Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
Feb 10th 2009, 6:00 am
#16
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
Also, when I say that my fiance doesn't want to be "stuck" here during the period after the AOS is filed, I mean that we would like the option to travel home to his family for holidays, etc. I have been told (perhaps incorrectly?) that this is allowed when you enter under a K-1 visa, but is a much more difficult process if you extend your stay as a visitor via VWP and then apply for AOS.
Rene
Feb 10th 2009, 6:06 am
#17
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
Confidentiality most assuredly extends to the attorney. The attorney cannot speak of his client's conversations with anyone other than with his client. And the same is true of the client.
A client needs an attorney's permission to pubicly make his/her advice known to others outside of his office.
It is also very rude and a breach of equiette to do so.
Feb 10th 2009, 6:07 am
#18
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
As a K-1 entrant (as meauxna pointed out), he will be able to get a travel document which will allow him to go back home for visits, until he receives his green card. It takes about 60 - 90 days to get that travel document in-hand, so he could be landlocked in the USA for around 3 to 4 months after he first arrives.
Rene
Rene
This process is so overwhelming and there is so much information to know! I feel like I may never learn everything.
Feb 10th 2009, 6:08 am
#19
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
As a K-1 entrant (as meauxna pointed out), he will be able to get a travel document which will allow him to go back home for visits, until he receives his green card. It takes about 60 - 90 days to get that travel document in-hand, so he could be landlocked in the USA for around 3 to 4 months after he first arrives.
Rene
Rene
He would also be eligible to apply for advance parole if he went the way originally suggested to you.
The only thing that would stop him from using advance parole if given is if he was in overstay for 180 days or more.
Feb 10th 2009, 6:11 am
#20
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
Hmm... good to know. 3 to 4 months is a while. What would he do in the case of an emergency, i.e. sickness of a family member or likewise? Not that we are anticipating anything of the sort, but it is good to know.
This process is so overwhelming and there is so much information to know! I feel like I may never learn everything.
This process is so overwhelming and there is so much information to know! I feel like I may never learn everything.
If he leaves before getting the advance parole, he has effectively abandoned his petition for AOS and needs to remain outside of the US and you will need to apply for his return on an immediate relative visa which is first petitioned for in the US and then followed through by the US Consulate in London.
Feb 10th 2009, 6:14 am
#21
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
If you are concerned about not being able to travel for a few months after his arrival, you might want to consider marrying now instead, and going the spouse Immigrant Visa route. That takes a little longer to process (8 - 10 months), but when he enters the USA he becomes a PR immediately, with the right to leave the USA to visit back home right away.
Rene
Feb 10th 2009, 6:19 am
#22
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
I have a feeling I’m about to become a regular on this forum! A little about me… I am American, he is British, and we met in the US two years ago and have visited many times since. We want to get married and we are starting the process to get him in the US.
After reading through this site and all of your stories, we were ready to get started with the K-1 visa application process. Just to be safe, before I filed the I-129F paperwork I had a consultation with an immigration attorney. He advised me NOT to apply for a K-1 visa, saying that it could take up to 2 years to get approved. He recommended that my boyfriend come here via VWP and after two months, we should have a spur-of-the-moment wedding and then apply for AOS. He said he would file all the paperwork for us for a fee of $5,000.
Any help or advice would mean so much!
I am sure to have more questions once I get past this roadblock!
(Also, assuming you all agree with me that the K-1 is the right thing to do, what is the time frame we are looking at? If I send off the I-129F this week, is there a chance he could have his interview in London this summer? We have been hoping he can come out here and we can be married by the fall!)
After reading through this site and all of your stories, we were ready to get started with the K-1 visa application process. Just to be safe, before I filed the I-129F paperwork I had a consultation with an immigration attorney. He advised me NOT to apply for a K-1 visa, saying that it could take up to 2 years to get approved. He recommended that my boyfriend come here via VWP and after two months, we should have a spur-of-the-moment wedding and then apply for AOS. He said he would file all the paperwork for us for a fee of $5,000.
Any help or advice would mean so much!
I am sure to have more questions once I get past this roadblock!
(Also, assuming you all agree with me that the K-1 is the right thing to do, what is the time frame we are looking at? If I send off the I-129F this week, is there a chance he could have his interview in London this summer? We have been hoping he can come out here and we can be married by the fall!)
Do NOT do what your "lawyer" is suggesting, it's illegal and could cause you a lot of stress and money, even if it was to work out in the end.
File for the K1, it's not that bad a wait, you've already waited 2 years. You'll have to apply for AOS regardless after you're married anyway, but it'll be less complicated if you did it legally to start with.
BTW, 5K for filing the paperwork on something that he knows to be wrong to start with? The guy sounds like a crook. There's a couple of lawyers on here, you'd be a lot better off talking to one of them if you need a lawyer, they'll do it the legal way to.
Feb 10th 2009, 7:06 am
#23
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Re: Was the immigration lawyer bogus? Starting the K-1 process...
Rudeness and a breach of etiquette would be the last thing on my mind if I had followed the illegal advice of this attorney and found my OH deported. He wouldn't be facing any consequences, but she and her OH sure as heck would be. I commend her for trying to do her own research and confirm that what he suggested is definitely not the legal route to take. She could have used slightly different verbage, but I see no problem with what she has asked.
Tyingtheknot, after your fiancee enters on the K1, marries you and files for AOS, he cannot leave the US without Advance Parole (prior to green card approval). If he does leave the US, even if it is for an emergency, his AOS application is considered abandoned. You will then have to start all over again with you applying for a spousal immigrant visa for him.
It is a gamble you take, if he does have ailing family members, but really 60-90 days will fly by and he'll have the AP before he knows it. He'll be so busy waiting for his EAD, getting his SSN, getting added to bank accounts, applying for drivers license, and getting to know his new wife, etc, he wont' have time to plan that trip home so soon!
Oh, and IIRC, one of the members here, Tracym, did manage to get emergency AP for her new husband (entered on a K1) when his father passed away. This wasn't that long ago..perhaps a six months.
Tyingtheknot, after your fiancee enters on the K1, marries you and files for AOS, he cannot leave the US without Advance Parole (prior to green card approval). If he does leave the US, even if it is for an emergency, his AOS application is considered abandoned. You will then have to start all over again with you applying for a spousal immigrant visa for him.
It is a gamble you take, if he does have ailing family members, but really 60-90 days will fly by and he'll have the AP before he knows it. He'll be so busy waiting for his EAD, getting his SSN, getting added to bank accounts, applying for drivers license, and getting to know his new wife, etc, he wont' have time to plan that trip home so soon!
Oh, and IIRC, one of the members here, Tracym, did manage to get emergency AP for her new husband (entered on a K1) when his father passed away. This wasn't that long ago..perhaps a six months.
