Immigration Lawyer, Immigration Attorney

Thinking of hiring an immigration attorney? Obtaining a Fiancee Visa from The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, is an expensive (you have to pay the USCIS to process your applications) and exhausting process. At the US Embassy in Kiev. I was told it could take from 8 to 12 months to obtain a Fiancee Visa. When I arrived back in the United States after visiting my friend (and soon to become fiancée) in Kiev, I started looking for an immigration attorney or immigration lawyer to expedite the process.

Hiring an immigration attorney or lawyer is expensive. Plan on spending around $1,000 to $2,000 for a "turnkey" arrangement. In other words, immigration attorneys usually charge a flat fee rather than by the hour and they require the fee be paid up front. The immigration attorney that I used provided lifetime support which helped me process the green card paperwork after my fiancée became my wife.

Getting the fiancée visa is quite an accomplishment but your dealings with the USCIS don’t stop there. You will need work permits and the precious green card from the USCIS. Some immigration lawyers provide services after the fiancée visa is obtained and some do not. If you hire an immigration attorney, be sure about the services you will receive.

There are many immigration attorneys to choose from and they all seem to proclaim their ability to help your fiancée obtain her fiancée visa. The main benefit in hiring an immigration attorney is leveraging their experience and established system for bringing your foreign fiancée to America as soon as possible.

When you look over the USCIS forms and in particular the fiancée visa petition and instructions, you will see how easy it is to have your petition delayed by the USCIS because you have not provided all of the information the USCIS requested. If something is missing with your petition, the USCIS will return your petition for completion which will add more time to the fiancée visa processing.

I hired an immigration attorney who had an office in Moscow. Their representative in Moscow spoke to my fiancée by phone and helped my fiancée obtain the necessary documents she needed for her fiancée visa interview. My fiancée was living in Ukraine and she had to travel to Warsaw Poland for her interview.

After your fiancée visa petition is approved, your file is sent to the interviewing US Embassy, which in my fiancee’s case was Warsaw, Poland. When your file is received in the foreign Embassy, they undertake a background check of your fiancée and if that’s OK, an interview date is granted. This could take months!

My fiancée visa attorney was able to learn about my fiancee’s interview date before she received notification in the mail. Just learning about the interview date was a great relief and enhanced our expectations of obtaining the visa.

Hiring an immigration attorney is a personal decision that is entirely optional. It worked for me but I also know of many other instances where the fiancée visa was obtained without the assistance of a fiancée visa attorney. In any case, it’s comforting to know that help is available. Good Luck!