do it by yourself or hire a lawyer?

[tiurzm 2]

Hello everyone, please your advice  

 

My fiance and I want to do K1 Fiance Visa by ourself. We are preparing all our documents now. But my fiance's parents want us to hire a lawyer. They heard that K1 Fiance form has updated and it makes us confused about a few things. They are also worried that my visa's procces doesn't go well. My question are ..

 

1. Does a lawyer really help? any experince about this?

2. Do you know any good lawyer in Overland Park Kansas?

 

Thank you everyone!

Edited July 8, 2017 by tiurzm

[Scandi 4,189]

All you need is visajourney. A lawyer is very, very unnecessary.

[KULtoATL 1,551]

Unless you have criminal history or a complicated past, an attorney is not needed. If you hire an attorney, you'll still be doing all the legwork. 

 

DIY I-129F/K-1 and the subsequent processes after marriage can be done easily as long as you know what you need to file and submit together.

 

Check out the Guides tab and you'll find all the essential information. However, use them with caution as they aren't updated in terms of forms to use and the current fee. FYI, G-325A is no longer required and the new I-129F fee is $535 excluding the expenses for the K-1 visa application at the embassy level.

[Dashinka 24,950]

In most cases a lawyer is unnecessary.  When there are cases of criminal history, or immigration history such as overstays, etc. a lawyer may be necessary.  For simple cases, most can do it themselves as it generally consists of collecting information and filling out forms.  You also have to keep in mind that even with a lawyer, you would still have to do the majority of the legwork in gathering all the information, and you would also need to understand the entire process in order to review their work (lawyers make mistakes too, and regardless of what they might tell you, they cannot speed up the process).

 

As Scandi mentioned, VJ is a great resource for those doing it themselves.  Many members are more than willing give advice regarding their experiences.  My opinion is that for simple cases a lawyer is not necessary, but it is still a personal decision.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[usmsbow 802]

You don't need a lawyer. Many people who say you need a lawyer have heard immigration horror stories (usually told by a friend of a friend of a friend, ie gossip that is missing a lot of details and facts), and assume 1. the same is bound to happen to you 2. a lawyer is the way to avoid such horror stories. Both assumptions are wrong. 

 

One step in the process did not go well for my wife and I (USCIS misplaced our petition after approving it), but a lawyer would not have been able to help us in any way. 

 

Just follow the form directions, the guides on here, and you should be OK. If you forget to include something in your application, you will get a RFE, which delays things a bit, but that's it. 

[theanswerisdance 144]

My husband and I went through the K-1 process and I did it all myself. I have several friends who have since gone through the process and done it themselves as well, and all have been successful. I have another friend who asked my advice re: getting a lawyer, and I introduced her to VJ and advised her to save herself the money and do it herself. In the end, she blew $7000 on a lawyer because she was convinced that my husband and I just "got lucky" and that the majority of people must surely have lawyers for something this complex. The lawyer had never handled a K-1 case before and has wound up making several mistakes that are currently causing delays and problems in her case. VJ is one of the most incredible Internet resources I've ever seen, full of so many knowledgeable people wanting to offer advice, FREE, simply because they themselves have been in your shoes before and want to share the wisdom of their experience in hopes of helping someone else. If you are the kind of person who can be organized, cross your t's and dot your i's, it is entirely possible to do it yourself and really not the horror story that unexperienced outsiders like to toss around. I've found that those kinds of negative stories often come from people who failed themselves by not reading instructions properly or failing to double-check their applications, and then instead of blaming themselves and their personal errors, they choose to blame USCIS and the process. You can do it!

[tiurzm 2]

Oh i see, okay I wil tell my fiance's parents about this. They are just too worried about us because they really want me to get the visa. Yeah you are right, we just must believe ourself that we can get through this proccess. As long as we have a good intention, we will get the best result. Thank you guys for all of your advices @Scandi @KULtoATL @Bill & Katya @usmsbow @theanswerisdance I really appreciate it  

[me55592a 8]

No, you do not need a lawyer. Why throw away good money when you have the vj forum to walk you through the process.  My wife came on a k1 and her 4 kids on a k2 and i did all the paperwork myself and using this forum. On June 27th this year my wife and the girls received their 10 year green cards. Next week we will be filing for us citizenship for my wife. During the whole process we did not receive an rfe for the visas, aos or roc partly due by reading the forums on vj. 

I agree that if it is a straight forward case no no on the lawyer......

[tiurzm 2]

2 hours ago, me55592a said:

No, you do not need a lawyer. Why throw away good money when you have the vj forum to walk you through the process.  My wife came on a k1 and her 4 kids on a k2 and i did all the paperwork myself and using this forum. On June 27th this year my wife and the girls received their 10 year green cards. Next week we will be filing for us citizenship for my wife. During the whole process we did not receive an rfe for the visas, aos or roc partly due by reading the forums on vj. 

I agree that if it is a straight forward case no no on the lawyer......

oh i see, Thank you for your advice. no need a laywer then