Is lawyer assistance necessary for my case?

[Nurettin 3]

Hello,

 

I reside in Turkey and I recently got the Turkish citizenship. My place of birth is Syria. My fiance is an American citizen. I was told by some people that there might be complications for my case as I was born in Syria. Keep in mind I have been living in Turkey since 2015 under Temporary Protection. Would those circumstances warrant hiring a lawyer to help file the documents? Or should I go about it like everyone else and do it myself?

[milimelo 4,477]

You have listed nothing that would warrant involvement of a lawyer. There may be some additional time in AP, but that's normal. 

 

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

A lawyer can't speed up AP.

[Amunah 62]

If he is your fiance then you cannot go for CR1 visa. Your process would go under K1-visa. If your have an option to go for spousal visa, go that route since the waiting time is the same, plus you have additional prolonged wait once you do arrive in the US to adjust status and recieve paperwork. That is the first thing you need to clear, and then dig through threads, I am sure there were and are plenty of people with a similar situation. 

[Nurettin 3]

11 minutes ago, milimelo said:

You have listed nothing that would warrant involvement of a lawyer. There may be some additional time in AP, but that's normal. 

 

Thank you very much for the answer. One more point I forgot to mention and it might be a totally different question is that I changed my name once I received my Turkish citizenship. So now it is different from the name on my birth certificate. Do I need to include a document that shows my name change? And where do I include that? Should it be when I submit my 130? 130a? Or later on?

Edited September 30, 2023 by Nurettin

[Nurettin 3]

9 minutes ago, Amunah said:

If he is your fiance then you cannot go for CR1 visa. Your process would go under K1-visa. If your have an option to go for spousal visa, go that route since the waiting time is the same, plus you have additional prolonged wait once you do arrive in the US to adjust status and recieve paperwork. That is the first thing you need to clear, and then dig through threads, I am sure there were and are plenty of people with a similar situation. 

I'm sorry for the confusion. We're getting married next month so I'm asking ahead. From what I have gathered, a spousal visa is the way to go.

[Crazy Cat 41,836]

2 minutes ago, Nurettin said:

We're getting married next month so I'm asking ahead

Your US citizen fiance needs to join us here.  The process starts with him/her.

[milimelo 4,477]

5 minutes ago, Nurettin said:

Thank you very much for the answer. One more point I forgot to mention and it might be a totally different question is that I changed my name once I received my Turkish citizenship. So now it is different from the name on my birth certificate. Do I need to include a document that shows my name change? And where do I include that? Should it be when I submit my 130? 130a? Or later on?

There's a place on the form to list all names ever used. Yes, you'll want to include the name change documents - get it translated if it's not in English. 

[Amunah 62]

11 minutes ago, Nurettin said:

I'm sorry for the confusion. We're getting married next month so I'm asking ahead. From what I have gathered, a spousal visa is the way to go.

Congratulations! Yes it is. When you research Syria spousal visa timelines, there are quite a few members interviewing in either Istanbul or Ankara, I am sure they can chime in. I was trying to include link, alas, no success. 

[SalishSea 17,818]

1 hour ago, Nurettin said:

Hello,

 

I reside in Turkey and I recently got the Turkish citizenship. My place of birth is Syria. My fiance is an American citizen. I was told by some people that there might be complications for my case as I was born in Syria. Keep in mind I have been living in Turkey since 2015 under Temporary Protection. Would those circumstances warrant hiring a lawyer to help file the documents? Or should I go about it like everyone else and do it myself?

The USC needs to file the petition- not you.   A lawyer cannot help with AP.   Syrians are heavily vetted, and there is no way around that.

 

If you are not married, you cannot be petitioned for a CR-1.

[Nurettin 3]

1 hour ago, milimelo said:

There's a place on the form to list all names ever used. Yes, you'll want to include the name change documents - get it translated if it's not in English. 

Thanks a lot! I will keep that in mind when we fill the form

[Nurettin 3]

43 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

The USC needs to file the petition- not you.   A lawyer cannot help with AP.   Syrians are heavily vetted, and there is no way around that.

 

If you are not married, you cannot be petitioned for a CR-1.

Yes, she will fill the form, but I am researching 

 

1 hour ago, Amunah said:

Congratulations! Yes it is. When you research Syria spousal visa timelines, there are quite a few members interviewing in either Istanbul or Ankara, I am sure they can chime in. I was trying to include link, alas, no success. 

Thanks a lot! I will take a look over there

[Nurettin 3]

50 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

The USC needs to file the petition- not you.   A lawyer cannot help with AP.   Syrians are heavily vetted, and there is no way around that.

 

If you are not married, you cannot be petitioned for a CR-1.

Yes. We're getting married next month. My (future) wife and I will be filing the petition together, but I am doing some research ahead of time. Isn't the process entirely online anyway?

[GP1977 288]

7 hours ago, SalishSea said:

The USC needs to file the petition- not you.   A lawyer cannot help with AP.   Syrians are heavily vetted, and there is no way around that.

 

If you are not married, you cannot be petitioned for a CR-1.

False.  A lawyer can speed up AP in certain cases.  The State Dept has a history of sitting on cases from certain countries - Syria being one of them.  If the case is in extended AP - a lawyer can file a writ - that doesn't guarantee an outcome but will force the state department to make a decision.  Check out Hacking Immigration law for real life situations where this applies. 

[pushbrk 12,876]

6 hours ago, Nurettin said:

Yes. We're getting married next month. My (future) wife and I will be filing the petition together, but I am doing some research ahead of time. Isn't the process entirely online anyway?

No it is not entirely online, and no you will not "be filing together".  You certainly will provide information and documents needed for the filing, but the US Citizen is the person filing the petition in your behalf.

 

Personally, I recommend filing on paper, due to glitches in the online system, some of which your wife will definitely encounter.