amylass

Hello,

My timeline is below (not completely approved yet, but close!) and that is with an experienced AILA based Immigration Attorney.

We decided to hire an attorney only because we were not confident in our ability to handle the paperwork and BCIS jargon on our own.

One thing that has really given us piece of mind is the fact that the attorney and the client get a copy of all correspondence from the BCIS. That way, should a piece of mail be missing for the client, the attorney would have the original.

To me, it was worth the money. Even if his law clerk was doing most of the grunt work

Amy

Marjeta

No lawyer - 20 days and approved (in 2002)... VSC of course

katina

Same here:

No lawyer -- approved in 20 days at VSC this year; that's counting weekends.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I was very general in my advice -- for a reason. Like anything in this world -- "shit happens."

Look, I'm feeling tired and very good now -- I just fininshed trying the merits on an old "deportation" proceeding this morning. The guy is already has a green card but he was about to lose it due to multiple convictions. Unlike his first lawyer, I found a quirk in the law [specific to his facts] which gave us an opportunity to even apply for him to remain in the US and then seek the mercy of the court.

Not only did the Immigration Judge grant relief, but in the opposite rubric of "good things happen when you least expect it" -- the Government attorney waived appeal!

OK, I'm a little OT, but the point is that things can vary from case to case. I spotted the issues and prepared the client and his family to present his case. BTW, a friend who was admitted to the bar in May attended to watch -- she was amazed that I cross examined my own client -- however, I felt it was better for MY client to get out the bad stuff on MY questioning without the government having to do it. [OK, you needed an illegal weapon for "protection" in a "bad" area. Why did you need an SKS with a 30 round bananna clip?"].

There ARE a lot of things a good immigration attorney can do. Like I say, I don't think my taxes are all that complicated, but I have an accountant do them -- its easier and I have peace of mind.

Matthew Udall

Hiring an attorney is not going to get a case put in front of someone else's who filed earlier. I think any attorney who says it would is being deceptive with their potential clients.

What an attorney can do for you is evaluate your unique situation to try to spot any potential problems and come up with a plan on how to best deal with that situation. Be there to answer the client’s questions that come up along the way. Put together a well documented submission (a balance between being well documented and overkill) without committing beginner mistakes, in order to help reduce the odds of receiving a request for additional evidence. And most importantly, be there to go to bat for the client with the BCIS and/or Consulate if (sometimes I feel I should instead say “when�) they screw up.

I recall not too long ago in this very news group (within the past couple of months) someone asking if there was any way to have his case expedited at the Service Center. There were multiple posts saying flat out “no way� they will ever expedite a case. Then an attorney came along and pointed out the Service Centers criteria that they use when determining whether or not to expedite a case and suggested that a couple of those criteria might fit the posters situation. The poster made the request according to the attorney’s suggestion and bingo… his case was expedited and approved immediately. The experience gained by studying the immigration process and keeping tabs on the minutia of BCIS processing can come in handy in any given case.

Many of the members in this group have also picked up some experience by not only dealing with their own case, but by reading the accounts of others. Such persons might want to consider going to law school and getting a JD degree and starting an immigration practice and doing this legitimately. The immigration community can always use another good immigration attorney.

JuMu

We did not have a lawyer, but it was an easy case and I always was good at dealing with burocracy.

In any other situation I would have hired one.
Just make sure not to hire any lawyer just to have one. Choose one with a good reputation.
It's like going to a doctor, if you get to a bad one he can damage more than he fixes.

Cloudiva

We didn't use a lawyer.We waited 163 days for the approval.But that's because the TSC stopped working on K1 applications altogether from October 2002 -March 2003.That really created a HUGE backlogs and we were one of the sufferers!!

In my case..I'm sure it wouldn't make a difference even if we did hire a lawyer.Because everything at the embassy went smoothly. But hiring a lawyer would be great too..at least you know you're in good hands and wouldn't have to worry so much about getting an RFE.

Cos while I was waiting for the approval..the more I read stuffs on the internet ,I became more and more worried that we might get an RFE.Didn't happen though.Was relieved ...

-Tiara-

Booger

"girlyflyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I was just interested to see the breakdown of days it took with a lawyer
    > and without. So, if you'd be so kind to reply something like...

Lawyers are a WASTE of money. You do NOT need one unless you have legal
issues. They do NOT speed up the process one minute. All they do is file the
same VERY simple and EASY forms that you do.

Forget a lawyer.

Booger

You do NOT need a lawyer.

    > I retained an attorney to help me with my fiance's K1 visa process,
    > because my fiance is Iranian and I thought we might encounter some
    > difficulties along the way. I felt safer having an "attorney on record"
    > for us. I also was VERY new to the immigration process and wanted to
    > make sure paperwork was done correctly. I doubt she is having any
    > influence over the speediness of my progress, though...there are things
    > she can help with, and things she can't.
    > I recently spoke with her about her fees for the AOS portion, once my
    > fiance enters the states. She has one fee which covers her doing all
    > the paperwork and going on record as our attorney. She has a much lower
    > fee if I do the paperwork and just have her check it for errors, and she
    > does not go on record. I'm debating which to do, but I think I will go
    > for having her go on record and pay the more expensive fee. I know so
    > many Iranians that run into immigration related problems, that if
    > something happens and I need to retain her for services later, her
    > hourly rate is probably higher than the initial rate she's quoting. She
    > becomes his attorney until he receives his green card (in Phoenix that's
    > close to 3 years).
    > Even after all the reading I do on my own, I still find myself confused
    > about some issues regarding AOS, EAD, AP, SSN, etc. and I'm sure it
    > will be easier for her to do the paperwork and make sure things are done
    > in a timely manner.
    > Rene
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Matthew Udall

Filling out a set of forms is only the first step in the process. There is more to it than that and we see every day in the group about people needing to follow up with the BCIS or Consulate for their screw ups. Providing the follow up with the BCIS or Consulate is one of the best things an attorney brings to a case (IMHO).

