Using an Immigration Lawyer

I am curious as to how many of you have used or are using an immigration lawyer?  My husband has hired one and we are hoping this removes the concern of our application package not having the right information or missing something.   I have a big knot in my stomach about the Visa process because I would be devastated if we had to start over. 

Did you or are you using a lawyer?  Do you think it helped you have a more seamless outcome?

Welcome to the forum .

In our experience of hundreds, if not thousands, of people on the forum applying for visas over the last 10 years or so, using a lawyer is a big waste of time and money and could actually harm your application.

I've lost count of the number of people who have found this forum after being screwed over by a lawyer who had no idea what they were talking about, who gave very bad and incorrect advice and almost caused their visa to be refused.

There are VERY few lawyers who know their stuff when it comes to applying for a spousal visa from outside the UK  - we only recommend 2 firms (based in London and New York), but they are expensive, and not worth using if you have a straightforward application.

All the information you need to successfully apply for your visa can be found for free on the UKVI website and here on the forum, and we're happy to answer all questions and help you gather all the documents you need.

The majority of people do not need to use a lawyer, and applications from the US are straightforward as it's a low-risk country with approximately a 95% visa approval rate.

We would only recommend a lawyer in the following circumstances:
- you have been refused visas or entry to the UK in the past
- you have been an illegal overstayer in the UK
- you have worked illegally in the UK
- you have serious criminal convictions

If none of those apply, I would not bother with a lawyer.

It's an unnecessary expense unless you have a serious overstay or criminal comvictions.

If you do decide to hire a lawyer, please ask their experience with USA applications which are very simple.

If they ask you to obtain letters of support, a property inspection, or your CV, run for the hills!!

Wow!  Here we thought we were making this process easier!  I have a straight forward application, have never been arrested in my life or overstayed a visa, he makes more than enough to sponsor me, and we own property together and have records of our relationship.  We have lots of contact before and after our wedding and visit each other monthly.  That seems straight forward to me and just a matter of paperwork.  I imagine we can't get our money back at this point so I suppose we will make sure we cross check everything they do on our behalf before it is sent.  Thanks for the info!!!!

If they ask you to obtain letters of support, a property inspection, or your CV, run for the hills!!

They recommended we get letters from our family and friends....is this a bad thing?

They recommended we get letters from our family and friends....is this a bad thing?

Letters from family and friends cannot be considered for the visa and so will just be cluttering up the application.

The only letter they can consider is the one from your U.K. spouse.

If they’re recommending letters from family and friends, they don’t really know what they are talking about.


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Wow!  Here we thought we were making this process easier!  I have a straight forward application, have never been arrested in my life or overstayed a visa, he makes more than enough to sponsor me, and we own property together and have records of our relationship.  We have lots of contact before and after our wedding and visit each other monthly.  That seems straight forward to me and just a matter of paperwork.  I imagine we can't get our money back at this point so I suppose we will make sure we cross check everything they do on our behalf before it is sent.  Thanks for the info!!!!

Definitely check their work.

Also be sure you use YOUR contact info as lawyers like to use theirs and then you don’t receive any emails.

Also run for the hills if they say they’ll have the documents returned to them (as USA applicants cannot have the items sent anywhere other than the USA).  And check the address they send it to.  One members lawyer sent their application to the wrong address and they were in limbo for months.

There are good lawyers out there.  Just hoping you’ve done your due diligence on their track record with US applicants.

They recommended we get letters from our family and friends....is this a bad thing?

Yes.  Waste of time and energy and shows they don’t know what they are doing...   

What a pain and waste of money!  My husband spoke with them and thought they seemed good, but the whole letter thing makes me think otherwise.  I mean we have never done this so what do we know!  I want to move in June so our respective children can be together for the time off from school and any hiccups will make me very frustrated!

They told us to prove we have a genuine relationship we would need to provide the letters which obviously we don't need, but also pictures of us together, some tickets from plane trips to prove our travel, and screen shots of texts and call logs (3 screen shots a week, which seems like a lot to me and I am not sure my call logs go back that far).  Does this sounds right? Are we missing anything? 

