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martinbr

Should I hire a lawyer to do the paperwork?

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: United Kingdom
Timeline
Thank you Jasman0717 for the info. When I get over to the philipines next month I plan to treat her like a queen. She is the most open and warm person that I have met in a long time. I hope to have a lot of fun!

martinbr

Unless you have a complex situation do it yourself. Just follow the guide here on VJ and you should do just find and save yourself several thousand dollars that your new bride can spend for you :P Good luck with your trip :thumbs: Love the RP!

In our personal experience as we hired an attorney at the start. If we had it to do all over again we **would have done it ourselves.

Our reasoning for hiring one was the simple fact as stated on most Immigration Lawyer Websites is that they are/should and claim to be experts...so why not hire one to do all of the work and to ensure that everything that you need to send is correct at the start. Afterall as we all know this is not an easy process so why not start with some ease at the start before the real waiting sets in.

Well this was not the case for us. We sent our attorney everything that was needed:

*Filled out forms needed to apply for the k1

*Long form birth certificates.

*FINAL divorce decrees, notarized and signed by the clerk of courts (as we were both married before).

*Marriage Certificate pertaining to the above.

*Copy of my Social Security card.

*Copy of my Military ID Card (containing my social security number and passport size photo on it). A

military ID card is an OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT ID CARD.

*copies of my fiance' passport (also shows all of his visits here in the past THREE years).

*passport photo for me (2)

*Copies of phone bills

*Our webiste addy with all of our pics to include all of our relatives and friends.

*Letters from friends and family that have met him.

*Letter relative to how we met and our plans.

All of this was sent to our attorney in March of 2007.

On April 24, 2007 we received our NOA1 from VSC.

On July 17 (according to the website) we had a touch.

On August 9 (yesterday) we received an RFE (Request for evidence). It took from July 17 to now to get to us.

Panic set in until I read what the RFE was for....now hold onto your seats folks....as you have read the above....(what was sent to our attorney and VSC).

the Document sent (for my divorce, American not foreign) is not evidence of a "FINAL DIVORCE DECREE", please submit the "FINAL DIVORCE DECREE".

*Read above. THE FINAL DIVORCE DECREE was sent. The very front page at the top states "FINAL DIVORCE DECREE" and to top this I highlighted it in yellow and tabbed (with sticky tabs the signature page of the judge who signed and awarded the divorce).

We have no proof of name change when married. Please send information. i.e., marriage certificate.

*Read above. Sent a certified copy of the marriage certificate from the previous marriage showing that I went from my birth name to the married name. Also a long form copy of my birth certificate.

ohhh it gets better...last but not least.....

Please submit one passport-style color photo(s) of ME taken within thirty days of the date of this notice.

*they received two that were taken two days prior to the package being sent to our attorney to then be sent to them.

Now someone please explain to me waht is wrong here?

Now we have the attorney who is clearly not doing his job. He sends me an email along with the RFE stating that he will send out everything they are asking for on Monday and if he needs anything else he will contact me. HELLLOOOOOOO.......he already has everything so what more could he want. He should have sent it out ASAP yesterday! Afterall he did get a BIG chunck of our money.

Now we have VSC.....where is all of the information that was sent to them? or are there comprhension issues within the ranks?

and now all of this VALUABLE time has been wasted because of inefficency.

On monday morning first thing I will be sending Mr. Paul Novak (Director) a complete copy of everything we sent in April via FED EX return receipt.

This same package will be sent to my Congressman and my Senator.

oh and yes the attorney we hired will be fired.

April 24th 2007 NOA1

July 11th 2007 touched

August 10th 2007 RFE (paperwork they already had)

August 13thFED EX RFE INFO

August 14 VSC Received

August 21st touched

August 22nd touched

August 23rd touched (cleared security checks)

August 24th touched

September 14th 2007 NOA2

September 20th 2007 Hard Copy of NOA2

September 20th 2007 Letter drawn up from NVC

with new case number. Within a week

Visa petition will be sent to London.

September 29th 2007 letter received from London Embassy

*they have it :D* Need to schedule Medical.

