Spouse visa -previous refusal and removal from UK

[peacepuffin]

Hi,

I need help deciding whether I need to pay for someone to help me complete my spouse visa. I am quite nervous about not having absolutely everything in order because back in July I tried to visit my then-boyfriend, now-husband in the UK and was refused entry. Looking back there where many issues and am not surprised I was refused but at the time I did not think there would be any major problems. The experience was horrifying, I was carted off to a detention center which is exactly what I imagine prison would be like, basically I was treated like a piece of meat, a particularly bothersome piece of meat.

Anyways, it has left me none too confident about my ability to complete the spouse visa, namely providing all the support documents I need.

I have looked around and have found general lists of documents but really I am hoping for specifics.

I have contacted an attorney who quoted me at $1,500 and this marriagevisahelp website which quoted at $900.
I am not a rich person and want to spend it wisely. Has anyone used one of these sites and been successful?
Are there people you can call for advice that don't cost an arm and a leg?

Possibly useful info:
husband is UK citizen, I am a US citizen
We met in Feb 2010 and married Nov 2010
We will have adequate free accommodation in UK.
Neither of us are rich, hence the hesitancy to shell out a grand for assistance, but it is highly important that we do this right the first time.

Thank you for reading this and any advice you can provide.

[batleykhan]

I think you will need to explain in greater detail why you were refused and removed from the country before. Once you let us know that somebody may be help you with your enquiry further.

[peacepuffin]

Firstly, I did not have a return flight, my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I intended to travel on after a period of time. We figured if there was a problem with that I would buy one at the airport (they let him do this when he came to visit me the first time in the US), but they said they would not allow me to.

I also still held an online job through a company in the US and I intended to continue working, so they said because of this I needed another visa although none of the visas I looked into seemed to fit what I did. Plus I spoke to an attorney and he said there is allowances for this for someone just visiting.

They also said I did not have enough money, I had $2000 plus free room and board plus a job still (which they did not consider), but since I had an open flight they did not think I had enough.

Also... my husband was getting a job finders allowance and I did not know this would be a problem

So all in all there were a lot of issues and in my travelling ignorance I did not think any of these things would cause me to be refused entry. I was very honest and therefore I was not barred from re-entering.

[ElenaW]

Since you were honest, there's no ban imposed and you weren't caught trying to decieve. I would proceed with your application w/o an attorney. Just make sure that you meet the criteria that the application asks and answer everything honestly (disclosing your refused entry when asked).