N400: is it better to use an attorney or not

J

jayanthi4

New Member
In a few months, my spouse and I will apply for citizenship. Our cases are straightforward, based on the 5-year requirement, and I am capable of handling these kinds of paperwork without making mistakes. Given that, is there an advantage or disadvantage to using an attorney for filing the N400? Are there too many gotcha's with this process that I will need a guiding hand? Or will an attorney be a source of delay (an extra hop in the network, if you will)? Or can an attorney speed up the process?

Thanks much,

-Jay.
 
Attorney?

From my humble opinion, I think you should. My cousin and I both applied for citizenship at almost the same time. He got his couple months later, no problem everything went smoothly!! 17 months in the process and I am still waiting for an answer. what my cousin kept doing during that time is calling his lawyer's office anytime he needed to check on his case. He paid couple hundred dollars and rely pretty much on his lawyer. As for me, I am putting everything in question, did I fill out the forms correctly? Did I make a mistake? Why is it taking so long? I might be wrong , it probably has nothing to do with hiring a lawyer or not, but I wished I had hired one, I will sleep better at night knowing that my lawyer is working on my case or is he? :)
 
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I do not think you need one

I really do not think you need one. I would agree if you have a difficult case but i do not think lawyers can help speed the process.
 
sobelle said:
From my humble opinion, I think you should. My cousin and I both applied for citizenship at almost the same time. He got his couple months later, no problem everything went smoothly!! 17 months in the process and I am still waiting for an answer. what my cousin kept doing during that time is calling his lawyer's office anytime he needed to check on his case. He paid couple hundred dollars and rely pretty much on his lawyer. As for me, I am putting everything in question, did I fill out the forms correctly? Did I make a mistake? Why is it taking so long? I might be wrong , it probably has nothing to do with hiring a lawyer or not, but I wished I had hired one, I will sleep better at night knowing that my lawyer is working on my case or is he? :)
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So, what exactly is your situation?
sOnY
 
zzerous said:
I really do not think you need one. I would agree if you have a difficult case but i do not think lawyers can help speed the process.
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what would difficult mean??? what does lawyer do for you? just file ur papers or he/she can go with u on the day of interview? to make sure nothing wrong happens?

NOTE:to OP
i am not trying to hijack ur thread,maybe someone will elaborate on the need for lawyer.

i have friend ,her case has been denied twice.
1st she applied on basis of married to UsCitizen husband ( 3 years ) and after interview she didnt recieve any letter.
she applied again on basis of 5 years, and at the time of interview, officer told her her previous case was denied because she didnt submit the proofs, and she never recieved the letter in mail. and on 2nd interview officer grilled her on marriage relationship. and she was given notice to submit proofs of all kind like DMV recored for her husband and her's for last 5 years and tax returns and all kind of stuff. which she says interview was very hard compared to her adjustment of status interview 6 years back.she wasnt able to provide those documents to officer because she told her she is seperated from her hubby. and her case was denied again for not providing the documets, and the reason for denial was ( burden of proof on applicant). according to denial letter she can apply again anytime she wants.

now she is thinking to use a good immigration attorney to file her case and go to interview with her, she thinks she was asked alots of irrelevent questions during her interview. PLUS now she is divorced. and this time she thinks just because her case was denied twice, uscis will again ask her for same documents to prove marriage, even she is divorced. thats why she would use good lawyer for this process.

i think this case can be called difficult.
If someone can explain, how lawyer can help her during her interview with cis? can he make sure, that examiner dont ask her something totally out of the way? but again i think officers can ask u whatever they want to, but still i think there are alot of things which only lawyer would know.
thank you.
 
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My situation

To sony,
I had my interview in June 2004, the immigration officer told me that I past the civil test and he will send me an answer via mail. I am still waiting. I had my second finger print, went several times to the INS for information, every time I went there it was the same answer, my name check is not cleared yet. I contacted the senator's office and was told the same thing and they added that it can take up to 3 years!! And as the song goes, "I still haven't found what I am looking for". By the way Sony I am praying for you and hope you get an answer soon!
 
The lawyer is good only if you had any issues with he law or did not file taxes properly etc etc. If you have no issues like these then hiring a lawyer is a waste of money. Lawyer can not do any thing for you in the interview. File directly to UCSIC service center, show your application to someone who has applied if you are worried about making any mistake in there. Trust me lawyer is no use.
 
The common thing in all of the cases above that applicants do not follow up on their cases and keep waiting. INS will ask you for proofs and unless the applicant provide a clear and convincing evidence they easly can deny the case. A lawyer will not ask you to lie or hide information, s/he will ask you to come up with the necessary documents ( tax retuns , proof of prior mariages etc). I honestly think you can apply on your own and just keep following up till you hear an answer.
 
Having an attroney is good if you have a complicated case. By complicated case I mean, any problems with the law, excessive foreign travelling, any past issues with maintaining the status, or any denial of N-400 in the past. If you don't have time to follow up, and if there is a need, then a good attorney can follow up on your behalf. Another advantage is that it minimizes the chances of notices getting lost in mail as USCIS will send the all the correspondance to both you and the attroney's office. Of course it will cost you $$ for attorney's services.

If your case is straight forward, and you educate youself about the process and keep on following up on your case if it gets delayed at any stage, then yes, there is no need for an attorney. But you better make sure that you follow up regularly, otherwise a lot of cases just fall through the cracks with USCIS.
 
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jayanthi4 said:
In a few months, my spouse and I will apply for citizenship. Our cases are straightforward, based on the 5-year requirement, and I am capable of handling these kinds of paperwork without making mistakes. Given that, is there an advantage or disadvantage to using an attorney for filing the N400? Are there too many gotcha's with this process that I will need a guiding hand? Or will an attorney be a source of delay (an extra hop in the network, if you will)? Or can an attorney speed up the process?

Thanks much,

-Jay.
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You'll do fine, don't worry.
 
sobelle said:
To sony,
I had my interview in June 2004, the immigration officer told me that I past the civil test and he will send me an answer via mail. I am still waiting. I had my second finger print, went several times to the INS for information, every time I went there it was the same answer, my name check is not cleared yet. I contacted the senator's office and was told the same thing and they added that it can take up to 3 years!! And as the song goes, "I still haven't found what I am looking for". By the way Sony I am praying for you and hope you get an answer soon!
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your case is name check pending or background check pending. it is nothing a lawyer can do you for beside of waiting.
 
I agree with most of the people here, you do not need a lawyer for the citizenship as the form is simple and you do not have things complicated as the green card. Most of my questions were answered by the folks here in this forum and I really think you do not need a lawyer. Also, there is a site called immigration information and most of the time a lawyer by name Ron Gotcher answers the questions. Ofcourse all the above is true only if your case is simple and did not had any problem with the law. Wish you all the best.
 
I (OP) thank you all for the responses. I really appreciate the help/advice. At this point, I am strongly leaning towards filing it by myself.
 
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