Any of you regret ever hiring a lawyer for filing? (rant)

[jakejon 1,197]

Hey!

 

We used a lawyer for the K1 and for AOS. AOS is still pending but EAD/AP have been approved. The packages our lawyer have done have been so diligently put together. My husband and I went through them with a fine tooth comb before final submission and we've never had an RFE (so far LOL). They may not be the most friendliest people but I have faith as their advice and guidance has aligned with VJ resources etc. Only downside is they cost so much but for us we'd prefer to invest even though it's not necessary/essential to have a lawyer. Just our preference. Many get by on their own successfully too of course! 

 

No regrets!  

Edited April 12, 2019 by jakejon

[E & J 2018 132]

I admit, I'm not the most organized person in the world, but I prepared everything myself and without any major issues. I did get an RFE, but it was because I misunderstood her foreign divorce certificate (in Portuguese). It was an easy fix.

[DGF 730]

We have a lawyer which I did not regret until I read all the stories here. We're waiting on the NOA2 and I am very nervous that something will be wrong/missing and we'll get an RFE or that there will be slowdowns later on in the process. The nice thing is that the woman we are working with went through the process herself a few years ago and is from Canada too so she has first-hand experience with the process, but I know that lawyers are busy and an easy case like ours is not their priority so I'm still worried regardless. 

[Mollie09 1,543]

Used a lawyer for my AOS, she was fantastic. I basically paid her to give me peace of mind and she gave me that, so no regrets. She even told me I didn't really need a lawyer, but she'd be happy to help if I still wanted her to. Came to the interview, actually corrected the officer on a question that she seemed not to like the answer to.

 

Used a different lawyer for ROC, because it was a quick divorce, and he wasn't great - a lot of spelling mistakes on the application, some stuff overlooked, but he did keep pushing for evidence where I didn't think to look based on my specific situation, so I don't regret it. Honestly if it was just VJ I would've sent a much skinnier petition. Instead I was approved with no interview.

 

Now waiting for my N-400, first application without a lawyer!

[Love To Teach 161]

5 hours ago, mika__ said:

Hi everyone

 

Me and my husband are in the middle of our CR-1 visa (currently at the NVC stage waiting to hear back from them to set up our interview). 

My husband insisted we hire a lawyer to help us with this CR-1 visa,  I didnt want to hire one, but I have been to the USA previously (yeaaars ago on a k-1 visa with my EX husband now) and for some reason I thought having a previous k-1 visa might make this cr-1 visa more complicated (I dont know why I just did). So I went along with my husband getting a lawyer.

 

 

My husband got us a lawyer. I wish I could have been in the USA to help look for one with him (im the beneficiary moving to the USA) because oh my lord our lawyer sucks.

 

1st problem:

> Our lawyer made us fill out a I-130 form (just for the lawyer) and then our lawyer took all the info and filled it in on his own on a different copy to send off. When our lawyer took our info from the I-130 and gave us a copy of what he sent, there was 20+ spelling errors. He would spell my name wrong on every line, our address's , our work info. I dont know how, we literally wrote down everything (and we double checked what we gave him and we had no spelling mistakes) and somehow he managed to have spelling mistakes everywhere

 

 

2nd problem:

> We gave everything to our Lawyer March 18th (my police cert, tax stuff, paid all fees, everything) to send to NVC since we are at that stage now. Our lawyer said he would send everything that same day March 18th. Our lawyer called us 2 days ago (April 10th) and told us he will send in everything to NVC on April 11th. Umm what? He told us he sent it in 24 days prior and he hasnt even started yet

 

 

 

Every since being on VJ ive had multiple people tell us we should have done the filing on our own. I wish I listened to convince my husband otherwise lol

 

 

curious is any of you had similar issues with a lawyer 

 

rant over

I hope you didn't pay them up front!

[Cryssiekins 976]

A perspective from working at a US law firm with an immigration division:  the lawyer you meet and retain will likely never even touch your case.  Immigration attorneys (at bigger firms anyway) tend to focus 99% on corporate clients who have employees overseas.  The family based stuff is small potatoes and just an easy cash grab for them.  Because of that, paralegals and interns are responsible for filling out forms and sending documents.  Paralegals are overworked and underpaid (and generally have a better knowledge of the laws and procedures than the attorneys).  Even working there - where I would have assistance at no cost to file my i751, I didn’t even bother (also, bc the girls would have probably poisoned my coffee for adding to their workload). Unless there is some super complex issue, using an attorney is a waste of money.  VJ users have a wealth of actual experience.  You got a question or circumstance?  Someone here has been in a substantially similar situation and can offer real life advice.  Besides, you’re still responsible for all the leg work required.  I know a lot of people want peace of mind, but attorneys in many areas of law more often than not mess things up.  They are, afterall, only human.  Law school teaches you HOW to think about things from a

legal perspective, it does not prepare you adequately for real life - that’s what experiences are for.  A lot of good attorneys are out there, but for things you can do yourself - do yourself.  

 

(I realize this doesn’t help the OP, but maybe someone considering hiring counsel will read and re-think)

[Crazy Cat 42,033]

3 minutes ago, Cryssiekins said:

 the lawyer you meet and retain will likely never even touch your case.  Immigration attorneys (at bigger firms anyway) tend to focus 99% on corporate clients who have employees overseas.  

Agree.  In my case, it was the case with whom I corresponded after the initial consultation.......until we received the chacklist from NVC...I then started contacting the attorney personally.

[jkstark 97]

I used an attorney for my initial AOS many many moons ago - but the circumstances were a bit different...  I had a situation during my AOS that I wanted to get some clarification and reassurances after we got married, and the attorney was helpful and made sure that there was going to be no issue.  He was present in the office during my interview as well, which was very comforting.

