K-1 Fiancee Visa Attorney. Expert Services At A Reasonable Rate.
Proven Track Record:
I assist clients in all 50 states and I have helped fiancée’s from every corner of the world obtain their fiancée visas. I charge a reasonable flat rate fee and I don’t charge any additional fee if I have to spend additional time resolving mistakes made by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Consulate. If the USCIS or Consulate does make a mistake I immediately fight for my client to resolve the problem. I do all of the work on each case, and I’m always available to answer questions as they come up along the way.
I typically do not ask for a consultation fee from fiancée visa callers who are interested in hiring me to prepare and file their fiancée visa petition and act as their representative with the USCIS and U.S. Consulate. If you are a U.S. citizen who is gong to marry a foreign fiancée in the near future, give me a call (916-451-4992) and we can discuss your case in detail.
Every Aspect Of Your Important Case Is Handled By An Immigration Attorney:
In all of my years practicing immigration law and throughout hundreds of family based immigration cases, one thing has remained the same: the individual attention I give to each and every case. I’ve never hired an assistant, secretary or paralegal and I have no plans to do so in the future. I answer every telephone call, write every letter, and personally prepare, file and follow up with each case.
My client’s important immigration cases are simply too detail oriented to pass any responsibility on to another person. This is extremely important when it comes to spotting potential problem issues that may be present in a case. I do not believe that delegating tasks to a secretary or other type of assistant, or for that matter between multiple attorneys is in the client’s best interest.
Issue Spotting & Attention To Detail:
Not only is each case extremely detail oriented, but each case is different and by doing every task myself, I develop an intimate knowledge of each client’s facts and unique situation. I believe I’ve seen just about every unusual client fact pattern that can possibly come up, and that experience gives me a keen eye when it comes to spotting potential problem issues and deciding what steps to take in order to reduce the odds of a potential problem turning into an actual problem as the case progresses through the immigration bureaucracy.
I’ve kept my practice limited to fiancée visas and the other related family based immigration cases that naturally follow the fiancée visa process. Not only do I love doing my job, but I also take pride in helping my clients start their family and achieve their American Dream. In order to maintain this level of personalized attention and service that I bring to each client, I only accept a limited number of new cases each month.
Doing The Job Right – Anticipating USCIS And Consular Needs:
After getting to know the couple’s unique set of facts, my job is to put together a well documented submission in order to make it as easy as possible for the immigration officer to approve the petition, and for the Consular officer to approve the visa. To do this, I try to achieve a balance between putting together a “well documents submission” and avoiding “overkill”.
I’ve toured each USCIS service center in the USA multiple times (As well as the National Visa Center, National Records Center and National Benefits Center) and interviewed the officers who adjudicate these petitions and applications and I know what they want to see and how they want a case presented. Just as important, I also know what they don’t want or need, and I know what sort of file presentation has the potential to irritate them.
From the experience I’ve gained in handling hundreds of fiancée cases, I do not believe it is in a client’s best interest to simply follow the “bare bones” instructions that comes with the I-129f form. Instead I tailor my client’s evidence to fit their unique situation. I not only anticipate and supply evidence I know the USCIS officer will want when adjudicating the I-129f petition, but to the extent possible, I also include with the I-129f additional evidence I know a Consular officer will want to have on hand later when the case file eventually arrives at the U.S. Consulate.
My practice is located in Sacramento, California and therefore I practice within the jurisdiction of the California Service Center: The California Service Center is much faster in the processing of I-129f petitions than the slower Vermont Service Center and I've had great success in having my east coast and southern client's cases routed to the California Service Center for swift processing as compared to the processing that would have occurred at the slower Vermont Service Center.
My Philosophy is Three Fold:
1. Document the case well and tailor the evidence to fit the client’s situation.
No two cases are exactly alike and the evidence submitted in each case will be different. The appropriate evidence to submit in any given case will not necessarily be reflected in the instructions that come with the I-129f form. I anticipate what the USCIS officer will need in order to approve the petition, anticipate what the Consular officer will need in order to approve the visa and to the extent possible, provide both types of evidence at the time of submitting the I-129f petition to the Service Center.
