Did you (or your relative) file yourself or did you use an attorney?

Did you use an attorney for your petition?

  • Yes, I used an attorney

    Votes: 13 31.0%

  • No, I didn't use and attorney

    Votes: 29 69.0%
  • Total voters
    42
G

GrandSportC3

Registered Users (C)
I personally used an attorney for my US citizenship but I did the I-130, I-131, I-765 and I-864 for my wife myself.

What about you all? Did you use an attorney?
 
I figured that I would hire an attorney if things started to go awry. But, they haven't, everything went smoothly. I also bought a very nice and easy book after I submitted everything so I could check my work. Turns out, I did everything pretty well. I think I made two minor mistakes on my forms, but it turned out it wasn't anything huge...
 
I used an attorney and he was worth every single penny. It was a package deal for my wife's US Citizenship and then her I130 and my paperwork. I could have probably saved some money by taking care of some of the forms myself but I liked the peace of mind of someone who had experience doing it.
 
bbqchickenrobot said:
I figured that I would hire an attorney if things started to go awry. But, they haven't, everything went smoothly. I also bought a very nice and easy book after I submitted everything so I could check my work. Turns out, I did everything pretty well. I think I made two minor mistakes on my forms, but it turned out it wasn't anything huge...
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Same here. We did everything ourselves. If the case isn't too complicated and just AOS for spouse I think you do not need an attorney. All they will do is take money to file and send papers with information that you know yourself.

Nonetheless as B.Robot said I made some minor mistakes which worked out well. Nothing serious. Like sending just once the 4 pages of my G-325A in the I-130 sub packet and not any in the I-485.

I didn't get an RFE for that since I guess filed concurrently just once those 4 copies were enough (for my officer at least).

Instead got an RFE for marriage license which I believe they misplaced.

Plus from what I am seeing here if you are going to get one, make sure he is good. There have been some weird/bad advice given by some lawyers that have been shared on this forum.
 
I filed everything myself, but I missed the I-765 (Employment Authorization).
I thought that being married to a USC allows you to be automatically eligible for the work permit.
I applied on March 12th, 2007 and I got my GC on August 25th and to this date I still don't have a Social Security (I applied 6 weeks ago).
I did not know about this web site until the end of the whole process.
So, if you are not too familiar with USCIS, You'd better use an attorney.
 
We chose to use an attorney because of a couple of issues that concern us. The forms are simple enough but I think peace of mind is what we are really paying for. He is very experienced, only handles immigration cases, and knows all of the IOs at our DO and they know him. To me, it is money well spent.
 
NativeTexan said:
We chose to use an attorney because of a couple of issues that concern us. The forms are simple enough but I think peace of mind is what we are really paying for. He is very experienced, only handles immigration cases, and knows all of the IOs at our DO and they know him. To me, it is money well spent.
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In bold are definately good reasons to use an attorney (A GOOD ONE of course).
 
We didn't use an attorney. I had met one for an unrelated reason (employment based GC) and he had told me his fee would be $2000 for a family-based case. We had learned everything we needed to know from searching on the web, mostly learning from and with you here.

In the end, I felt the only help a law office could have provided to us would have been with the endless hours spent copying and assembling documents. Then again, for my co-worker (employment based GC), the lawyer made him do all this stuff himself too and just checked over the final package. So I conclude a lawyer would have been no use at all in our case.
 
We could've gotten an attorney because we have legal benefits from my hubby's work. However, we decided that it's better to do our own research together so that we both understand how USCIS works. And I feel more comfortable doing the paperworks by myself with hubby coz there's a smaller chance of typographical errors and it's easier to catch mistakes. Besides, I'm the type of person that, if I know I can rely on someone, then I'll slack off. So that might be a problem when interview rolls around coz I wouldn't know a thing about how my papers were compiled. That's just me tho :p
 
So far, no. The attorneys here want anywhere between $1200 and $2K just to file the I-130. All they do is fill it out, and send it in for you. After that, they told us we would need to find an attorney in Mexico that works with the local consultate to keep working on the case.


$1200 to answer questions on a form? No thanks.
 
austriacus said:
GrandSportC3, on a related topic, did you try to retain your Austrian citizenship when you filed for US citizenship? I might become very interested in this option in a couple of years ...
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no, I didn't try to retain my citizenship. I have no intention of ever moving back to Austria, so the only advantage would be that I wouldn't have to wait in the long immigration lines when entering the European Union.
I already sent them my passport and austrian citizenship certificate... They sent me back my passport after stamping it invalid..
 
Well I used an attorney, wish I had not, all he's done so far was filled out the forms and he used an immigration consultant to do that, she been working with him for years, but I could have done that. And when my Interview come around he will show with us, don't know why. I guess that's a question for my hubby to answer. So far a total waste of money.
 
Did it myself, did some mistakes, got notice to send W-2 but nothing serious.

Jan 26th 07 GC interview

Nov 27th 07 (after 10 months) showed status online that the I485 is approved.:D

Thanks to Immigrationportal and all of you especially praetorian
 
Guys,

No attorney here.... if you are one, why use another one? ... :rolleyes: Filing immigration forms is very simple, especially if u went to college and can read and write....:p Immigration lawyers should be for people who have committed crimes of moral turpitude...not to complete the forms... :eek:
 
Jojojolie said:
I filed everything myself, but I missed the I-765 (Employment Authorization).

I thought that being married to a USC allows you to be automatically eligible for the work permit.
.
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This is the first one I ever heard of anyone thinking marriage alone confers a right to work in the US...:D I am sure you were as off as Bush thought Africa was a great country.....:rolleyes:

Dude...I am glad your gc process went smooth... :)
 
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