Advice on whether to use a lawyer

[yassmine2878 1]

can any one suggest any immigration lawyer in Seattle Washington?

PM Maggie724 she is from that area and Im sure she would have some helpful info for you. I believe she used a lawyer. Best of luck to you!

[Tsup2 0]

I used George Sabga Jr. An immigration attorney from California. He was good until I paid him his $750 retainer for K1 visa and then he never answered his phone or my messages. He would eventually respond to email after multiple attempts. The informaton on his website is outdated. I never knew what to expect next until I discovered Visa Journey. I think he is like most attorneys once they get your money they do the minimum amount possible and move on to the next paying client. I would not recommend him.

Edited October 26, 2007 by Tsup2

[bob&hazel 0]

Ok, here's my 2 cents on the whole using lawyers.

Yes, lawyers can offer piece of mind when doing something like this. The paperwork can seem like a nightmare, but in truth most of it is pretty straight forward. You still have to fill in all the paperwork, often all the lawyer will do is clarify the questions. Lawyers can be really good at this, if they know what they are doing.

If you think a lawyer will help with your case and get it approved quicker, then you're wrong. After the paperwork is sent to the Service center it is out of anyones hands except the people at the service center.

I know this from a previous job, i worked at a company that was receiving complaints for something that could result in compensation. A lot of people went to lawyers to help them get compensation as they believed it would help them. There were companies dedicated to claiming compensation about this issue. All the lawyers would do is send the application to us and we would handle the case and issue compensation. The lawyers would then take 25% of this compensation.

I spoke to a lot of people who went through these lawyers and explained that all they had to do was fill in a few basic questions (name....etc) and if they could provide us with the answers to the harder question then that was great, but using a lawyer made no difference, except at the end you got 100% of the compensation rather than 75%. The information the lawyers gave was usually inaccurate and designed to scare the client into believing that the lawyer will help. Majority of the people I spoke to wished they hadn't used a lawyer as they felt cheated.

Some of the time the use of a lawyer would slow the process down as we would send paperwork that had to be filled in by the client otherwise we couldn't look into the case and the lawyers would lose them, or refuse to send them onto the client as the client had already filled in a different piece of paper that was no use to us but the lawyer didn't want to make it look like he didn't have a clue what he was doing.

In the end with or without a lawyer you fill in the paperwork and your case gets reviewed, just with a lawyer you pay a lot more for the privilege!

Before going to a lawyer I would suggest looking through the paperwork and the guides on here (I found them very useful and straight forward) and decide if you can fill them in yourself or not. Most of it is basic information you already know.

[Fandango 1,439]

The bottom line is, no one should ever advise anyone to NOT use a lawyer. This is a site of anecdotal information...it is not a paid help desk, nor are any of us here lawyers on retainer for anyone else here. Be very careful about the disctinction!

[kitty loves moudi 0]

I am searching for a great immigration lawyer to file my k-3 visa, know of one? If u know of one near Austin, tx it's good too but not most important.

[Jaseball 0]

VJ has been a great resource and provided me an information source to not only look into, but file the papers for the K1 process and have an idea of each stage of how my case is proceeding.

I looked at the attorney fees ranging from $1000-3000+ and sat down and asked what I would be getting for my money.

1) I have to collect all the information anyways.

2) I have to get my fiancee to sign and fill out her side of the K1 petition.

3) I have to be in possession of the boarding passes, pictures, letters, email, phone records and other records.

So, what exactly does an attorney in this case going to do? Order a paralegal to transfer my provided information to the USCIS paperwork, send it first class, and then cash my $3000 check?

If I have questions or worries would a post on VJ and other immigration sites give me more accurate information or would my attorney be a better source? Would his/her answers be worth $3000?

I'm not advising anyone to get or not get an attorney. If it gives you comfort or you have a complicated case or can't fill out forms and like people telling you how to do things, then pay the fee.

However, like others have said, once the paperwork goes it is up to the US immigration process and the attorney is useless.

If you do get an attorney, get in writing what services you will receive. If you have a possibility of RFE, need help at the consulate level, have interview problems, get denied, or other contingencies are you covered or do you have to pay more attorney fees? What experience does your attorney have in your SO's country and consulate? How many cases have they handled? How fast are they going to reply to your questions and concerns?

Just do your best to define what you are paying for and calculate cost/benefit.

For my own case at this point an attorney is a total waste of time and money. They would be 100% useless up to this point and I'll use the $3K for a trip and AOS.

[radsr2002 0]

I used a lawyer.

I found 1 that charged $650 for I130 and $650 for K3.

He did a great job, and yes we did have to foot work the papers.

But fact is my wife is I130 approved and will be here Nov 18th