet) but I hear more failures of cases that went through lawyers than when the petitioner took the matter into their own hands.

[MPGGPM 0]

You know, not dissing lawyers (I'm a law graduate, just not a lawyer 'cus I didn't sit my bar yet) but I hear more failures of cases that went through lawyers than when the petitioner took the matter into their own hands.

May be.......but it's probably because those of us who do retain competent lawyers and have had no problems, don't really have any reason to come on and post about it.

No point in starting a topic saying "My lawyer did a great job and I'm happy about it".................I mean....what's the point?

To me, you can't beat the expertise of someone who has years of experience and study in dealing with immigration matters, and I would definately always favor the advice of a competent lawyer who really knows what he is doing........over that of somebody who just happens to read a few tidbits on a forum here and there. It's no comparison.

But I can understand why there are more posts about bad lawyers....because those people still need help and advice....while those of us who have good lawyers, don't have to ask as many questions because our cases are being handled properly.

It's hard to advise someone to hire...or to not hire a lawyer, because each case has it's own complications. I don't think someone should just say "You don't need a lawyer".....when they don't even know the specifics of their case.

Not too long ago, a woman posted on this forum devastated because her husband had complications in her case she never thought of......their visa was denied........and probably wishes now that she had hired or at least consulted one. (which at that point....many were advising her then to see a lawyer...but of couse by then...it was too late).

The problem isn't lawyers in general....the probelms is "bad" lawyers. People just need to do more research before hiring one.

Edited January 14, 2007 by MPGGPM

[in_my_eyez 0]

Thats terrible. Hope you resolve things.

Good Luck