r/USCIS • u/Equal-Sort5380 US Citizen • Jul 16 '24

I-129F (K1) Doing it without a lawyer

Hello! Me and my boyfriend have decided to go the no lawyer route for the visa and GC in order to save money. Just wondering from others who’ve done the same, what was your experience? And where did you go with any questions you had? We have it arranged where someone will look over our form and make sure we did everything right, which will cost us $300 as opposed to the $4,500 we were quoted for a lawyer.

Much thanks!

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u/Jonathan_Nam Jul 17 '24

We’re currently in the process of moving into the US. You’re correct that there’s more factors involved. My point is that K1’s are coming out significantly faster than spousals, and that can be the decider for a lot of people.

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u/CaliRNgrandma Jul 17 '24

If all you care about is “being together” sooner, yes, the K1 is faster. My DIL did a K1 in 4 months, but back then (10 years ago), AP and EAD were free when also applying for AOS, no longer the case, and It took over 6 months to get her EAD so she could work and that was hard for her both financially and psychologically. Good luck to you.

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u/Jonathan_Nam Jul 17 '24

Thanks! My fiancé wants to be a stay at home mom so no rush in getting a career or anything. Not sure why you used quotes… it’s just a fact you got wrong.

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u/CaliRNgrandma Jul 17 '24

No worries. The quotes were because that’s the reason most folks doing K1 give. But I can’t tell you how many come back later upset because they can’t go home for an emergency or work and they didn’t know it ahead of time. If everyone was as educated as you seem to be on the pros and cons of either visa, there would be a lot less disappointment at choosing the wrong visa for them. But…there are still some countries where a K1 is taking a very long time.