October 12th 2007 Medical complete and done....passed :D

November 5th 2007 Checklist sent to London Embassy

November 12th 2007 Checklist received by London Embassy

December 5th 2007 Interview Date London Embassy *Dances around room*

DECEMBER 5TH K1 APPROVED *Jumps up and down on bed*

*LONDON WAS EASY*

December 17th Fiance' arrived in the U.S. *MERRY CHRISTMAS*

December 19th Social Security applied for

Live first and foremost, don't judge others as they will eventually judge you!! Be the most for your heart and not your head. Above all remember every person you meet is a person!

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Filed: Country: Canada
Timeline
Everyone's experiences here are different, and when the "should I get a lawyer?" topic comes up, you'll get all sorts of answers...

--I did it myself, no problem

--I did it myself, underestimated or didn't understand how certain factors would impact my case, and had tons of problems

--I used the services of a lawyer, and had no problems

--I used the services of a lawyer, they had no clue what they were doing and caused so many problems and delays it was a waste of money

The fact that you are here on VisaJourney and trying to understand the process early in your relationship is good. There are links and guides and experiences here galore. I humbly suggest reading as much as you can, and start evaluating things against your personal experience. An initial consultation with an AILA-certified lawyer well-versed in family-based visas could also help as well. Just get yourself as educated as you possibly can, even if you decide to go with the services of a lawyer, so you can keep track of what they are doing (or not doing, as some people have found).

Best wishes to you! :)

This is some of the best advice yet.

Teaching is the essential profession...the one that makes ALL other professions possible - David Haselkorn

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Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Russia
Timeline
I am getting ready for my trip to the philipines. If everything goes well with the woman that I am falling in love with, should I try to do the 129-f application myself or hire a attorney? What does the majority of the people here do? It doesn't look that hard to do except for mounds of paper work but if it's better to get a attorney then this is something I have to start thinking about. How much does a attorney usually charge for something like this? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks,

martinbr

No matter whether you do it with a lawyer or your own,you should know that you are the one that is responsible for the process and the only way to controle is to learn all in details.

anyway make sure her name is not Karyn duff and she is not from Maryland.thats a big time scam bag!

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Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Philippines
Timeline
I am getting ready for my trip to the philipines. If everything goes well with the woman that I am falling in love with, should I try to do the 129-f application myself or hire a attorney? What does the majority of the people here do? It doesn't look that hard to do except for mounds of paper work but if it's better to get a attorney then this is something I have to start thinking about. How much does a attorney usually charge for something like this? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks,

martinbr

You dont have to hire a lawyer, i did mine by myself. Just be resourceful, just stick around in VJ there are lot of people who can answer your questions here. You can go to USCIS site and the site of US Embassy in Manila.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
Timeline

Assuming you have a pretty normal case hiring a lawyer will typically save you some hours of reading how to do things. What it will cost you is:

$ 700.00-$ 3000.00 in legal fees ($ 1500.00 average)

Slow you down from 3 weeks to 3 months depending on the compentence of the lawyer.

Cause you to loose some sleep unless you are very lucky.

Maybe make a mess of your whole applicaton.

12/14/2006 Applied for K-1 with request for Waver for Multiple filings within 2 years.
Waiting - Waiting - Waiting
3/6 Called NVC file sent to Washington for "Administrative Review" Told to call back every few weeks. 7/6 Called NVC, A/R is finished, case on way to Moscow. YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7/13 On Friday the 13th we see updated Moscow website with our interview on 9/11 (Hope we are not supersticious) 9/11 Visa Approved. Yahoo.
10/12 Tickets for her to America. I am flying to JFK to meet her there. 12/15/07 We are married. One year and a day after filling original K-1
12/27 Filed for AOS, EAD & AP 1/3 Received all three NOA-1's 1/22 Biometrics 2/27 EAD & AP received 4/12 Interview
5/19/08 RFE for physical that she should not have needed. 5/28 New physical ($ 250.00 wasted) 6/23 Green Card received
4/22/10 Filed for Removal of Contitions. 6/25 10 Year Green Card received Nov, 2014 Citizenship ceremony. Our journey is complete.