What a pain and waste of money!  My husband spoke with them and thought they seemed good, but the whole letter thing makes me think otherwise.  I mean we have never done this so what do we know!

The main issue is that while most lawyers may be good, very few of them have any experience with straightforward applications made in the US. The application process is different in every country, and also is different compared to applications made from inside the UK. So, what works for one country, won't necessarily apply for a US application.

The lawyers are instead usually much more familiar with in-country applications, usually ones where people have been refused visas and are trying to appeal, or don't qualify for a visa and are trying to use Human Rights claims, or are in refugee situations, or they are used to dealing with applications made from high-risk countries with a lot of immigration abuse, where a lot more scrutiny is put on the application.

So, while letters from family and friends may help an appeal application where a family is about to be torn apart and sent back to a war-torn country or a country in poverty, they will not help a straightforward application from the US.

They told us to prove we have a genuine relationship we would need to provide the letters which obviously we don't need, but also pictures of us together, some tickets from plane trips to prove our travel, and screen shots of texts and call logs (3 screen shots a week, which seems like a lot to me and I am not sure my call logs go back that far).  Does this sounds right? Are we missing anything?

As mentioned, the letters aren't needed at all.

What you do need is:
- marriage certificate
- no more than 2 photos together, just you and him, maybe one from the wedding and one earlier in the relationship
- all boarding passes from your trips to see each other
- any cards/letters you've sent to each other
- screenshots of emails, texts, calls etc.

For the screenshots, no message content should be included, you just want a list of dates, times, subject lines. So, for emails, you can filter your inbox to only show his emails, and then take some screenshots. For messages, just take screenshots of the date and time, but no messages. And for calls, you just need screenshots of the call list.

They should fit onto 1-2 sheets of paper for each communication type (2 sheets for emails, 2 sheets for calls etc.)

You said in a previous post you have been together since May of last year - is that May 2016 or May 2017?

- If it's May 2017, about 9 months, I would include probably 1-2 screenshots per week, per communication type, giving 40-80 of each.

- If it's May 2016, about 21 months, I would include maybe 2 or 3 screenshots per month, giving 40-60 of each.

What a pain and waste of money!  My husband spoke with them and thought they seemed good, but the whole letter thing makes me think otherwise.  I mean we have never done this so what do we know!  I want to move in June so our respective children can be together for the time off from school and any hiccups will make me very frustrated!

They told us to prove we have a genuine relationship we would need to provide the letters which obviously we don't need, but also pictures of us together, some tickets from plane trips to prove our travel, and screen shots of texts and call logs (3 screen shots a week, which seems like a lot to me and I am not sure my call logs go back that far).  Does this sounds right? Are we missing anything?

If you want to move in June, you can apply from March.  As you can't apply more than 3 months before the desired move date.  Priority applications are usually processed in 6 weeks or less.  Non-priority can be every bit of 12 weeks.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me.  It means so much to us. 

We have been together since May 2017.  I definitely don't have the call logs and texts dating all the way back to then which really worries me.  When we first started spending time together I never thought I would move and we used a texting app that didn't back up our convos.  I got a new phone in August so I hope I can produce call logs since then.  Text logs only go back to November because I switched to WhatsApp so that it would save the messages since we knew I wanted to move at that point.   I figure we can only produce what we have but we can solidly show that we communicate all day every day since November, even if that is a short period of time.  It concerns me immensely though. 

We are planning to pay the priority fee and I really want to move in May (resigned myself to June based on 12 weeks).  The faster I can be there, the better.  I am going to London in mid February to see him and we are going to submit the package immediately after I return since I have to surrender my passport.  If I put my application in at that time, can I ask for a time shorter than 12 weeks if I pay for priority?

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me.  It means so much to us. 

We have been together since May 2017.  I definitely don't have the call logs and texts dating all the way back to then which really worries me.  When we first started spending time together I never thought I would move and we used a texting app that didn't back up our convos.  I got a new phone in August so I hope I can produce call logs since then.  Text logs only go back to November because I switched to WhatsApp so that it would save the messages since we knew I wanted to move at that point.   I figure we can only produce what we have but we can solidly show that we communicate all day every day since November, even if that is a short period of time.  It concerns me immensely though. 

