Lawyer For K-1???

[Jersey Guy]

I will be starting the K-1 process soon....with 2 K-2s. I am looking for advice from others that have been through the process. I was wondering if a lawyer would be worth the expense.
The forms do not appear to be complicated and the website visajourney.com seems to have very useful information. I was wondering if people that have not used a lawyer wished they have or people that have used a lawyer  thought it was worth the expense or a waste of money.
The only complication that I expect is the father not giving consent initially, but she thinks that she can convince him after awhile. A lawyer would not help in this situation anyway. I just do not want anything to go wrong and neither of us have any experience with the process.

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Goombah]

No way.  Presuming you can do your own taxes, the K1/K2 paperwork is easy.  Just follow the instructions.  Doesn't hurt to visit sites like VisaJourney.com - I seem to remember them having examples as well as helping to set reasonable timing expectations.

Goombah
(Married almost 8 years now to a wonderful Russian bride)

[Gator]

Jersey Guy,
 
Not needed unless you have been arrested or something of the kind that may require a waiver. 
 
Your largest hurdle will be the father of the children.  That can be difficult.  It is best that you let your fiancee  manage this.  The RWD archives should hace a couple of threads on this subject

[Eduard]

As you can imagine I've had quite a few clients who have gone through K-1 process. As far as I can remember almost every time they decided to use a lawyer things got messed up and delayed. Usually just stupid omissions like forgetting to enclose a document or a form caused delays and complications. These forms are pretty easy to fill out and it's going to be of the highest priority for you to get them done right. I would guess that it wouldn't be as high on priority list of some one else doing it for you.

[ML]

I have sold 12 parcels of property in the past couple of years.

In this state (unlike some others) attorneys must prepare the deed.

After the deed is prepared, I have to proof read it, note corrections needed, get back to the attorney, proof read it a second time, note corrections that were either not made or made incorrectly.  In the next to last sale, I found 22 typos in the deed.

And get this:  I have to pay the attorney for this, and the extra hours it takes his gals to make the corrections of errors that I find.  They are not a bit embarrassed about charging for this.

Change attorneys you say:  I have; 3 times now, without a whit of difference.

[calmissile]

Jersey Guy,

My take on this topic is probably in the minority however I will give you my opinion and reasons for it.
First of all, I agree that you do not need an attorney unless there are unusual circumstances.  Attorneys are valuable for other methods of getting visas and they are used constantly by immigrants that seek other routes than the K-1/K-2.

Last year I did a K-1/K-2 for a Ukrainian women and her child (I later cancelled at the point of the interview).  In our case the paperwork was very cumbersome and complicated.  She was married twice and all of her history and divorce papers, residences for many years, employment for many years, etc. had to be translated by an official/registered translator.  She did not speak English well, and had difficulty understanding the complexities of the process. The permission letter from the child's father was also an issue that the agency got straightened out.

I used a Visa Agency near San Diego, Ca to prepare all of the paperwork.  For a small fee, they assigned a Russian speaking agent to handle our case.  There were many phone calls between the agent and my fiance to get the right documents, in the correct form, etc.  The agent helped her throughout the process to get everything translated, notarized, the fathers permission letter properly executed, etc etc.    There were enough things that we had overlooked that I felt the cost of the service was well worth it.  I am also one that prefers to do everything myself in most cases.  In this case I was not going to go on the cheap for such an expensive endeavor and take a chance on having the visa delayed because we forgot something or did not have the paperwork correct.

I think that in most cases,  a woman that has been married only once without children can probably be done without any big hangups depending on how well you can dot the I's and cross the T's without any mistakes.  It's really a case of whether you want to take the risk of doing it yourself.  Many have done it themselves with success, so it's not cut and dried.

I have to agree that using a lawyer is likely to screw it up like they do most things since most of their work is done by secretaries and assistants.  In the case of reputable Visa Agencies, they do thousands of visas a year and the agents are very familiar with the process. 

If your gal does not speak English, the Visa Agency will make it a lot easier for her to gather all of the proper documents and have them translated, notarized, etc.  My experience is that they also do a very thorough job of reviewing everything to make sure there are no omissions or mistakes.

Good luck with whichever method you use.  BTW, at least a couple of our members used this same agency and from what I last heard were impressed with their services. 

[Jersey Guy]

Thanks for the info.

