London2ATL

have you all used attorneys for your AOS or did you fill in the forms yourselves? We were going to do it ourselves to save money - do you think that's wise?

anyone4tea

Hi London2Atl,

I'm not at the AOS stage yet, so I can't answer your question I'm afraid. My final destination is Atlanta too - an excellent area - amongst other things, it's where my favourite person lives!

Kath

London2ATL

Hi Kath

I moved here from London about 7 months ago - if you'd like to chat about what it's like for a brit moving here, feel free to email me!

Karen
[email protected]

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Choice is yours -- and the motivations vary on whether to hire a lawyer or not. Many people do it themselves with no problem. However, a good lawyer will know the pitfalls, and avoid problems, or be able to "roll with the punches" and deal with the problems as they arise.


Hell, I was just hired by a happy couple both of whom are law professors [I teased them about being the "clients from Hell" but also noted that they will understand that there is uncertainty in the law].

London2ATL

Hi - how much, on average, would it cost to hire a lawyer to deal with all the paperwork etc? All I've done is print off the papers and it's already giving me a headache! It's me who's doing most of the paperwork cos my husband is at work all the time.

Folinskyinla

I have no idea what going rates are in Atlanta. Feel free to contact Bob Beer in Marietta. Tell him I referred you.

BTW, in regards my original posting, I also tell the client that if I do my job right and we have the luck to get a reasonable officer -- the optimal result will be that they will wonder why the hell they spent the money on my fee! [My most recent "Washington Lawyer" magazine quotes a 1980 Judicature Society survey that shows that 70% of WINNING clients were dissatisifed with their lawyers -- sigh].

Good luck.

London2ATL

can anyone else advise whether it's possible to do all the paperwork without a lawyer and be successful in AOS?

ian-mstm

Sheila and I did the entire 129F, K-1, EAD, AoS, and Citizenship thing without the help of a lawyer. That said, we did ask many questions of the good people in this newsgroup. The hardest thing, from our experience, was to be sure to thoroughly read all the forms, fill them out completely, and keep duplicates of everything. The process can be easily completed by yourself as long as you're well organized and thorough.

Best wishes,
Ian (and Sheila)

---------------------------------------------------
Timeline:

Mailed I-129F: November 28, 1997
K-1 interview in Montreal: March 27, 1998
Married Sheila: May 23, 1998
Filed for AoS: June 15, 1998
AoS interview: February 20, 2001
Received PR status: March 4, 2001
Applied for Citizenship: December 8, 2003
NoA: Priority date - December 11, 2003
Fingerprinted: January 20, 2004
Citizenship Interview: May 5, 2004

London2ATL

Thanks Ian & Sheila - I can't see anything that looks TOO difficult on the forms. Like you said, it's just a case of reading the details. Thanks for your comment - we're going to do it alone and save the dosh!

hwarang

While you're throwing around some names there Folin *giggle* feel free to throw one our way of whom would have an idea of whether our situation is worth re filing an I-601 and would be willing to take us on. We can't find an attorney here in OZ that has ever done an I-601. The immigration attorney here in Australia that we did use, forwarded our file onto a non-immigration firm in Canada of which we didn't know until we received what they had sent to Bangkok BCIS. If it weren't for my hubbies kids, we would let it go and just give up, but something inside (be it lunacy) won't allow us to let it go.

Andrew Defaria

London2ATL wrote:

    > can anyone else advise whether it's possible to do all the paperwork
    > without a lawyer and be successful in AOS?

I believe so. In fact I hear that you can also file your taxes without a
CPA! Imagine that! ;-)
--
Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?

Mrtravelkay

London2ATL wrote:

    > can anyone else advise whether it's possible to do all the paperwork
    > without a lawyer and be successful in AOS?
    >

Can you?? Yes
Should you?? That depends on your competitance in doing the paper work
and details regarding your case that might cause problems, such as
criminal history or visa overstay. Also, in your own mind, would it make
you feel more comfortable if you let a professional do it?

That said, I handled the immigration paperwork for my wife's I-130
filing in Moscow. Additionally, the I-751 went well, and now we are
awaiting the results of N-400. Additionally, tax filing was easy with HR
Block's online program ($39.90 for Fed and State), and I have filed and
won civil suits both for small claims and higher. Right now, I am in the
process of defending against a civil suit.. Different paperwork for the
defense side.. I also successfully adopted my former stepdaughter
without an attorney. None of this went without a lot of time spent on
research. It is also quite helpful that some of the courts in
California have a lot of help online and even fillable forms. Too bad my
home county isn't one of them.... But, they were OK with my forms based
on information obtained from the Superior Courts located in other
counties. If at any time I felt uncomfortable with the process, I
would not have hesitated to seek out an attorney. Or... if the issues
got complicated, such as the other birth parent fighting the adoptioon,
I would have sought an attorney.

So, in conclusion.. Can you be successful without an attorney? Yes...
But should you do it? I can't answer that, I don't know you and your
circumstances.