I-130 Immigration Lawyer takes 2-3 weeks to file

[Caterpillar8 62]

Hi everyone!

 

The paralegal managing my relative petition case I talked to (because you rarely speak to an actual attorney) said that it takes 3 weeks to prepare the I-130 while I already gave them all my bona fide documents and the biographical information from my wife (US Citizen) and I. Afterwards we are going to meet to review it before sending the package and sign it.

 

i know that most of you did not choose to hire a lawyer and that it is not necessary. But, does it really take 2-3 weeks to file the I-130? Perhaps an immigration lawyer put this kind of stuff as low priority and doesn’t really work on it?

 

i now have to change the Return flight ticket date to a later one in order to be able to meet with my lawyer in the U.S. to review the I-130 together and sign before leaving for my home country and wait for the petition to be approved.

[Sidney and Dennis 40]

12 minutes ago, zeven1 said:

Hi everyone!

 

The paralegal managing my relative petition case I talked to (because you rarely speak to an actual attorney) said that it takes 3 weeks to prepare the I-130 while I already gave them all my bona fide documents and the biographical information from my wife (US Citizen) and I. Afterwards we are going to meet to review it before sending the package and sign it.

 

i know that most of you did not choose to hire a lawyer and that it is not necessary. But, does it really take 2-3 weeks to file the I-130? Perhaps an immigration lawyer put this kind of stuff as low priority and doesn’t really work on it?

 

i now have to change the Return flight ticket date to a later one in order to be able to meet with my lawyer in the U.S. to review the I-130 together and sign before leaving for my home country and wait for the petition to be approved.

I hired a lawyer and they took a few weeks to file mine as well but I got my approval relatively quickly

[Caterpillar8 62]

2 minutes ago, Sidney and Dennis said:

I hired a lawyer and they took a few weeks to file mine as well but I got my approval relatively quickly

Great to know other people hired lawyers as well!  thought I was the only one haha! So I guess it is normal for an immigration lawyer to take 2-3 weeks to file the I-130. If I may ask, how long did it take for your petition to be approved? Usually takes 4 months.

[Sidney and Dennis 40]

4 minutes ago, zeven1 said:

Great to know other people hired lawyers as well!  thought I was the only one haha! So I guess it is normal for an immigration lawyer to take 2-3 weeks to file the I-130. If I may ask, how long did it take for your petition to be approved? Usually takes 4 months.

They received my i130 February 11 or 12 of 2016 and I got approved April 19 2016.... but I can't guarantee yours will be that quick since a lot of people probably have been filing since trump has taken office but like I said they received it 2/11/2016 and approved 4/19/2016

[Sunnyland 639]

Well, lawyers always take forever and then charge you one arm and one leg for something that you could do easily in less than a week. But since you already have the lawyer, make sure that they completed any of your forms correctly. We were gonna hire a lawyer but then my husband (then boyfriend) found this website and saved us a couple thousands bucks! 

[Srubioperez 4]

It DOES NOT take that long but lawyers take their time lol.

[jasonjiaqili 2]

a1 hour ago, zeven1 said:

Hi everyone!

 

The paralegal managing my relative petition case I talked to (because you rarely speak to an actual attorney) said that it takes 3 weeks to prepare the I-130 while I already gave them all my bona fide documents and the biographical information from my wife (US Citizen) and I. Afterwards we are going to meet to review it before sending the package and sign it.

 

i know that most of you did not choose to hire a lawyer and that it is not necessary. But, does it really take 2-3 weeks to file the I-130? Perhaps an immigration lawyer put this kind of stuff as low priority and doesn’t really work on it?

 

i now have to change the Return flight ticket date to a later one in order to be able to meet with my lawyer in the U.S. to review the I-130 together and sign before leaving for my home country and wait for the petition to be approved.

I did the I-130 myself in a couple days..

 

It's really not necessary to hire a lawyer, although you're paying the money for a sense of security. and since you already have him to do it for you, make sure he does everything correctly, even it takes longer time.. cuz you don't want USCIS to ask for more paper works from you.

[Ryan H 3,834]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

[JB209 60]

Obviously the literal time that it takes to file an I-130 is not that long, but for an immigration lawyer office to take 2-3 weeks is totally reasonable. We hried a lawyer and he took about that time. We didi for the extra security and even though its extra money I will keep him all the way through Naturalization because the peace of mind is priceless

[Redheadguy03 505]

It's reasonable. Although, some have said you hired one for peace of mind. I understand that, but lawyers make mistakes as we've seen numerous times on here. 

 

I always recommend doing it yourself unless you have a complicated case. 

Good luck to you and hope it goes smoothly! 

[Caterpillar8 62]

I agree that lawyers are hired for peace of mind, which is the same reason I hired one. Most of all, it is also true that lawyers make mistakes, for this reason the client potential immigrant should always double check and review the I-130 with the lawyer before signing.If they make mistakes or anything unpredictable happens I am sure lawyers have or should have the experience to "fix" the issue. Since there are so many imm.attorneys, the client needs to look well and inform before choosing one.

[HackyMoto 13]

Here is my experience with my immigration lawyer (wish VJ would have a lawyer section to the forum for these reviews)

 

Negative Truths:

1) Using a lawyer does not speed up your approval process (check my timeline)

2) An application submitted by a lawyer is a still application written by you therefore using a lawyer will not prevent you from potentially receiving a RFE

3) They cost money and can cost serious money but I guess they cost serious money depending on your case but anyway.....

4) Not all lawyers are reputable (I used word of mouth to chose mine)

 

Positives Truths:

1) Piece of mind that someone can advise you if issues do occur

 

I used a lawyer because I didn't do the upfront research like most folk on this forum and I wanted piece of mind. From the first contact to submission was about 3 weeks.

 

Take the time to review the application. They called me in to just sign off but I spent an hour reviewing everything and found lots of mistakes (some maybe made by them and some maybe made by me)  

 

It cost me $2500 flat fee because my case was deemed "simple" but I saw on his contract that he would do either do flat fee or hourly rate (yikes). I liked my lawyer because he was a personal friend of my daughter's God father and I knew this lawyer helped the local Hispanic community with free immigration talks and form submissions (so that showed me he cared). I knew I could get access to him whenever I wanted and I would not be charged and maybe just once did I actually reach out to him with regards to traveling using AP versus my valid L1. He also came to my interview and presented a very beautiful evidence package to the officer then sat back and said no more. That day at the Houston office, I think I saw 30% of interviewees with their lawyers so you're not the only one and bully for the folks that did everything themselves.

 

Summary: Looking back, hind sight is wonderful. I probably could have spent the 3 weeks it took to submit my forms to do the research myself then submit the application but hey ho, we're two very busy people with two very active and social kids so for my wife and I, using a lawyer was a perfect solution.

Edited July 12, 2017 by HackyMoto

[Boiler 46,211]

No doubt the Para Legal has a pile of work to do before your file hits the top, hence 2 to 3 weeks.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Boiler

[jakelake 222]

Unless you have a real legal issue, hiring a lawyer is a waste of time and money.

[SabRob 154]

If I had to do this all over again, I wouldn't have hired a lawyer. Our case is pretty clean cut and it took them about 3-4 weeks to file the I-130 and they set us back about 3 weeks at the NVC stage. Looking back, I could have done everything myself.