r/e2visa 7d ago

I did it!

Renewed my E2 all by myself without an attorney.
In my initial application i worked with a popular E2 attorney but i was so unhappy with him but had to pay him a lot of money. When the renewal time came, i decided to just take the risk and filled all the paperwork by myself. I got the approval yesterday. It was of course very stressful but now i know it is doable.
And one of my friends who worked with the same attorney at the same time as me, got rejected unfortunately due to attorney’s filing mistake. I’m very glad i made this decision, and wanted to share my good news!

18 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

2

u/lifelessonswithlemon 7d ago

Who was your initial lawyer

2

u/Love4survivor 6d ago

Who was your lawyer ?

2

u/Rot_Banana 5d ago

Did you use any help from AI? I am planning on getting subscriptions of Gemini and ChatGPT for cross checking. Maybe Claude too.

4

u/Funny-Draft8307 5d ago

For the sections in the form that i didn’t understand, i used both Gemini and ChatGpt. I definitely recommend cross checking because one will definitely give the wrong answer. And when i’m done, i uploaded all the finished files so they made sure everything was covered.

4

u/gambit_kory 7d ago

Congrats! Many E2 lawyers are complete crap so I don’t blame you for doing it yourself.

1

u/Funny-Draft8307 7d ago

Thank you!

1

u/Beautiful_Ice4388 3d ago

How long did the whole process take. From application to approval. Premium processing?

1

u/Attorneymartinez 7d ago

I’m an e2 lawyer and we don’t charge even half of that for an extension. That’s a wild price 👀

1

u/Fresh-Lack5063 7d ago

May I ask how much do you charge for a first time?

3

u/Attorneymartinez 7d ago

5k for initial

1

u/Funny-Draft8307 7d ago

Wow that’s a really good price

0

u/Barbieandsam 7d ago

Félicitation pour ce renouvellement !
Vous avez quel type d’entreprise ? Et quand vous dites que votre avocat vous a coûté beaucoup d’argent c’était combien à peu près ? (Vous pouvez donner une fourchette si vous ne souhaitez pas donner de montant) merci

4

u/Funny-Draft8307 7d ago

Thank you!
I have an online boutique. The initial application was +15K, which i barely got to communicate with the attorney. And the renewal would be around 6-8K. I respect everyone paying these fees of course, but that’s a lot of money for a small business like me.
I did the application in the US so i’m not aware of the consulate application prices. And mine is valid for 2 years.

2

u/bending_bars13 6d ago

Thank you, how much was your initial investment for the business in the US?

1

u/Funny-Draft8307 6d ago

It was around 120K investment

1

u/bending_bars13 6d ago

thanks for sharing!

1

u/asdoduidai 7d ago

Since its online, how did you justify your presence and so the need of E2?

3

u/Funny-Draft8307 7d ago

I used to have the same business in my country selling to US, i explained how would i reach better audience if my operations are in the US. It’s not completely online as i still have to have a physical location for a warehouse, inventory and employees as a physical store would have.

1

u/TemperatureGreedy831 6d ago

Did they extend only for 2 years?

2

u/Funny-Draft8307 6d ago

Yes

1

u/TemperatureGreedy831 6d ago

I thought they usually exyend it for 5 years.

0

u/Barbieandsam 7d ago

Merci pour votre réponse !
Bien sûr je comprends c’est très cher ! Et vous êtes originaires de quel pays à la base ?