I used a Visa Agency near San Diego, Ca to prepare all of the paperwork.  For a small fee, they assigned a Russian speaking agent to handle our case.
 Do you have a contact number or website address. I would be interested in contacting them.  Thanks

[calmissile]

 Here is the contact info I have from previous emails.....
The agent that speaks Russian is Maria.  I highly recommend her if she is still with the firm.
Doug



Maria at Law Offices of Deron Smallcomb

4901 Morena Blvd., Suite 111

San Diego, CA 92117

Main Phone (888) 902-9285

Direct Line (619) 956-9901

Fax (619) 378-6556

Email: info@easyfiancevisa.com

www.EasyFianceVisa.com

www.EasyMarriageVisa.com

[Faux Pas]

Keep in mind, for a K-1, K-2 visa, a lawyer can not do anything for you that you can't do for yourself. In fact, a lawyer (depending on who you use) will likely delay the process at numerous intervals. Even a good one. You will have to supply everything they'll need.

If you don't feel like you can handle the paperwork which is akin to doing your taxes, hire a lawyer. Delays happen with or without lawyers even with all paperwork in order. No lawyer can get it done as faster than you can do it yourself. It's a process that has to be fed as it wishes to. Lawyer/no lawyer makes no difference

[viking]

I have done a K1-K2. It is not difficult at all. And yeah, visajourney is very helpful both in their guides and members. No question is too silly. As far as lawyers go, I would use one ONLY if you have a complicated situation. Otherwise you are doing all the work and they are merely taking your work and filling in the blanks. And if you read posts on VJ, you will see that most people were not happy with the results. Remember, ultimately YOU are the one responsible for what happens..or doesn't happen.

[Muzh]

Jersey guy.

As someone mentioned on another list, the lawyer will work on the info YOU provide them.

If you provide them the wrong information, you'll be screwed out of a few thousand bucks. Not to mention that since they work by the hour it will be a bear to get things straightened out.

So, by doing it yourself, you'll have time to double check for mistakes that ONLY you can recognize and fix them. Besides, it is the simplest form to fill out.

[Eduard]

Basically the guys who I know used a lawyer wanted to "make sure" that everything was done correctly and there would be no issues to interfere with their girl's arrival ASAP. At least in the case of my clients it always worked out the other way around and they wound up loosing a few months...
Not that there is anything wrong with lawyers! 

[Anotherkiwi]

...Not that there is anything wrong with lawyers! 

Of course not...most of the time!  I'm sure that Lily is not the only lawyer who is an active poster - it might be interesting to see if we have any others (Boethius in the past, of course, but there must be more).

[calmissile]

I am in agreement, you don't need a lawyer for a K-1/K-2.  Your also right that they screw things up on visas, just like they do in court cases.

The other option is a visa agency that does thousands of successful visas a year and it does not cost thousands for their services.  It is their specialty and they are very familiar with the processes as well as speak  the language of your foreign fiance who must gather and have many documents translated.

[Turboguy]

Using a lawyer for a K-1 is a great way to go as long as you don't mind it talking a little longer, putting up with a some additonal RFE's, costing a lot more and being in the dark since the lawyer is the one who will be informed of the progress not you.
When this topic comes up it always takes me back to my first K-1.   One other member here (Son of Clyde) and I filed on the same day with him using a lawyer and me doing it myself.   Well actually that is not entirely correct since that was his second attempt at a lawyer.   The first lawyer he hired never sent the forms in so after waiting 60 days he fired that one and the one who mailed the form the same day I did was his second lawyer.   Well, he got an RFE and I didn't so through the application being sent to the embassy I picked up a month on him.   He was using Kiev and they were a little faster with the interviews than the Moscow embassy I used so he gained a bit of that back.
I don't ever plan to do another one but if I were I wouldn't use a lawyer if they paid ME to use them.
 
 

[Jersey Guy]

I would like to thank everyone for their input. I think a lawyer should only be used for problems and not for filing forms. But , at the same time I think it would be beneficial to have some experience helping out.

I have signed up with Easy Fiance Visa. We do have Maria as our contact. The process is beginning.

Here is the contact info I have from previous emails.....
The agent that speaks Russian is Maria.  I highly recommend her if she is still with the firm.
Doug

[calmissile]

I would like to thank everyone for their input. I think a lawyer should only be used for problems and not for filing forms. But , at the same time I think it would be beneficial to have some experience helping out.

I have signed up with Easy Fiance Visa. We do have Maria as our contact. The process is beginning.

Good luck with the visa.   Let us know if their services are as great now as they were when I used them.