ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
United KingdomAttorneys

Why do you think you'll need an attorney?


I hope your ready. I have a tendency to be quite long winded. I am currently out of time. I have a five year old. I have many evening commitments, one of which is a second job. I am lucky if I make it home at bedtime. I am already stretched to the max. The whole month of May I had 2 days off. That is just the time issue. On to the rest:

I am currently going through a divorce. We are hoping it will be final by the 15th, we are only waiting on the judge to sign the decree.

I will be filing for bankruptcy within the next month or so and I don't make enough to cover the mandatory minimum for someone with a dependent. The job I was working when we met was eliminated, and I was forced to take a lower paying job. I am now on the job hunt again. I have two job options. If I accept one job I will have to work 3 jobs, and with another I will still have to work 2 jobs.

We have not been together as long as most on VJ. Though I believe I have met my soul mate. I can see how others might think its to soon. We both want the same things out of life and in love, but we may need a little bit of help convincing others that this is a valid relationship. I am not sure we have enough evidence since you can't put your feelings out on the table for them to see. Since he is on the road or sleeping all the time we don't really email. We talk on the phone. minimum 2 times a day, and text constantly when is isn't working nights. Out of four trips here (3 while he was working and one for vacation) including the one we met, we don't have any pictures yet. All we have with those are his DOT log book, but those are filled out by him. The fuel reciepts only prove he was in town. Not that he was with me. I do save most of my texts from him ( they are so sweet.) but I recently changed phones and gave him the one the texts were on, so we could talk for free when he was in the states, He has resent them to me from that phone but they are now date stamped with a new date.

He is a UKC but has lived and worked in many different countries on work visas. He is currently in Canada working for a trucking company. He doesn't have a criminal record, But getting all the police documents from all the different countries is going to be tough task, and could take quite a bit of time in itself. I don't even know if that is something an attorney could help with.



I have printed and read all the guides offered by VJ, along with USCIS.com and STATE. gov. I have a binder with everything I have printed. I am a bit dislexic, and have a hard time understanding what I read. I look at the guides every day, and every day I think it says something else. I am afraid that if I try to do this on my own something is going to go wrong, and no one will be able to fix it, and we will have no choice but to move out of the country to be together.

Where I am currently, with my 5 year old and his father, my bills, my house. I can't leave to be with him. Though lord knows I have thought about it. Dropping everything, taking my little one, and just going.

We would have plans to get married as soon as my divorce was final if we didn't know it would take even longer to get him here.

We know about what it could cost to have an attorney, but for us it is more important to be together, Than to eventually be together with money. We can always earn more money. But you can't get back lost time.
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Ash_KoogFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-01 14:33:00
United KingdomAttorneys
I have read some of the nightmares some of you have had with attorneys. I can only imagine what nightmare would arise if I did it, especially with all the particulars of our specific situation. Would those of you who have used attorneys please give names numbers and if you would recommend using them or recommend avoiding them. I have talked to several I found on the net, but I don't know who would be best for us. I don't know what to look for, and I seem to see the good in everyone. A good trait in life, but not so good when looking for someone who could determine our future. I am a worry wart as it is. I am sure I will phone them constantly, So someone easily reachable would be great. Thank you in advance for your help.
Ash_KoogFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-05-31 23:50:00
United Kingdomobtaining a police certificate
QUOTE (RosemarieL @ Oct 30 2007, 04:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You can order one by post if you live in the metropolitan police area http://www.met.polic...forms/3019b.pdf . If you live in a different area maybe you can check your local police web site.

I am not sure what the metropolitan police area is. My husband is from Manchester. He got a police certificate there about a year and a half ago when he went to Canada to work. He has only been back to Manchester for Christmas and didn't stay but a few weeks. I am not sure if that will make much of a difference.
Ash_KoogFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-10-31 17:58:00
United Kingdomobtaining a police certificate
Does anyone know if you can request a police certificate from abroad with out going to the station?
We are applying for a AOS and because we weren't planning on getting married yet. We don't have the required certificates. we have very little time to get this process started. Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to give.
Ash_KoogFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-10-30 12:08:00
IMBRA Special TopicsMail-order brides in an Internet age
Wow what a BS! I agree that she's bitter because her ex left her probably for a foreign woman.
It is very interesting that she has no journalistic work ethic. I worked as a journalist and I am pretty sure that quality standards are the same in Germany and the States. It is okay to express your opinion in an op/ed, but it is not okay to twist facts. She was referring to an increase of 400% in battered women. She forgot to mention that there was an increase in 400% of foreign spouses, so technically there was no increase in women who were abused.
And what's the deal about attitude? If these men like girls from other countries better then let them. It's a free country.
I find it also very interesting that apparently all foreign spouses come from poor countries. And it seems there is no country in the world that is comparable to the standard of living?! She clearly implies all foreign spouses come to exploit their American counterparts. That is so horrible!
And I guess my husband made himself a bad deal according to her, getting someone from Europe with the same attitude as the American girls. Damn if he knew better before! ;) But wait, I guess we not American women are just all submissive?!

Anna

Edited by Anna C., 20 October 2006 - 09:59 AM.

