Dropping our attorney for NVC stage

[4000mf 33]

After reading a lot of advice from this forum and after the terrible service we got from our attorney at the I-130 packet stage, we’ve pretty much decided to drop them for the forthcoming NVC stage (we were approved by USCIS on the 11th).

 

As I understand it the attorney will be automatically nominated as our agent, can this be rectified with a simple phone call, or are we locked into something more difficult (and delaying) if we plan to press on without assistance from this point?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight, you guys are fantastic.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-your-form-g-28

[arken 4,197]

 

5 minutes ago, Jojo92122 said:

https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-your-form-g-28

USCIS process is already completed so that doesn’t apply for the OP.

 

To OP:

Once NVC receives your case and assigns a case number, contact them (email or NVC’s online inquiry or phone) and tell them that you want to remove your attorney and want yourself to be the agent of the case.

[4000mf 33]

3 minutes ago, Jojo92122 said:

https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-your-form-g-28

Thanks for your post, but I think I’m missing some wider context. G-28 looks like a document to authorise a representative rather than remove one? Does it serve the same purpose? My goal is to have my USC wife as our agent, rather than the unwanted attorney.

 

if G-28 is the way to go with this, will it delay us more than just leaving it with the expensive and unneeded attorney?

 

Sorry to ask so many additional questions, I just want to make sure we’re not going to shoot ourselves in the foot!

[4000mf 33]

Just now, arken said:

 

USCIS process is already completed so that doesn’t apply for the OP.

 

To OP:

Once NVC receives your case and assigns a case number, contact them (email or NVC’s online inquiry or phone) and tell them that you want to remove your attorney and want yourself to be the agent of the case.

Thanks for that! I’ve been hoping it’s this simple.

 

Our attorney misspelled ‘Britain’. She also misspelled my mother’s name, got dates wrong, and at least a dozen other typos. We did not feel good about the packet, but thankfully it was approved. I just can’t deal with that kind of stress again, certainly not for the fee they want! 

[arken 4,197]

3 minutes ago, 4000mf said:

Thanks for that! I’ve been hoping it’s this simple.

 

Our attorney misspelled ‘Britain’. She also misspelled my mother’s name, got dates wrong, and at least a dozen other typos. We did not feel good about the packet, but thankfully it was approved. I just can’t deal with that kind of stress again, certainly not for the fee they want! 

Yeah, that’s the overall opinion among most VJ members, lawyers delay the process. NVC and interview steps are very straighforward, no need of lawyers.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

The G-28 was used to appoint the lawyer.  You have to withdraw it with a written letter.  Follow the directions for withdrawal in the USCIS link.  Mail your written withdrawal to the NVC.

The way to withdraw the G-28 is the same regardless of who currently has your case.  Mail it to the appropriate office that currently has your case; NVC.

[4000mf 33]

9 minutes ago, Jojo92122 said:

The G-28 was used to appoint the lawyer.  You have to withdraw it with a written letter.  Follow the directions for withdrawal in the USCIS link.  Mail your written withdrawal to the NVC.

The way to withdraw the G-28 is the same regardless of who currently has your case.  Mail it to the appropriate office that currently has your case; NVC.

Ahh, got it! Thanks for that, it makes sense now.

 

If anyone has the time to help me out with some advice on filling it out, I’d be very grateful. 

 

There’s no ‘fire your bad attorney’ box. Would it be a case of submitting the form essentially blank (apart from petitioner details) to wipe clean the old one?

 

 

[Jojo92122 1,924]

No.  Just write a letter saying you are withdrawing the lawyer from your case.  DO NOT FILE A BLANK G-28.

Include the relevant case ID and information about the petitioner and beneficiary.

[4000mf 33]

18 minutes ago, Jojo92122 said:

No.  Just write a letter saying you are withdrawing the lawyer from your case.  DO NOT FILE A BLANK G-28.

Include the relevant case ID and information about the petitioner and beneficiary.

Understood, and many thanks for walking me through this!

[pushbrk 12,898]

Just a side note, that typographical errors and dates should be caught in the client's review of the forms before signing or filing.  A service professional completing forms, gets their information from the client.  Only the client's review can assure that names are spelled correctly or dates are accurate.  Whether you hire a professional or not, your own final review is critical.

[Diane and Chris 651]

10 hours ago, 4000mf said:

Thanks for that! I’ve been hoping it’s this simple.

 

Our attorney misspelled ‘Britain’. She also misspelled my mother’s name, got dates wrong, and at least a dozen other typos. We did not feel good about the packet, but thankfully it was approved. I just can’t deal with that kind of stress again, certainly not for the fee they want! 

Have you paid your attorney in full?  Did you sign a contract with him/her?  You may be on the hook for additional charges.  It happened to us. We dropped our attorney after we received an RFE during our K-1 process. We were able to finish the process ourselves. Good luck!  

[4000mf 33]

6 hours ago, pushbrk said:

Just a side note, that typographical errors and dates should be caught in the client's review of the forms before signing or filing.  A service professional completing forms, gets their information from the client.  Only the client's review can assure that names are spelled correctly or dates are accurate.  Whether you hire a professional or not, your own final review is critical.

Our final review was more than critical, it was painstaking, worrying and confusing

 

It was all accurate by the time we submitted it, but the mistakes gave us a lot of cause to doubt the integrity of the packet itself, not knowing what a good one looks like.

 

We just feel like faithfully transcribing our provided information into an official document was the bare minimum we paid them for, and their inability to do that caused delays and unnecessary worry.

 

1 hour ago, Diane and Chris said:

Have you paid your attorney in full?  Did you sign a contract with him/her?  You may be on the hook for additional charges.  It happened to us. We dropped our attorney after we received an RFE during our K-1 process. We were able to finish the process ourselves. Good luck!  

Not yet, we paid the first instalment for the first part, I’m certain there’ll be a nice parting gift for them in the contract but at this point we’re certain we can do it more quickly than them. Out of interest what kind of additional charges did you end up paying relative to the original final amount?

[pushbrk 12,898]

3 hours ago, 4000mf said:

Our final review was more than critical, it was painstaking, worrying and confusing

 

It was all accurate by the time we submitted it, but the mistakes gave us a lot of cause to doubt the integrity of the packet itself, not knowing what a good one looks like.

 

We just feel like faithfully transcribing our provided information into an official document was the bare minimum we paid them for, and their inability to do that caused delays and unnecessary worry.

 

 

If you gave accurate information and it was incorrectly "transcribed" that's different.  I certainly would expect correct "transcription" from any "written" information you submitted.  Often "staff" does transcription, rather than the actual professional.  THAT would not be something I would want to repeat.

 

Since you are past the filing point, my post was actually written for "the reader". 

Edited May 22, 2018 by pushbrk

[DocZ 20]

On 5/21/2018 at 10:59 PM, 4000mf said:

Our final review was more than critical, it was painstaking, worrying and confusing

 

It was all accurate by the time we submitted it, but the mistakes gave us a lot of cause to doubt the integrity of the packet itself, not knowing what a good one looks like.

 

We just feel like faithfully transcribing our provided information into an official document was the bare minimum we paid them for, and their inability to do that caused delays and unnecessary worry.

Thank you for posting your questions. I believe my lawyer has been misleading, and not honest about the process. He certainly delayed our process as well, as he would request documents, I would set up a meeting with him, then he would request more documents (which could have been asked previously), and the cycle repeated for months. There were also many errors in my documents (despite him receiving the correct information, already on a PDF for him). I am thankful my wife reviewed the documents carefully prior to sending it out.

 

I have been wanting to drop him, now that we are at the NVC. The answers you received are helpful for me, too. Thanks