Filing Without a lawyer

Lulu76 · Jun 23, 2006

Anyone there????

suzanne4, RN · Jun 23, 2006

Big mistake to try to do it on your own. One little sentence left out of something can cost you months and months and months.

Average lawyer fee is about $2000 to get things done.............well worth the money and time. The other fees, you are going to have to come up with anyhow. Most facilitiesd give some type of bonus, and that should cover your fees.

I definitely do not recommend doing it without a lawyer. The facility has minimal work that they need to provide, it is all done by the attorney. You are definitely biting off more that you can chew, or would even want to.

Glad that your friend knows of some that have gone the route on their own, but if you do a review here, you will find a few here that tried, and said that if they had to do it all over again, there is no way that they would have. It cost them much more in stress than it was worth.

Lulu76 · Jun 24, 2006

Thanks for your reply and advice. Actually my dilema was resolved yesterday when i talked to our HR person. She told me that our CFO and VP only want us to use one of these two lawyers they recommended us to, so i really don't have much of a choice anyway. Yeah i agree, the $2750 attorney fees is worth the stress i'll save myself anyway!

Daning · Jun 25, 2006

Never used a lawyer and it was smooth all the way. We'll be having the consular interview in 3weeks time and we're all set.

If you have access to a representative of your employer and the communication line (even just via email) is ok, I think there will be no problem at all.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 25, 2006

Never used a lawyer and it was smooth all the way. We'll be having the consular interview in 3weeks time and we're all set.
If you have access to a representative of your employer and the communication line (even just via email) is ok, I think there will be no problem at all.

You are one of the very lucky ones, for most it does not work out and adds on extra months and months to the equation. Most employers are not even aware of what is even required just to do the petition process.

Daning · Jun 26, 2006

Well I guess I and all of the nurses I know (e.g. college friends, etc.) are lucky coz I don't know anyone personally who got a lawyer to help out. We just ask each other if there are things unclear, search the web, and ask other friends who successfully went through the process, and by God's grace we survived.

There's also some adversity for lawyers around here. Some also see it as just added expense.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 26, 2006

If you are in the US already, the only way to go is with an attorney, there are too many other documents that need to be completed and with getting the EAD, etc.

Oversea, and I do not blame you. There are even just a few attorneys that I like and that really know their stuff when it comes to dealing with nurses.

I have had heard a few tell nurses that they must go back home and wait for their petitioning, etc. They do not know what they are talking about.

If you get one that really knows the ins and outs for nurses, they are worth their weight in gold.

I have also heard of attorneys charging over $6000 just for their services, and that is highway robbery. It can be done for about $2000.

Lulu76 · Jun 26, 2006

Thanks Danning for the reply,

I didn't think the filling seemed too complicated, i wish my employer would let us do it, but i they just don't feel comfortable, for various reasons. It doesn't matter though, i'll soon recover the $ 2750 the lawyer is charging.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 26, 2006

Thanks Danning for the reply,
I didn't think the filling seemed too complicated, i wish my employer would let us do it, but i they just don't feel comfortable, for various reasons. It doesn't matter though, i'll soon recover the $ 2750 the lawyer is charging.

If you are actually in the US and filing for the AOS, then the attorney is extremely important to use. You are under a specific time frame and have to have things approved by a certain time, or you are out of status. Much different if you are out of the country.

Even using an attorney that isn't up on nursing things can delay things getting done by months. Unfortunately, I have seen it happen.

Daning · Jun 27, 2006

Thanks Danning for the reply,
I didn't think the filling seemed too complicated, i wish my employer would let us do it, but i they just don't feel comfortable, for various reasons. It doesn't matter though, i'll soon recover the $ 2750 the lawyer is charging.

$ 2750?!

Good thing you're earning dollars. I will not in any way spend a dollar on them since I'm earning the lowly peso. And never thought the need to get one...not in any step of the entire process. And I'm just a few weeks away from the consular interview.

I dunno. Maybe, to each his own. But I know a good number of other nurses who never used a lawyer. Most of them are in the US for some time already and never had a problem.

I guess the process may be different in the US. But I also know a few from there also who survived without lawyers. Go figure.

jonRNMD · Jun 27, 2006

Never used a lawyer and it was smooth all the way. We'll be having the consular interview in 3weeks time and we're all set.
If you have access to a representative of your employer and the communication line (even just via email) is ok, I think there will be no problem at all.

hi daning.....are you under contract with an agency?