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Filed: Timeline

Kass,

You seem to be assuming that these issues were the fault of the attorney. They may have been, then again they may not have been. There are frequent posts to VJ from people who did not use an attorney and who had the same types of problem - USCIS sending an RFE for materials that were included with the submission or asking questions that (in the posters opinion) should have been adequately explained by the materials that were in the submission.

In your case the attorney will take care of the response to USCIS for you. That's one of the things you are paying him for - taking care of USCIS screw-ups - if that's what this was, and it may have been. The people who have the same problem and did not use an attorney write to VJ asking what to do when USCIS asks for or about material that has already been submitted, then have to try to explain to USCIS themselves.

Did you make it part of your agreement with the attorney that he would provide you with a duplicate copy of the submission, so that you would have a copy for your personal records? Aside from the other benefits of having a copy it would have allowed you to know for sure whether he failed to submit the RFE'd materials. If not, have you discussed the RFE with the attorney yet to find out if he did omit any of the materials you provided from the original submission?

Would you have been able to respond to the RFE any faster than the attorney is doing? Or, if you hadn't used the attorney and had gotten the RFE, would you be taking time to ask around about what to do and how to respond as other VJers do?

Yodrak

In our personal experience as we hired an attorney at the start. If we had it to do all over again we **would have done it ourselves.

Our reasoning for hiring one was the simple fact as stated on most Immigration Lawyer Websites is that they are/should and claim to be experts...so why not hire one to do all of the work and to ensure that everything that you need to send is correct at the start. Afterall as we all know this is not an easy process so why not start with some ease at the start before the real waiting sets in.

Well this was not the case for us. We sent our attorney everything that was needed:

* .......

All of this was sent to our attorney in March of 2007.

On April 24, 2007 we received our NOA1 from VSC.

On July 17 (according to the website) we had a touch.

On August 9 (yesterday) we received an RFE (Request for evidence). It took from July 17 to now to get to us.

Panic set in until I read what the RFE was for....now hold onto your seats folks....as you have read the above....(what was sent to our attorney and VSC).

the Document sent (for my divorce, American not foreign) is not evidence of a "FINAL DIVORCE DECREE", please submit the "FINAL DIVORCE DECREE".

*Read above. THE FINAL DIVORCE DECREE was sent. The very front page at the top states "FINAL DIVORCE DECREE" and to top this I highlighted it in yellow and tabbed (with sticky tabs the signature page of the judge who signed and awarded the divorce).

We have no proof of name change when married. Please send information. i.e., marriage certificate.

*Read above. Sent a certified copy of the marriage certificate from the previous marriage showing that I went from my birth name to the married name. Also a long form copy of my birth certificate.

ohhh it gets better...last but not least.....

Please submit one passport-style color photo(s) of ME taken within thirty days of the date of this notice.

*they received two that were taken two days prior to the package being sent to our attorney to then be sent to them.

Now someone please explain to me waht is wrong here?

Now we have the attorney who is clearly not doing his job. He sends me an email along with the RFE stating that he will send out everything they are asking for on Monday and if he needs anything else he will contact me. HELLLOOOOOOO.......he already has everything so what more could he want. He should have sent it out ASAP yesterday! Afterall he did get a BIG chunck of our money.

Now we have VSC.....where is all of the information that was sent to them? or are there comprhension issues within the ranks?

and now all of this VALUABLE time has been wasted because of inefficency.

On monday morning first thing I will be sending Mr. Paul Novak (Director) a complete copy of everything we sent in April via FED EX return receipt.

This same package will be sent to my Congressman and my Senator.

oh and yes the attorney we hired will be fired.

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Thanks for everyones input on this first part of a very long process that I am about to embark on here. I think I will just try to do it myself since I really don't have that kind of money to be shelling out. I mean that could be another plane ticket over to the philipines to see my new girlfriend.

