Lawyer taking forever to submit to NVC

[Amandapaddy 0]

Our I-130 was approved April 25th. We are submitting to Dublin Ireland Embassy. 
I’m sorry I just need to vent and maybe some insight on a timeline? Is our lawyer taking an unreasonable amount of time, I’m not trying to sound impatient- I realize immigration law is complex and there are things behind the scenes that I am not aware of.. I just can’t wrap my head around filling out an application with info our lawyer has had for a year just now being filled out and I’m struggling really bad. My husband and I have been long distance for over 2 years now and we are not in a good spot. I think both of us are overwhelmed and over everything, I hate seeing what this process has done to us. I have always held onto hope and faith that this chapter is almost over and everything will be okay when he’s back home. Waiting over a year for I130 to be approved, I thought that was the hardest part over with but now we’re waiting to wait again. I understand the NVC will take time as well and it seems “easier” to wait when it comes to immigration officers because it is what it is we’re all waiting on them. But waiting on my lawyer to fill out these documents to submit to NVC is almost destroying me. Is this a normal time line for submitting documents? She has had all of our info this whole time, and her emails to ask questions etc to fill it out just seems to me that she could have had all this figured out before this.. idk. It doesn’t help she’s tik tok famous, posting all the time, so everytime I see her pop up I get angry all over again like can you maybe go fill out some forms? Ah idk. 
 

Our I-130 was approved April 25th. We are submitting to Dublin Ireland Embassy. Marriage- I am from US. Living in US while he is stuck in Ireland. 

[SalishSea 17,383]

Was there a reason you went with a lawyer, let alone a TikTok one?  Most of us here have done everything DIY:  you can’t pay someone enough to care about your case as much as you do.

 

also not sure what you mean by “we are submitting to Dublin Ireland embassy.”   The way that it works is after USCIS approves the petition,  your documentation is submitted to the department of state (NVC), which dispatches it to the consulate when the file is complete.

[Amandapaddy 0]

@SalishSea
We stayed with our lawyer we had who did our i130. She did the i130 and then I thought this was the next thing she does for us.. I didn’t have any reservations having a lawyer fill out official forms when I don’t feel confident doing it myself. Your response at the end pretty much clears up why I stayed with a lawyer instead of doing it diy. I don’t know much about immigration, not trying to sound arrogant but I can fill out documents yes- but was hoping having someone who specializes, who does this all day everyday could do a better job than me that I could easily and most likely do something wrong on the application and potentially getting delayed or even worse, denied or something. I was hoping having our lawyer handle it was the safest option to bring my husband back home to our family. 

Edited July 9 by Amandapaddy

[appleblossom 1,824]

If your I-130 was approved in April then you could have your visa by now! I’ve no idea why your lawyer hadn’t completed the NVC side of things already. Why not just do it yourself if she’s holding things up? 
 

If you’re not sure of the process then it’s all laid out step by step here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/step-2-begin-nvc-processing.html

 

And it’s really not complex, we had lawyers but did all of the NVC side of things ourselves to save time, and it was dead easy. 
 

 

[SalishSea 17,383]

7 minutes ago, Amandapaddy said:

@SalishSea
We stayed with our lawyer we had who did our i130. She did the i130 and then I thought this was the next thing she does for us.. I didn’t have any reservations having a lawyer fill out official forms when I don’t feel confident doing it myself. Your response at the end pretty much clears up why I stayed with a lawyer instead of doing it diy. I don’t know much about immigration, not trying to sound arrogant but I can fill out documents yes- but was hoping having someone who specializes, who does this all day everyday could do a better job than me that I could easily and most likely do something wrong on the application and potentially getting delayed or even worse, denied or something. I was hoping having our lawyer handle it was the safest option to bring my husband back home to our family. 

But see, that’s just it- lawyers often cause delays.   Reading and researching the process is in your best interest, regardless.

[Ontarkie 14,115]

I think you should take a look at the link posted above by Appleblossom. Not one single person is a pro at these things when they've never looked at the forms before. Everyone learns how to do the forms the same way by taking it one step at a time.  If you decide to give it a go and have more questions members would be happy to help out. 