ScottHenshaw

Booger,

Of course, I wish you the only best, but would be curious to know if you would say such a thing if you get either an RFE from Nebraska or an Admin. Review in Manila... You are right about the forms being simple, but there is far more than the forms... I feel confident in saying that my package to both NSC and Manila were in good order as one can see via my K1 website, yet I had an admin. review. You have a long wait ahead of you, not only with Nebraska, but with Manila as well, as you ponder such thoughts as, "Did I write none or N/A, did I spell that right or wrong, or is there somethine I forgot to incude", you can also ponder the question, "Would a good immigration attorney of made the same mistake". Another question is would your fiancee have felt more at ease using one. The frustration that you are feeling right now with NSC and will later with Manila can be felt ten fold by your fiancee. Would it be a "WASTE of Money", to comfort her by using a professional. Again, I chose not to, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have.

Scott

Booger

"Matthew Udall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by Booger


    > > same VERY simple and EASY forms that you do.
    > > Forget a lawyer.
    > Filling out a set of forms is only the first step in the process. There
    > is more to it than that and we see every day in the group about people
    > needing to follow up with the BCIS or Consulate for their screw ups.
    > Providing the follow up with the BCIS or Consulate is one of the best
    > things an attorney brings to a case (IMHO).

Matt, you are absolutely right. I was simply thinking of the filing process
which is why I said "You do NOT need one unless you have legal issues."
However most of the people I see getting RFE's seem to get them resolved
quickly unless they have never met their fiance(e). I read that more than
10% of filers have never met.

Booger

ironporer

A good point- when starting this whole mess out, I am sure that we spent the first month or so researching online all the various requirements, obtaining those documents, and putting together all the required letters of intent etc, filling out the fillable forms online, etc.

I magine a good lawyer (an oxymoron, I know) could have lessened that time substantially by giving us a list of what they needed from us- birth certs, divorces etc, and having all the other documents prepared by their office.

Jp

Matthew Udall <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Originally posted by girlyflyer
    >
    > > I was just interested to see the breakdown of days it took with a
    > > lawyer and without. So, if you'd be so kind to reply something like...
    >
    > >
    >
    > > Lawyer - 60 days - still waiitng
    >
    > > No lawyer - 45 days - approved
    >
    >
    >
    > Hiring an attorney is not going to get a case put in front of someone
    > else's who filed earlier. I think any attorney who says it would is
    > being deceptive with their potential clients.
    >
    >
    >
    > What an attorney can do for you is evaluate your unique situation to try
    > to spot any potential problems and come up with a plan on how to best
    > deal with that situation. Be there to answer the client?s questions that
    > come up along the way. Put together a well documented submission (a
    > balance between being well documented and overkill) without committing
    > beginner mistakes, in order to help reduce the odds of receiving a
    > request for additional evidence. And most importantly, be there to go to
    > bat for the client with the BCIS and/or Consulate if (sometimes I feel I
    > should instead say ?when?) they screw up.
    >
    >
    >
    > I recall not too long ago in this very news group (within the past
    > couple of months) someone asking if there was any way to have his case
    > expedited at the Service Center. There were multiple posts saying flat
    > out ?no way? they will ever expedite a case. Then an attorney came along
    > and pointed out the Service Centers criteria that they use when
    > determining whether or not to expedite a case and suggested that a
    > couple of those criteria might fit the posters situation. The poster
    > made the request according to the attorney?s suggestion and bingo? his
    > case was expedited and approved immediately. The experience gained by
    > studying the immigration process and keeping tabs on the minutia of BCIS
    > processing can come in handy in any given case.
    >
    >
    >
    > Many of the members in this group have also picked up some experience by
    > not only dealing with their own case, but by reading the accounts of
    > others. Such persons might want to consider going to law school and
    > getting a JD degree and starting an immigration practice and doing this
    > legitimately. The immigration community can always use another good
    > immigration attorney.

(Slightly O/T) Matthew, do you (or anybody else on this newsgroup)
happen to know whether it is possible to get a JD degree online? if
not, what's the next best option for a person not physically present
in the US?

As for the topic of this current discussion, much depends on the
qualification of the lawyer, while a good lawyer in a complicated case
is a good investment I've seen people getting screwed up because of a
bad lawyer. Also, with some lawyers the problem is people being unable
to reach them when they have a question or something goes wrong. Would
be good to be able to check some kind of a rating or database with
information about a particular lawyer before giving your fate into his
hands.

Best fo luck to everybody,
Julia