I think you're overstating it slightly. "Easy" is not the word I'd choose to use.
I too decided not to get a lawyer. It went fine. But it was not "easy" it was long, painful, and trivial to make an error (the paperwork is extremely poorly designed, we used online guides instead of the official instructions to avoid tons of gotchas, in particular with the financials).
People just need to be extremely careful without a lawyer. It isn't "easy" but it isn't so hard that you NEED a lawyer either (which could cost thousands).
True. It is definitely not easy. Another problem is the waiting periods these days is frustratingly long - so if you made a small mistake then it adds anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to remedy it, to an already lengthy process. This is why most people hire attorneys. The ironic thing is that attorneys make mistakes too - happened to me and a handful of people I know.
> The ironic thing is that attorneys make mistakes too - happened to me and a handful of people I know.
I commented on this above, but it nearly happened to me, too. We picked an immigration attorney to look over our paperwork, just to make sure we didn't make any glaring mistakes. While we did get some good suggestions, they missed something pretty big that we found on both the official government documentation and a number of forums, and had decided not to go with their services anymore. Luckily we caught it prior to submission.
I agree completely, having gone through this with my wife. It's easy to see how someone for whom English isn't their first language could have the best of intentions, yet still accidentally wind up on the wrong side of the law.
I too decided not to get a lawyer. It went fine. But it was not "easy" it was long, painful, and trivial to make an error (the paperwork is extremely poorly designed, we used online guides instead of the official instructions to avoid tons of gotchas, in particular with the financials).
People just need to be extremely careful without a lawyer. It isn't "easy" but it isn't so hard that you NEED a lawyer either (which could cost thousands).