Easier to just hire an immigration attorney?

[clubJWP]

it is best done with consulting with an experienced attorney. they save your lot of money and time. and eventually what you spend while travelling to the depts and doing it yourself, is far greater than what you spend on an attorney

JWP

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by clubJWP

it is best done with consulting with an experienced attorney. they save your lot of money and time. and eventually what you spend while travelling to the depts and doing it yourself, is far greater than what you spend on an attorney

While I'll agree that an immigration attorney can be very useful when trying to get someone into the US, there doesn't seem to be the same reliance on attorneys for immigration matters elsewhere. In fact, in some countries, bringing in "the big guns" for what is supposed to be a "simple" administrative matter can actually trip you up. (I almost had this happen with my immigration problems in France - fortunately the turkey we had hired failed to show up at the hearing, saving me a rather large bill.)

It pays to check out the local customs before jumping immediately to legal representation.
Cheers,
Bev

[Burriana Babs]

Wow glad I was married back in 2002 and missed all these new rules.

[izzysmum04]

As I stated before, don't waste your money and time with an immigration attorney. We didn't pay for anything but the visa and my plane ticket to the UK. We didn't spend anything travelling to any departments, as that wasn't needed at all. All we did was spend the little bit of cost to post the application and documents to the Consulate. We didn't need to go anywhere. It is very straight forward and not difficult at all. An attorney might save you time, but certainly isn't going to save you money. You still have to pay the same amount for the visa if you use an attorney (they don't give discounts to people who use attorney's), not to mention you have to pay the attorney's fees. So, in essence, it's not saving you money.

[grapeeyes]

Originally Posted by thaumata

Hello everyone. I'm a chicagoan who just got engaged to an englishman, and we're trying to get our act together in a hurry so we can plan a wedding, after which I will live in the UK with him.

I am TOTALLY overwhelmed and not even sure of the best places to start getting information. Has anyone here done this recently? Would you say that the paperwork was confusing enough to warrant hiring an attorney? I looked a little bit for immigration attorneys but to be honest, most of them looked pretty shady. I'm organized, persistent and not working at the moment, so I would have time to do it if it's not impossibly hard.

Here are the things that worry me most at the moment, in case you have any advice:

- Is there any reason to have the wedding in the UK over the US? Would it make it easier for him to come to the US with me later (say in ten years) if we had been married there?

- If we marry in Chicago and then apply for a marriage visa, how long does that usually take? Will we have to spend some months apart while waiting for things to go through?

- Is it better to apply for a fiancee visa?

- Is staying in the UK on a tourist visa going to mess any of this up, so long as I don't overstay it? (I have been here about two months now, but am going home in a week and staying for two months. I will probably come back here for three more months in the spring.)

- How long does all this usually take? How much did it cost you?

I have SO many questions about moving here and I'm really glad I found this forum. I'm sure I will have other things to wonder about, like getting my dog his passport (so glad the rules have changed on that since I was last here in 2000) and moving my things (though, I have gotten rid of most of it), but until I get the visa handled, that stuff has to wait, I think.

Thanks in advance for all of your help. I sincerely appreciate it!!

Hi, I have been going through the same thing and have put alot of work into the proper and fastest way to do things. You definitely should apply for a fiance visa (costs $1,000). If you do not, and you get married in the UK without it, you could be barred from the UK for visa fraud. DO get married in the UK, it is easier to get a green card in the US for your spouse then. Once you are married, start the green card process for your spouse immediately, it takes 4 months to 2 years. If you plan on living in the UK, then after the marriage you apply for 2 years to remain. After the 2 years, you can apply for unlimited leave to remain. I hope this is of some help. Also, you need to contact the registrar before the marriage, they are pretty booked up, so do this well before the wedding and see when they are availabe. You will have to meet with the registrar at least 15 days before the wedding, and you have to be residing in the country for at least 7 business days before you can apply with the registrar.

[Minuvweyna]

I don't know about fiance or marriage visas, but if you need advice on taking your dog from the US to the UK I would be happy to advise you. I just moved from the US to the UK and brought my cat with me, so I feel like I have a decent handle on that procedure at least.

Make sure you give yourself a full 7 months before you plan to move the pup, it really does take that long.