 

At ROC, no attorney was needed, though he had mentioned that he would check over the paperwork at the time at no additional cost just to make sure everything was up to snuff, and I think that we may have sent them off to him to verify, or then again, might not have.

 

When I finally started my naturalization steps, I did ask him to take a quick look at the N400 to make sure that I had not missed anything, or done something stupid along the way in the forms, and got to speak with him personally as he was going over the forms with me (by telephone, but still with the attorney).  I believe that cost me about $150...  I didn't necessarily feel the need to have that step done by him, but my wife wanted to make sure that everything t was crossed and every i dotted, so to speak, and for the cost, it was not a big deal.

 

So yes - there are some good ones out there; this one was in Buffalo NY, just a few blocks from the USCIS office there...

[Visitor User 253]

No. It was worth every penny. I would have paid him more if he asked for it LOL.

[pushbrk 13,043]

Some lawyers are incompetent.  Match an incompetent lawyer shopper with an incompetent lawyer and you have a disaster.  This applies to all "professional services" not just lawyers.  That doesn't mean everybody should be doing things for themselves.  It means caveat emptor.

 

 

[K & R 343]

We didn't use a lawyer for my husband's k-1 (and AOS) and we don't plan on getting one for ROC or naturalization. It's kind of funny. I was anxious at his AOS interview because all the other couples in the lobby had a lawyer but us. Maybe it was nerves but I was worried the CO would not like us as much because of it. Turns out the CO told us during the interview that he was impressed that we were more prepared than most people he interviews with a lawyer! 😂All of this preparedness was thanks to VJ!!

 

[pushbrk 13,043]

28 minutes ago, K & R said:

We didn't use a lawyer for my husband's k-1 (and AOS) and we don't plan on getting one for ROC or naturalization. It's kind of funny. I was anxious at his AOS interview because all the other couples in the lobby had a lawyer but us. Maybe it was nerves but I was worried the CO would not like us as much because of it. Turns out the CO told us during the interview that he was impressed that we were more prepared than most people he interviews with a lawyer! 😂All of this preparedness was thanks to VJ!!

 

Note that the interview for AOS (Adjustment of Status) would not have been with a CO.  (Consular Officer) but rather with a USCIS employee, commonly referred to as an "Immigration Officer".  Many people are quite successful managing their process on their own.  It is BECAUSE, of their appropriate Aptitude, diligence, willingness to study, excellent language skills, and motivation.  People without all those "qualities" tend to have varying degrees of trouble, from avoidable RFE's, or other delays due to mistakes, to outright denial due to either oversight or fraud.

 

Know your abilities before doing anything yourself, for which professional assistance is available.  Even when hiring professional assistance, whether it be a mechanic, plumber, roofer, immigration consultant, or lawyer, do your own due diligence in the selection process, or it could end up WORSE than trying to do it yourself would have.

 

Don't persecute all mechanics because ONE was incompetent.  YOU chose the incompetent one.  Right?

 

Nothing against anything K&R posted.  It just got me thinking. 😉

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by pushbrk

[GEOntificator 281]

10 hours ago, mika__ said:

Hi everyone

 

Me and my husband are in the middle of our CR-1 visa (currently at the NVC stage waiting to hear back from them to set up our interview). 

My husband insisted we hire a lawyer to help us with this CR-1 visa,  I didnt want to hire one, but I have been to the USA previously (yeaaars ago on a k-1 visa with my EX husband now) and for some reason I thought having a previous k-1 visa might make this cr-1 visa more complicated (I dont know why I just did). So I went along with my husband getting a lawyer.

 

 

My husband got us a lawyer. I wish I could have been in the USA to help look for one with him (im the beneficiary moving to the USA) because oh my lord our lawyer sucks.

 

1st problem:

> Our lawyer made us fill out a I-130 form (just for the lawyer) and then our lawyer took all the info and filled it in on his own on a different copy to send off. When our lawyer took our info from the I-130 and gave us a copy of what he sent, there was 20+ spelling errors. He would spell my name wrong on every line, our address's , our work info. I dont know how, we literally wrote down everything (and we double checked what we gave him and we had no spelling mistakes) and somehow he managed to have spelling mistakes everywhere

 

 

2nd problem:

> We gave everything to our Lawyer March 18th (my police cert, tax stuff, paid all fees, everything) to send to NVC since we are at that stage now. Our lawyer said he would send everything that same day March 18th. Our lawyer called us 2 days ago (April 10th) and told us he will send in everything to NVC on April 11th. Umm what? He told us he sent it in 24 days prior and he hasnt even started yet

 

 

 

Every since being on VJ ive had multiple people tell us we should have done the filing on our own. I wish I listened to convince my husband otherwise lol

 

 

curious is any of you had similar issues with a lawyer 

 

rant over

In my humble and personal opinion unless your case has red flags and other issue then having a lawyer can cause problems. They don't work as quickly as you want them to and do not care about your case as you are just another client.

 

if you understand the process, take a couple of days to gather all you need, file everything on your own and send them. VJ is an amazing place to find help. There is answers on literary anything.

 

I will not be getting a lawyer for my next immigration cases thanks to VJ.

[KlametJourney 11]

I don't regret using our lawyer, he did great job in filling my petition and gathering all supporting documentation but not without a delays (it took almost 2 months for him to submit it)  though, I still think about that huge amount he charged for his service and wonder if it really worth it.

 

[Visitor User 253]

I would like to add that my lawyer spoke to the IO more then I did at the interview.