Customer Reviews

Fiance & Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My husband (then my fiance) and I used the first edition when we were filling out the paperwork for his K1 fiance visa. I am thrilled to hear that there is a new one! This book was an answer to our prayers - it guided us through all the forms and terminology, gave us helpful tips and pointers, and answered all of our questions. If you are going through marriage-based immigration, you need to get this book!

This book will be useful not only to couples who are married or planning to marry, but to lawyers and legal assistants. It contains real-life, hands-on information that you won't find anywhere else. Although the book is ambitious in its scope, covering everything from a person's choice of where to submit their application to how to make sure their green card gets renewed, it presents the information in a well-organized, user-friendly manner. The checklists and form instructions facilitate the process for people confronting INS's bureaucratic requirements for the first time. I'll recommend this book to my friends and to my graduating law students, who plan to practice immigration law.

This book is easy to read and informative. It has several chapters devoted to general information followed by specific chapters that address specific immigration requirements, such as if your spouse is already in the country or currently living overseas. The book provides many step by step instructions for filling out forms. It also includes many of the forms on a CD included with the book. However, I found that it's a good idea to check the INS web site for more up to date forms and also changes in fees and filing instructions.

It is possible to do all the paperwork yourself without an attorney using this book, but you will undoubtedly have questions that the book just can't answer. Calling the INS with questions will sometimes yield a 1/2 hour wait for someone, and they may or may not know the answer to the question.

If you have more money than time, hiring a good immigration lawyer may save you some headaches, but it will also cost you, and they are not immune to mistakes. Even if you plan to hire a lawyer, this book can help you better understand the process.

IN general, this is a good book that can help you through your immigration needs. However, don't expect it to answer your most specific questions...if you're lucky, there will be someone you can ask for help too.

DO NOT BELIEVE THE REVIEW BY SUSANNA I. BOGUE. She states that the book tells people to file the I 130 first THEN later file the adjustment of status form - this is UNTRUE, and if she had actually read the book (as I have) she would see on Pg.257 it clearly states to file the I 130 and Adjustment Status forms together. This is just another lawyer trying to scare people who are navigating the path through immigration that they NEED to fork over thousands of dollars to a lawyer, when the filing fees are sometimes too much for people to pay. I have a couple of these immigration books by this author and they all cut through the legalized mumbo jumbo and put things in simple English. Of COURSE things change EVERY DAY with immigration, which is why the author constantly advises readers to check the immigration website for changes in fees and forms etc. This is a great book to help you understand immigration procedures and requirements. And with copes of necessary forms which show you exactly how to fill them out you would be hard pressed to go wrong! The book tries to cover issues for everyone - both people who are here legally and illegally, the author even recomends people who think they may have some difficulties in their case to seek the assistance of a lawyer.... but if you have kept within the laws immigration provides throughout your stays in the US this book will be a very useful tool for you!

I am a foreinger citizen and needed help to adjust my status.After researching for hundreds of books and hours online i found this book to be the best thing you need and by far the best source of information. Depending on your case you may not even have to hire a lawyer, just like i didn't, and save hundreds of dollars. Just read it many times because the USCIS process is complex and sometimes confusing but after reading this book you will think you are a pro. Wish somebody had recommended me this book before i spent so much time searching. I could not afford a lawyer, had my case (adjustment of status) started in august and at the end of october i got my green card (all in less than 3 months - los angeles office). I am very happy, and thanx to the author of this book. Just buy it, and God bless your case.

My wife and I were married in St. Petersburg, Russia. When I returned to the USA, I began the immigration process for her to obtain her visa so that we could be together as husband and wife. Not knowing the first thing about which forms to fill out, I did a lot of online research, and chose to purchase this book.

I am very happy I chose this immigration book to guide me through the process. Ms. Bray gives clear explanations and detailed information on how to file each form and where to send the various documents. I especially liked the numerous filled-in examples of the forms, so I knew that I was entering the correct information.

After following the instructions in this book, my wife and I are finally together. And although we had to wait for the long process to be completed, there were no issues and no documents were returned to us for incorrect data or additional information. This is a great book!!!

I 100% recommend this book to anyone trying to move or stay in the US through marriage. I am from Canada and married a US citizen and was having a lot of trouble figuring out which paperwork needed to be filed and what sort of documents were needed. This book laid everything out step by step and I never would have been able to file all of the paperwork on my own nor would I have been able to understand all of the jargon. The CD ROM is also very nice because many of the forms let you fill them out on the computer and just print them out. Good luck to anyone going through this process. And just an FYI it is really expensive!

I notice that the previous edition got a bad review from an immigration lawyer, but personally I used this edition and got my greencard so smoothly. The book was so helpful with how to fill some really confusing questions and told us what to expect in the whole process. I think as long as your marriage is genuine, and there is nothing "illegal" about your entry and your status, you have nothing to fear and you definitely don't need a lawyer. Why not save yourself couple thousands and buy this book? Definitely worth every penny. The book even said that if you are worried about your illegal status, you should seek a lawyer's help when applying for greencard. The author never tries to tell you that if you use this book, you will definitely get greencard; the author is sincere and honest. For those who don't have money to hire a lawyer, I highly recommend this book.

I was interested in this book because I will marry a US citizen next year and I wanted to be informed about the different options to apply for residency. The book does a good job of informing the options for different scenarios: living in the US vs. living overseas, applying in the US vs. applying overseas, having a legal status vs. entered the US illegally, etc. Each chapter explains each of these cases, provides details about the forms, and gives instructions on how to complete them.

On some of these instructions on how to complete forms, however, the author describes the answer to certain questions as "self-explanatory" when they are not necessarily that obvious. Also, some sections are the same in several chapters (and the reader will be indeed directed to a further chapter) but some of the instructions on how to complete the forms, the number of copies required, the color of the paper to use for each copy will be different in one chapter and another. As a word of advice, always check the USCIS website and get the latest forms and fees from them.

On the positive side, the book contains tear out checklists at the end that come handy when putting all the paperwork together. On the downside, I wish the book would cover more extensively the case of persons already in the US. For example, if you have a J visa, or an OPT work permit, or a H1 visa, what are the rules for people in those cases? They only mention that while in the US and not having "overstayed" your visa for more than 180 days its ok to apply for an adjustment of status, but what are the legal implications? Does applying for a change of status cancels any other visas? Does employment has to be interrupted or cancelled? Is it mandatory to apply for the work permit while the paperwork of the green card is being reviewed in order to work, or if other visa is current can the applicant keep that until receiving the resolution of the application?

As you can see, there are still many unsolved questions, but I guess for cases that are more general is an OK source of info.

This book was so helpful when my now husband and I were going through the process of getting a fiancé visa. It helps to explain each step that needs to be taken, which is a huge helps as the BCIS does not offer this information. It gives you tons of information and resources that is a huge help and gives you a sense of ease through the stressful, long and expensive process of immigration. I highly recommend this book- it is worth it for peace of mind! I also found a lot of help from contacting my local representative's immigration department, who helps with finding out the status of your case, has access to immigration phone numbers and also can answer any additional questions that this book doesn't answer.