We are planning to pay the priority fee and I really want to move in May (resigned myself to June based on 12 weeks).  The faster I can be there, the better.  I am going to London in mid February to see him and we are going to submit the package immediately after I return since I have to surrender my passport.  If I put my application in at that time, can I ask for a time shorter than 12 weeks if I pay for priority?

Don't worry yourself.  Keep in mind arranged marriages are allowed!  You just have to show the relationship is genuine. 

You want the put the earliest date you want to travel on the application.  If the visa is processed after that date, they will make the visa valid for 30 days from the day they approve it.  If the travel date hasn't yet passed, they will make it valid from the date requested (well, usually 7 days prior to the date requested).  So if you got visa back April 1st but put a travel date of May 15th, you'd have to wait six weeks to travel.

The main issue is that while most lawyers may be good, very few of them have any experience with straightforward applications made in the US. The application process is different in every country, and also is different compared to applications made from inside the UK. So, what works for one country, won't necessarily apply for a US application.

The lawyers are instead usually much more familiar with in-country applications, usually ones where people have been refused visas and are trying to appeal, or don't qualify for a visa and are trying to use Human Rights claims, or are in refugee situations, or they are used to dealing with applications made from high-risk countries with a lot of immigration abuse, where a lot more scrutiny is put on the application.

So, while letters from family and friends may help an appeal application where a family is about to be torn apart and sent back to a war-torn country or a country in poverty, they will not help a straightforward application from the US.

As mentioned, the letters aren't needed at all.

What you do need is:
- marriage certificate
- no more than 2 photos together, just you and him, maybe one from the wedding and one earlier in the relationship
- all boarding passes from your trips to see each other
- any cards/letters you've sent to each other
- screenshots of emails, texts, calls etc.

For the screenshots, no message content should be included, you just want a list of dates, times, subject lines. So, for emails, you can filter your inbox to only show his emails, and then take some screenshots. For messages, just take screenshots of the date and time, but no messages. And for calls, you just need screenshots of the call list.

They should fit onto 1-2 sheets of paper for each communication type (2 sheets for emails, 2 sheets for calls etc.)

You said in a previous post you have been together since May of last year - is that May 2016 or May 2017?

- If it's May 2017, about 9 months, I would include probably 1-2 screenshots per week, per communication type, giving 40-80 of each.

- If it's May 2016, about 21 months, I would include maybe 2 or 3 screenshots per month, giving 40-60 of each.

To piggy back off of the screenshots..we met online in 2012 and started our relationship when we met in person in December 2013. Roughly how many would you submit? We have a ton but can maybe cut it down to not clutter our application too much!

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I definitely don't have the call logs and texts dating all the way back to then which really worries me.  When we first started spending time together I never thought I would move and we used a texting app that didn't back up our convos.  I got a new phone in August so I hope I can produce call logs since then.  Text logs only go back to November because I switched to WhatsApp so that it would save the messages since we knew I wanted to move at that point.   I figure we can only produce what we have but we can solidly show that we communicate all day every day since November, even if that is a short period of time.  It concerns me immensely though. 

As long as you can prove *something* covering the whole relationship, it doesn't have to be everything from every month.

So if you're covering May 2017 to February 2018, you could have:
- boarding passes from May 2017 to Feb 2018 (did I see you visit each other every month?)
- Call logs from August 2017 onwards
- Whatsapp from November 2017
- any emails or anything else you have that covers May to August 2017

You do NOT need to show contact all day, every day, you just need to show 'regular' contact.

What they are trying to weed out is sham marriages, where you're marrying just for a visa and have no relationship at all... i.e. you've only met once or twice and have had no contact or proof of relationship whatsoever since you got married.

If I put my application in at that time, can I ask for a time shorter than 12 weeks if I pay for priority?

You can put whatever date you like, as long as it's not more than 3 months away.

Go with the earliest possible date you might wish to fly... bearing in mind you will only have 30 days to enter the UK from that date.