[smilingstone 86]

The problem with using a lawyer is that other people are using them too. Whatever service you're procuring them for, you're just put in a queue with everyone else they have on their books. 

 

What's done is done, and I'm sorry that you're experiencing delays, but if you can take time to research and file yourself (plenty of great info on VJ), and your case is straight forward then you will save yourself a lot of time (and money) in the long run.

[JeanneAdil 6,398]

are u sure the lawyer is even doing this part of the process?

for $3000 all my lawyer did was to submit the petition for the spouse visa and no more

[bonkane 9]

NVC process is most easiest of them all.

I think you should try get those docs uploaded and then DQ.

 

This way your husband will be waiting for interview and hopefully gets next batch.

[TexasRafael 121]

Wow, really sorry for this experience, but filling out the forms that need to be uploaded to the NVC will take at best 2 days and that is being very careful and cautious in filling them out.  You are paying for a service, I suggest that you tell your lawyer how you feel and to get the job done for what you are paying her to do.

[KMG 69]

22 hours ago, Amandapaddy said:

Our I-130 was approved April 25th. We are submitting to Dublin Ireland Embassy. 
I’m sorry I just need to vent and maybe some insight on a timeline? Is our lawyer taking an unreasonable amount of time, I’m not trying to sound impatient- I realize immigration law is complex and there are things behind the scenes that I am not aware of.. I just can’t wrap my head around filling out an application with info our lawyer has had for a year just now being filled out and I’m struggling really bad. My husband and I have been long distance for over 2 years now and we are not in a good spot. I think both of us are overwhelmed and over everything, I hate seeing what this process has done to us. I have always held onto hope and faith that this chapter is almost over and everything will be okay when he’s back home. Waiting over a year for I130 to be approved, I thought that was the hardest part over with but now we’re waiting to wait again. I understand the NVC will take time as well and it seems “easier” to wait when it comes to immigration officers because it is what it is we’re all waiting on them. But waiting on my lawyer to fill out these documents to submit to NVC is almost destroying me. Is this a normal time line for submitting documents? She has had all of our info this whole time, and her emails to ask questions etc to fill it out just seems to me that she could have had all this figured out before this.. idk. It doesn’t help she’s tik tok famous, posting all the time, so everytime I see her pop up I get angry all over again like can you maybe go fill out some forms? Ah idk. 
 

Our I-130 was approved April 25th. We are submitting to Dublin Ireland Embassy. Marriage- I am from US. Living in US while he is stuck in Ireland. 

This is one of the reasons I did not use a lawyer.  Upload the documents yourself and tell your lawyer, thank you for you're time- your done! Waiting almost 3 months for a simple task is ridiculous.

 

Edited July 9 by KMG

[KMG 69]

23 hours ago, Amandapaddy said:

My husband and I have been long distance for over 2 years now and we are not in a good spot. I think both of us are overwhelmed and over everything, I hate seeing what this process has done to us. I have always held onto hope and faith that this chapter is almost over and everything will be okay when he’s back home.

Go to Ireland and visit him- It will be good for your relationship.

[Cathi 5,684]

I'd fire the lawyer and finish on my own. Very often lawyers cause delays, not worth the money unless you have a complicated case. This is the DIY site, the majority of us have done everything on our own. I did everything from submitting the petition, up to and including naturalization for my husband. We had several so called "red flags" and we never even had an RFE at any stage in the process. As long as you read the forms thoroughly and pay attention to detail, you can absolutely do it on your own. If you have question just come here and ask away, there are many, many people in this forum that I would trust far more than any immigration attorney. 

[hplusj 109]

40 minutes ago, Cathi said:

If you have question just come here and ask away, there are many, many people in this forum that I would trust far more than any immigration attorney. 

HEAR HEAR.

You should not for one moment be convinced that immigration attorneys can do this better than you.  Trust the people who have been through this process before and are also personally invested in it.

You can do this.  For every visa there are checklist/flowcharts, not to mention people who have years of tracking your visa journey AND those who have up to date information based on their own experiences.

Ditch the lawyer.  We can help you.