I hired Holmes and Lolly to be my attorneys for a very simple immigration case at the end of 2004. They have been a nightmare. I have not talked to either Lawrence or Allan (the partners) since they sold me on hiring them. They assigned me to an incompetent paralegal who did more harm than good. Then I tried to contact one of the partners to express my disappointment with their services and neither have called me back despite several phone and e-mail messages.
If I had it to do over, my wife and I would have completed and submitted the paperwork ourselves. Just go to the U.S. Embassy website of the country your finance or wife is from. It will walk you through the process. We actually completed most of the process ourselves. If you are going to hire and attorney, I would advise AGAINST hiring HOLMES AND LOLLY. IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY.
Thank you D156.
You mitigate my whole feelings regarding immigration lawyers in general. I will do all my paperwork myself. I will save the money and will have the knowledge that it has been done right the first time.
Yes, I know exactly what I just said. DONE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!
If you want something done right do it yourself. There are times for immigration lawyers this K1 visa isn't one of them. Been there done that and have the bank account scars to prove it. Everybody knows my past personal immigration problems so I won't repeat them. Put it like this I don't want to be stranded in another country and have to sneak across the Canadian border again.
My personal impression of Holmes and Lolly when I talked to them by phone was Slick and Slicker.
Now having said this watch me fall flat on my face !! Still I will have nobody to blame but myself. I can live with that.
Wtrav
I read your old comments again. I had to sneak back into the country because of imcompetant, greedy lawyers that left me dangling in the wind. They took thousands of dollars for an unwinnable immigration petition that I, through just common sense, was seriously worried about. They told me that everything was ok just trust the nice attorney.
I had to sneak back to correct things. First thing I did when I got back to Miami was to visit these assholes. I told them that we tried it their way and failed and now I will try it my way and guess what? I succeded. So much for attorneys. No refund though in fact the 2nd attorney told me that I could actually sue them, they were incompetant.
I certainly would not advocate sneaking someone else in. It was bad enough going through what I went through and I would not inflict that on anybody else. This was an emergency situation that I found myself in in 1992. Since then the laws have changed and that would not have helped me.
When I took control of the situation and did indeed find another attorney but watched him like a hawk things went better. I educated myself and feel much more confident to deal with INS CIS or whatever they are called now.
Wow so many ideas here. Folks I wish there were a faster way than the K-1 Visa. Other than marrying a woman who is already IN the US, you pretty much have to let the process happen. I've done it personally and gone through everything. It doesn't take 9 months though, more like 6-7. A lot of the time is based on papers moving from one place to the other. Although it seems Fiancee's from other countries like Belarus, Ukraine, etc move a little faster in processing than those from Russia.
As for marrying in another country, no this is simply not true. No one automatically becomes an American Citizen by marriage. The Visa process takes it's time to say the least and as pointed out by others, it takes about 2 years to get a green card and another 3 to get full blown citizenship after that-assuming everything is with the same person, not multiple marriages in the mean time. For those just curious about the K! process, there is a step by step guide here: http://www.myrussianfiance.com/k1.htm it's too much info to post in a forum.
Regards
The truth is you have no choice.
She can't apply for a visitor visa after you petitioned for fiancee visa.
The cheapest and quickest option at this point is to wait for fiancee visa.
9 months is too long? Now, feel for those of wrong color, whose wife visas were twice denied, or fiancee visas denied despite 2 visits for made up, non-legal reasons by these corrupt, arogant SOBs at consulates.
It's more like 7+ years to get US citizenship thru marriage to US citizen.
But at the same time, State Dept. gives away green cards to 55,000 aliens a year under it's visa lottery program. Same status would take 4+ years to obtain thru marriage to US citizen.
She can apply for U.S. citizenship 33 months after the date she is granted permanent residence if she is still married to a U.D. citizen, 57 months years if she isn't. Assuming no complications, it takes about 4-6 months application to permanent residence, and 4-6 months application to U.S. citizenship. Therefore, she can be a U.S. citizen as soon as 3.5 years after she marries a U.S. citizen or more depending on complexity.
Surely stay with your lady while you wait for the visa process. it should only take six months, but that's six months of not being with her and six months of no sex. believe me life is short. Stay with her in her country. This was the mistake I made. I visited a Ukrainian lady. She had an old Soviet Union passport. It could have taken six months just to get a new passport, but she had someone help her and it only took four months. Then we waited too long for the paperwork to arrive to her from poland. This was when they had to travel to Warsaw. I visited the girl in April of 2000 and she didn't arrive in America, until September of 2001. If I had it to do over again. I would plan to stay an indefinite number of months. In fact get a one-way ticket and plan to stay six months if possible. Maybe something will go wrong with your lady and you might try for another.
Hi guys , I see that you guys have "bad" feelings toward Holmes & Lolly to say the least . I was actually getting ready to hire them next week , to help my brother obtain a K-3 visa for his spouse whom lives in Romania , and her 2 children .Now I don't know what to do . I don't know another firm who will charge around $2300 for all this . I don't think we can afford more that , and are afraid that going at it by ourselves would be a bad idea .Help ! My email is beachbaby949@aol.com if anyone can give me some advice .Thank you . Elena
Again Dr. Koop tries to mislead and misguide. You can receive a conditional green card in one year or less. Conditions are lifted after two years, well not really, you should apply for conditions to be lifted aproximately 3-4 months before the two year mark.
Dr. Koop go back to medicine. Your knowledge of visas and change of status etc. is grossly untrue. You have an agenda here, I find idiotic to intentionally mislead people here.
Wtrav02 is on the mark with the timeline. If you pay attention, do what you need to do, and simply tell the truth, then it's not nearly as complicated as certain ones want to make it to be.
I hired Holmes and Lolly. In my opinion they have been extremely professional and very helpful. I listed and did everything they told me to do, and my fiancee received her visa six months after the start of all the paperwork, in Ukraine. My contact was always available whenever I called him, always! - I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for help in a situation that if you make one mistake, it can be a long time before you see your Fiancee in the United States
I inquired with Holmes and Lolly, they were over 2 grand at the time. Roth was 1500, you can use a guy Named Gary Stanely for about 400 he's in Maryland somewhere. I did it myself and it really isn't that difficult. As long as you do it by the book.
All the information is on Visa journey along with sample documents and how to fill them out. To each their own, but I can't justify putting 2 grand in a lawyers pocket for filling out paperwork.
holmes and lolly what a joke are you sure its not
homer and lilly ???
pay a lawyer your kidding you have 2k nasfan ? what did somebody die and leave it to you ??? lol lol - nickel and dime screamer lol lol / you make my day i get a laugh outu you .
Mike,
Please can you stop polluting literally every bl00dy thread you come across, if you want to fight with somebody then start a specific thread to do so and stop spoiling the forum for everybody else.
Wow the moderators were busy this weekend when I was away. All the threats on my life are removed. I was so scared I had to run away to Tennessee to hide and buy some lake property. Amazing they don't have bus stops at the lake either.