Immigration help - please! Attorneys welcomed...

miamimike says on Feb 6, 2007, 20:50:

Be Careful about asking for Attorny referals as a While Back, and I don't remember the complete situation, but someone recommded an Attorney(I don't remember who the poster was)but I do remember it was only for a simple legal procedure that should have cost under a $1000 or so and the Attorney they were referred to ended up hitting the person up for like $10,000. The person of course didn't take this Attorny's offer so be selective and do your due diligence,,,

Avatar Legend: Bush "If any of you Reporters are wondering, it was a Size 10"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Monita Linda says on Feb 7, 2007, 00:18:

As far from what I have seen on this board, no matter how many dollars you wanna waste, it's gonna take a hell of a time..!!!

Poor but Preppy ______Colombia: the only risk is wanting to lay.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Feb 7, 2007, 02:20:

I went the K1 fiancee visa route. Officially started in September '06. The consulate interview is on the 21st this month. This was relatively fast. The K3, where you are already married, used to be slightly quicker. Now it takes the same amount of time, and sometimes longer than the K1. Plus, consider all the time it will take to get the marriage thing done before you can even start the K3. K1 is the quickest route. Plan on 6 months IF everything is done correctly and you have a little luck. No offense intended to any attorneys, but I would do it myself, and save the attorney fees for something else. I paid for a lawyer, and I now know more than him, after spending so much time researching here, Cblog, and Visajourney.com. For example, in December, I stopped by his office and just asked if my fiancee could work on her K1 visa. The lawyer had to go to a different room to use a computer, came out 5 minutes later, and said "yes, but yada yada yada." I recieved a $117 dollar bill for this sound legal advice. (And he is cheap compared to most)

He who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Dan says on Feb 7, 2007, 04:46:

Embassy advice As far as pushing the right buttons at the embassy, don't count on it. I worked there before. Unless you work IN the embassy, don't count on any special favors or any help. They may tell you what you should already know as far as which documents to fill out and where. You would end up waiting like everyone else, Sorry.

God Bless America!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

arthur brode (☼Travelguide writer) says on Feb 7, 2007, 08:38:

Crazy4Cali says on Feb 7, 2007, 13:29:

RE: timelines... I don't know how things are going now, but when I filed, the fiance route (get married in U.S.) was a bit faster and easier than the spouse route (get married in Colombia).

Realistically, the only way to speed the process is to be prepared and have all your (and her) documents in order in advance. If you need an attorney to help you do that, that's your call, but many (most?) just spend a few hours doing their homework and do it themselves. Visa Journey has a lot of information and recent first-hand accounts of the process. Because the laws and experiences change from month-to-month, more recent experiences are going to be more valuable than stories from a year or two (or more) in the past.

Also, realistically, the fastest fiance visa I heard of was about 3 months (they had everything going in their favor). More normal is 6-8 months with 12-months not unheard of. It all depends on your situation and your preparation. Whether an attorney can add value or just take money depends on your individual circumstance.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

frankdeboca says on Feb 9, 2007, 00:28:

Thanks to everyone... Wonderful and cogent responses... thanks to all. I will consider all of your experiences in this and decide accordingly. It is good to hear other people have the same frustrations in this ridiculously slow process. Hearing stories of rapid visa's ... the obvious truths of this process seem to be quite at odds.

Thanks again

~The key to immortality is to first live a life worth remembering...

0 funny, 0 helpful.