Can anyone rec an immigration lawyer (for U.S. immigration)!

[tinto]

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone has had experience with lawyers in CABA who specialize in dealing with different types of visas and immigration from Argentina to the U.S. I would be interested in your "review" of the person/firm, along with general pricing. My fiance and I are looking for a lawyer to help us with the process of bringing him to the U.S. as my fiance (I need to move back at the end of winter here to start a job in the fall there). We'd get married in the U.S. sometime within the 90-day limit and would then apply for his green card. From what I've read, it sounds like you need a lawyer to make sure that everything goes smoothly and that you receive the visa within 6-12 months with no major problems. We would prefer to get married in the U.S. instead of here for personal reasons and because of timing (we had considered the option of going to the registro civil here and doing a ceremony later in the US., but we are pretty set on the fiance visa at this time).

Any advice would be appreciated. I saw a posting from an attorney on the site but am really looking for a personal recommendation from a previous client! Please include the name and phone number and which neighborhood (roughly) s/he is in.

Thank you!

 

[Karin Schwendtner]

Hi, I have worked with the following lawyer before. He seems very professional. Check out his webpage:

www.msclaw.com

Here are a few things to consider. Hope that helps:

1.) Fiancee Visa (K-1): Yes, they say that you are not supposed to get married in the U.S. when you have a tourist status and that you you need a fiancee visa (K-1) to keep it legal. Truth is though that most foreigners who get married to an U.S. citizen do so while being in the U.S. as a tourist. I know several people (one of them Argentinian) who did so and I have never heard of anyone having a problem (as long as you can prove that you actually DO have a relationship that is real).

2.) Check on all the documents you need in order to apply for a greencard (permanent residency) in the U.S. You partner - for example - will need to show proof of vaccination. Keep in mind that the medical exams and vaccinations involved will be A LOT cheaper here than in the U.S.....

3) One of my Argentine friends got married outside of the U.S. to his U.S. wife. (They got married in Serbia since she has family there.) He applied for the greencard here in Buenos Aires afterwards and it was approved no problem.

4) Maybe this is not an issue for you guys but keep in mind that getting a K-1 visa (going through the hassle of waiting if it will be approved or not), and then applying for residency within the U.S. with the help of a lawyer will be a lot more expensive! And the whole thing takes a lot longer!

If you have more questions, please feel free to contact me. I might have more useful info for you. Why?
I was dating an American for many years and I did extensive research, talked to lawyers etc... before we ended up breaking up instead of getting married .

What it comes down to is this: As long as you don't have a fake marriage, can prove that you have been together for a while (pictures, bank accounts, vacations taken together, you lived together....) it will be easy and you don't necessarily have to take the K-1 route.

Good luck!
Karin
www.no-borderlines.com

 

[tinto]

Karin,

Thanks for your insights. Does anyone else have any information about the immigration of fiancé(e)s to the U.S. from Argentina?

To address your why K-1 visa question, Karin: my fiancé cannot get a tourist visa to enter the U.S. otherwise we may have gone that route. Since my fiancé does not own property or a car here, and does not have any dependent family members, he is not considered to have strong enough ties to Argentina to be granted a U.S. tourist visa.

We would like to use a lawyer here, in Buenos Aires, mainly because my fiancé will be here until he gets the visa to come to the U.S. Also, we are assuming that it will cost less to hire a lawyer from here than from the U.S. I'm leaving in a couple of months for work and my boyfriend will come as soon as the visa is issued - probably 6-12 months from the time we start the paperwork as you noted in your message. I am not worried that the legitimacy of our relationship will be questioned. Between e-mails and photos and vacations we've taken together I'm sure it will be obvious that we are in love (I might have to censor some racy e-mails...I have visions of our "file" being passed around the embassy for laughs or even published on the internet).

-"Tinto"

 

[elhombresinnombre]

I can't offer lawyer suggestions but since what you want to do is not totally vanilla flavour and since the real test is not what anyone says here but what actually happens at the immigration desk at JFK or Dallas or wherever, I would suggest you first talk though any issues with some USA-based legal minds.

misc.legal.moderated is a US-oriented newsgroup where you could ask a lot of questions and get some sensible answers for free. Depending on the services supplied by your ISP, contacting the group may be as easy as opening up the 'news' feature of Outlook Express; alternatively, go to google, select 'groups' enter misc.legal.moderated in the search box and take it from there.

 

[betts]

Dear Tinto,

You are doing the right thing in getting legal advice stateside. I strongly disagree with two things Karin said in her items number 1) and number 3) as both are completely against everything immigration says - and that is never a wise thing to do.

My brother (a US citizen) married a wonderful Colombian woman and they did everything by the book and had an attorney. It took a while (I believe 6-8 months) and she stayed in Colombia until she had everything approved, but there wasn't one glich. His attorney told him absolutely do not get married on a tourist visa and do not get married outside of the USA and then try to apply. So regardless of how it turned out for someone else, an attorney told him exactly the opposite of the above post. I am happy to put you in touch with him if you have questions. pm me and I can give you his email address, he is in California.

 

[tinto]

I ended up going with a law office in Encino, California, that specializes in immigration. I am in the middle of the process but so far I am happy with the choice.

If anyone is interested in more information, please PM me.