But I might do what some have suggested and maybe contact a immigration lawyer to just look over the papers. If there fee was right I wouldn't object to paying for something as important as this. So I will be asking a lot of questions in the future around here as I get aquainted with this group.

martinbr

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: China
Timeline

I wouldn't even pay them to look over the package. Just follow the checklist here and double check all your papers, signatures, documentation, and make sure to have 2 copies of the entire packet with you when you send the petition off.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
Timeline

If you simply read and answer each and every question, there is zero reason to waste money on an attorney. They offer you nothing special for the excessive fee they normally charge. An attorney filed K-1 is treated no differently than one sent in from anyone else. Just follow the instructions, seek advise on these forums if you run into a question, send in the right payment to the correct Service Center, and be patient! :yes:

Jeffery AND Alla.

0 kilometers physically separates us!

K-1 Visa Granted... Wednesday, 21 May 2008

Alla ARRIVED to America... Wednesday, 12 November 2008

russia_a.gif Алла и Джеффри USA_a.gif

AllaAndJeffery.PNG

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Turkey
Timeline

Hi Martin,

Most of us filed the K-1 petition (which includes the I-129F) ourselves. For many, it's a straightforward process. I read the VJ guides & member posts, asked questions, and searched previous discussions on various topics. AND I made friends!

In no time, you will have learned all there is to know about submitting a K-1. Most surprising to me, though, were the unexpected highs and lows - this experience was an emotional rollercoaster!!

If you can keep busy with work and activities, stay connected with family and friends, have distractions/people to take your mind off the visa, and maintain a sense of humor - the experience will be like rowing a boat on the lake. You're not quite on the shore, but it's in view.

Much good luck and keep us all posted!

MM and MS

I am getting ready for my trip to the philipines. If everything goes well with the woman that I am falling in love with, should I try to do the 129-f application myself or hire a attorney? What does the majority of the people here do? It doesn't look that hard to do except for mounds of paper work but if it's better to get a attorney then this is something I have to start thinking about. How much does a attorney usually charge for something like this? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks,

martinbr

MM and MS

San Francisco and Istanbul

I-129F Received (CSC): February 21, 2007

Filing Fee Check Cashed: February 26, 2007

NOA1 Issued: February 28, 2007

Touched: March 1, 2007

Touched: May 7, 2007

RFE Issued: May 8, 2007

RFE Reply Sent: June 25, 2007 (wrong PO Box)

RFE Reply Sent: July 12, 2007 (correct address)

RFE Reply Received (CSC): July 19, 2007

Touched: July 20, 2007

NOA2 Issued: July 27, 2007

Petition Received (NVC): August 20,2007

Petition Sent to Embassy (Ankara, Turkey): August 22, 2007

Packet 3 Arrived: September 11, 2007

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Filed: Country: United Kingdom
Timeline

I'm doing mine myself. If you don't have the money, I'd recommend you do it yourself, too.

5/11/2007 - Submitted I-129F

5/14/2007 - Packet Received by USCIS

5/21/2007 - Received NOA1

7/11/2007 - Ordered Police Certificate

8/16/2007 - Received Police Certificate

8/23/2007 - Received NOA2 Email Confirmation

8/30/2007 - Received NOA2 Hardcopy

9/4/2007 - Received NVC Letter

9/10/2007 - Packet 3 Received

9/24/2007 - Packet 3 Returned

10/7/2007 - Medical Interview - London

11/6/2007 - Interview - PASSED!

11/13/2007 - Passport Returned

11/18/2007 - Coming Home for Good

11/19/2007 - Had trouble at the aiport...NOW coming home for good.

12/18/2007 - Applied for Social Security Card

12/27/2007 - Received Social Security Card

2/05/2008 - Getting Married!

2/18/2008 - Submitted AOS packet

2/26/2008 - NOA for I-485, I-I-765, and I-131

2/28/2008 - Received ASC Appointment Notice

3/12/2008 - Biometric Appointment

3/13/2008 - RFE for I-485

3/24/2008 - Submitted Evidence

5/2/2008 - I-485 Transfer Notice - sent to CA center

7/17/2008 - Received EAD

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: India
Timeline

I am doing it myself so far, thanks to the immense help here at VisaJourney.com.

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