Anna C.FemaleGermany2006-10-20 09:58:00
USCIS Service CentersUSCIS Case status online
Doesnt work for me either. I am typing in receipt numbers. Damn the whole new webpage is a mess! I tried to find if there is a new access website, but if you search case status online within their new system they just come up with text about that site, but no link. !?!?!?!?!

Hope they fix that asap.
Anna C.FemaleGermany2006-11-06 13:42:00
United KingdomAttorneys

I know you said I don’t have to answer these questions to you. But the feeling I got when I read your post was that they way I am dealing with this isn’t correct., or that I am not taking this seriously. Sorry for the long winded reply.

Thank you for your concern and your help . Good luck to you as well.[/size]


No, you are incorrect, that wasn't my intention. From your posts it seems to me like you have quite a few hurdles to get through, so I was only pointing out things that are very relevant. Since you are in fact finding mode and offered us your scenario, I thought I'd give you my perspective as to what you need to pay special attn to.

As far as the poverty levels, I think you need to verify that information, because I am not familiar with needing a co-sponsor, so from what I hear, if you don't meet the poverty levels, you need someone who can, not just someone to cover the differential between what you can do and what is required. I think the 5x the poverty level is for your total assets ...so if the marital home has equity of 5x the poverty level for 3, then I think you're in the clear. But if you have a large note, and there's not that equity, the house alone won't suffice because it's not technically enough of an asset.

Now I may very well be wrong, so check it out. I'd love for someone with a more definitive answer to weigh in here!

I am curious to see if the DOT logs alone will suffice...forgive me for saying so, but the fact that you didn't snap not one picture of him or one of the two of you seems a little strange to me. Yes, photos are secondary evidence, this is very true. But I can't see how the log alone will be enough. You might need him to come back before you file.

Oh, I read where you said you want to get married as soon as you're divorced, but if you file a K-1 and marry before you get the visa, you have to start over with a K-3 or CR-1 as K-1 is fiance and once you marry, even if you file first and then marry, he will no longer be your fiance, and the petition will be considered abandoned.

Hah, I'm long winded too ;)





LOL.
Here is the link to another thread which also has a link. to the state.gov site. On how the requirements of what is needed for the afficavitt of support and the asset requirement.
http://www.visajourn...?showtopic=4054

I can see how that would be strange, to not have pictures. but we weren't looking at what we needed to do to get him here at that point in time. I had just got the keys back to my house. 2 days prior to his week long visit, and my ex went though everything in the house basically ransacked it, but didn't take anything but clothes, so we were a bit busy getting the house in order while he was here. Who thinks to take pictures while you are cleaning and painting. anyway. Yes thinking back I would love to have gotten pictures of us, Something to put on my desk at work or carry with me. Instead I have some of him. and he has some of me. He will still be working in Canada and hauling into the states some until July 5th so we will still have a chance to get some pictures. If I have to get in my car. Play hookie from work. and drive a couple hundred miles I will. But again. Pictures are secondary.

Yes. If we didn't know that the K1 was quicker, we would get married shortly after my divorce. that is why we don't really have a timeline for getting married. There is too many other things to worry about. We don't need a special day, we just need to make one day special. All we want is to be a family.

the DOT Log books. confirm border crossing, fueling and mandatory 10 hour stops. I posted in the Canada portal.
http://www.visajourn...mp;#entry958465
You can look at some of the replies. Not quite what I was looking for but still helpful.


We all have hurdles. I am getting a pretty good idea of what our hurdles will be. I have been doing my homework. With the variables we have I don’t have a choice but to be ready for anything. I will need help along the way, but everyone needs something at some point or another.

I have twice, filled a three ringed binder, with any and all information I can find. I got through it daily. Reading and rereading everything. In the morning after I get ready for work. Before I go to bed, and any spare time I can find during the day. VJ has become my new myspace.com.

[/size]
Ash_KoogFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-04 16:52:00
United KingdomAttorneys

We used an attorney for both my K1 and AOS (I am the UKC). My attorney prepared all the paperwork online and I simply signed forms and returned them to his office. He did all the leg work and compiled all the documents required (we just had to help with photos etc). I had understood from a friend (and I do not know whether this is true or not), that USCIS tend to deal with attorney cases first as they do not want the legal system breathing down their neck if things are delayed. My K1 was issued within 12 weeks of application and my green card was received exactly 8 weeks after I filed for AOS. The K1 and AOS together cost around $1000. It was money very well spent as far as I am concerned, and although I agree that you could easily file your K1 and AOS yourself, it took the worry out of the process for me.



The friend is incorrect. A petition filed with the aid of an attorney goes in THE SAME PILE as everyone else's. Any attorney who implies he/she can get you through faster should not be trusted. The attorney MAY help save you from pitfalls - but so will careful research on your part. And the same delays that befall others - like RFEs - can still befall anyone who uses an attorney.


Yup, I'm going to agree here. Britty was lucky, the lawyer wouldn't have been able to speed anything up.



I didn't figure as much, common since says they aren't going to go through every packet to see who is using an attorney, that would cause an even longer processing time for everyone. Thank you all so much for your help.

Have any of you used a complete do it yourself packet form usavisanow.com? I have looked at their site. and the breakdown of what is in the packet. and they seems to have fairly detailed instructions. Again thank you.

I hope to have people as willing to help as y'all have been. (F) :)

Ash_KoogFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-04 12:38:00