2. Avoid engaging in overkill.
There is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to certain types of evidence submitted with an I-129f. For example, while submitting a few select photos of the couple is a good idea, 100 photos is a waste of paper and will likely irritate the officer who is eventually assigned to adjudicate the case. The same applies to telephone or Skype records and personal correspondence. The officers are required to read and review all of the items that are submitted with the case and you don’t want your USCIS officer to avoid picking “the fat file” in his or her bin! Yes, they are known to do that. I’ve seen this with my own eyes while touring Service Centers and I’ve been told this face to face when questioning the officers who adjudicate these cases.
3. Avoid Beginner Mistakes:
RFE: If the USCIS officer wants something that you did not provide he or she will likely issue a Request For Evidence, or RFE. If you get an RFE for your submission, your case will be put on hold while they generate and mail the RFE to you, while you reply to the RFE, and while they get your new material lined up with your file and return the file to your adjudicating officer. Once the officer get the case again, the officer may issue “another RFE” if the officer again discovers something else lacking in the submission.
This all takes time, and if you want your case to move through the system as quickly as possible, then you want to avoid an RFE. I’ve seen RFEs issued to do-it-yourselfers who had never been married before and who listed “N/A” for questions asking for information concerning a prior spouse. The issue of prior marriage is “Very Applicable” to your case and with one very limited exception; N/A should never appear on a USCIS form submitted with a fiancée visa case.
Proper Case Presentation: Occasionally a client will mail their evidence to me in a thick, heavy binder with each piece of evidence in its own clear plastic sleeve. I just have to take it all apart which takes time. I assume that many do-it-yourselfers also send their submissions to the USCIS in a similar way.
That is a big mistake. At one of the first stations at the USCIS Service Center, the case is given to a group of contract workers sitting at a table. These workers disassemble the evidence and rearrange it into a file format that they use at the Service Center. The harder you make this process (by putting things in a binder), the more likely it is that an item or two belonging to your case will become lost or misfiled in another person’s case file. And if it is an important bit of evidence, you are likely to receive an RFE.
When I submit a case, I put all USCIS forms and evidence in the order and format used by the Service Center thereby reducing the odds of items becoming lost and thus reducing the odds of receiving an RFE.
These are just two basic examples of beginner mistakes that can easily be avoided and there are many others to be avoided. Doing this work is like doing other tasks in life… mistakes are more likely to be made when doing the job for the first time.
Resolving Mistakes Made By The USCIS And The Consulate:
While issue spotting and case presentation are vitally important in every immigration case, so too is being able to quickly resolve USCIS and/or Consulate mistakes that can come up as the case progresses through the system. If a Service Center or U.S. Consulate makes a mistake, I immediately take action and fight for my client. And since I charge a flat rate fee, my client does not pay an additional penny for the extra time it takes me to resolve the problem.
The USCIS and/or Consulate make mistakes far too often even in the most perfectly prepared case, or in “clean” cases that do not present any “red flag” issues. Quickly resolving USCIS and/or Consulate mistakes is the most important thing that an experienced attorney brings to any immigration case.
I’ve never had a USCIS or Consulate mistake come up that I could not resolve by communicating directly with the USCIS or Consulate.
I’ve never needed to enlist the help of a Congressman or Senator to resolve any USCIS and/or Consulate mistake. A Congressman or Senator does not know your unique facts, is not familiar with immigration law, does not “speak their language”, and will likely turn the matter over to an intern to try to do something about the problem. I know my client’s facts, I know what the problem is, I know immigration law and consular procedures, and I can articulate this in professional and respectful way directly to the appropriate party without the need to resort to a Congressman’s or Senator’s intern to act as an intermediary.
The Keys to Swift Processing: Typically it is less of a question of “if” a visa will be issued and more of a question of “when” the visa will be issued. Hiring an experienced K-1 visa attorney who can spot and minimize potential problems, avoid common beginner mistakes, put together a well-documented submission, and most importantly, quickly resolve any USCIS and/or Consulate mistakes that come up along the way is the most effective way to get the petition approved and the visa issued in a timely manner.
DISCLAIMER: Read the full length disclaimer here.
Matthew Udall is an active member of the California State Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association, and licensed to practice law in California. The information given at this web site is intended as general information only and is not a substitute for the services of an immigration attorney in your specific case. Reading this webpage or website does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Visa Earth – The Law Office Of Matthew Udall.
Please note that any attorney fee listed in this website is subject to immediate change upon publication of the new attorney fee.
Attorney Advertising: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Any testimonials or endorsements which may appear on any page of this website do not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.
