Lawyer or DIY?

[Shauneg 762]

It's a personal opinion, and you can have your own.

And yes, I think it's reasonable to add...

8) If you don't have the time

And I'm sure there are other reasons as well...

I don't know what time everyone is talking about. You already have to gather all the information yourself and produce all the pertinent documents for the lawyer. the only thing left is to fill out the forms which took me less than a hour. I work full time and raise two kids on my own, it's not hard to find time.

[Done--Really 331]

What it comes down to is can you and WILL you follow directions even if hey make no sense, and do you pay good attention to detail. If the answer is no to either, then you will be frustrated, you will make mistakes, and things can drag out.

The answer is inside you -- not from the rest of us who DIY.

[CowBoE 429]

I don't know what time everyone is talking about. You already have to gather all the information yourself and produce all the pertinent documents for the lawyer. the only thing left is to fill out the forms which took me less than a hour. I work full time and raise two kids on my own, it's not hard to find time.

I'm cutting some slack for those with various personal (?) reasons...

So far I've seen people posting between $3,000 to $8,000 for

K1 or CR1 visa processing.

Heck, group of us can probably create a service and do it at

significantly cheaper price.

Of course, we will only take the easy ones from the lazy folks

or those with no time (?) with money to kill.

Then again, I received ton of free help from VJ

so it's better to return the favor to newbies.

Edited May 8, 2015 by DualityOneness

[lost_at_sea 995]

I don't know what time everyone is talking about. You already have to gather all the information yourself and produce all the pertinent documents for the lawyer. the only thing left is to fill out the forms which took me less than a hour. I work full time and raise two kids on my own, it's not hard to find time.

Agree - it's definitely a false economy to use a lawyer if you are otherwise 100% capable of completing forms. There's no time saving.

The lawyers can't root through your paperwork to collect all the things you need to send and photocopy and work out all the information without you providing it to them. You'll just be replacing the time you'd spend filling out the form yourself (and stopping by USPS) with sending emails / on calls to lawyers and sending them all the information and paperwork anyway (so you end up going to USPS regardless ).

I consulted lawyers - they got a lot of information wrong. Complete waste of time and money for us, and I'll never go that way again. Much, much happier DIY.

[asdf123 7]

We actually used Rapidvisa with their premium review.. Much cheaper then a lawyer and provides some piece of mind that everything was done correctly, The other advantage they have an office in both countries we could visit.... They actually caught a few minor problems with our paperwork and assembled the packet for us along with guiding us through what evidence to send so the 400 bucks or so it cost was worth it to us given how stressful this process is already.

[raven52 233]

Why waste 5500.00?

What you need to do is go to the home page, click on the guides section, and then CR-1.,.,.,print it out.

Then, study this until you have it almost memorized..,.,.then put your packet together, very meticulously.

Keep your money, spend it on your new companion. VJ.com is all you need!

You asked for opinion, this is mine.

[Jawaree 718]

If all immigration laws have been adhered to by her in the past,

no crimes or arrest record....save your money if you can understand

the filling out of forms,U start with I 130 & sign, MO for $420, marriage

cert, divorce decree (if applies to either) your birth cert.hers, etc and wait

for petition approval.then oter instructions of whats needed

Edited May 8, 2015 by Jawaree

[ChristinaG 91]

hey guys.... can we please not derail this thread....... take your hurt feelings elsewhere, I'm tired of seeing this happen all over the place...... and it's why I block the current events & hot topics threads.... far too much butt-hurt

[Ryan H 3,818]

hey guys.... can we please not derail this thread....... take your hurt feelings elsewhere, I'm tired of seeing this happen all over the place...... and it's why I block the current events & hot topics threads.... far too much butt-hurt

***Two posts that were derailing and non-responsive to the OP have been removed along with a member's access to this thread. Please heed the advice given in the above post or Administrative Action of varying degree as warranted will be imposed.***

[Ryan H 3,818]

**Another off topic post removed.**

[cruisedreams2014 0]

$5500 is with fees. But I've decided to do it myself. Saving a ton.

[ChristinaG 91]

$5500 is with fees. But I've decided to do it myself. Saving a ton.

Best of luck!!!

Remember..... PATIENCE is your number one requirement!!!

[jan6101 0]

My husband is also Canadian, we married last year and filed I-130 late January. I interviewed several attorneys as well, decided to do it ourselves, saved $3500.

Since filing I-130, my husband has already been in the US several times without any problems. He can visit with his Canadian passport, as Canadians don't need tourist visa.

Good luck!