Post
by VR » Fri Oct 04, 2013 7:17 am
Friday,
Applying through a lawyer has all the advantages as you would have when applying through NCS and more. But it comes at a price.
Advantages:
>Lawyers also arrange to attest and send copies and return original travel and other documents.
>In case you plan to travel, you can pay the Naturalization fees to the lawyer and have them pay it to the Border Agency. When they do this the documents and decision etc gets communicated back to the lawyers while you are travelling.
>Some of the leading legal firms have direct line of contact with caseworkers in the Border Agency. So followup is a possibility and advantageous. Some lmmigration practices are headed by former staff of the Border agency and this is a priceless experience which will eventually help in complicated applications, getting discretion , presenting the application and supports to give it a better chance of success.
>When ambiguity exists over a particular aspect of your application or criteria, a good legal firm with real experience will be able to clarify your case and give you much needed respite,peace and above all the confidence to pull of your case.
>Nationality also does matter- If your case involves some ambiguity as discussed above, or will involve the discretion of the case worker, it is a well known fact that the interpretation varies from case worker to case worker. In such cases a good lawyer can definitely swing it in your favor. It is also a known fact that certain nationalities are subject to increased scrutiny and submitting an application through a reputed lawyer will have a better chance than doing so directly or through the NCS which just acts as a document processing service.
Disadvantages:
>The selection of the correct lawyer is always a tricky issue. Most of them claim to be experts. You cannot judge a book by the cover.
>Fees is another problem. Varies from door to door. Some of them offer services in the cheap for offering similar services like NCS (Basically submit the application without real expertise to tackle complex cases). Some charge the Moon and claim to be experts, when you finally find a real expert you feel you are entirely at their mercy. You will be lucky to negotiate a fixed fee else you would get charged the weight of the world.
Conclusion:
If you can afford it, If it is a race against time and you are unable to get an NCS appointment, if you do not wish to go through unwanted tension on the final leg of the journey, if you have identified a reliable lawyer to take you through the final gate of this tense journey, you should not think twice and go for it.
And yes it is faster to submit through a lawyer generally compared to the NCS as you might not get an appointment with NCS, whereas in the case of lawyers its a private service (we cannot really compare the two).
If it is a straightforward case, no convictions, no absences , planned travel and impending changes to the goal posts like the KOLL on Oct 28th one can plan and apply through NCS.
Good Luck
vr
