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By  Ru  En  |
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HOW-TO The advice below is not a substitute for professional legal consultation. It is up to you to research and decide whether you require an attorney(lawyer). This site only aggregates and provides general, publicly available recommendations. Please do not contact us with your case. Do not believe or hire any attorney who says that they "guarantee" they'll win your case. HOW TO GET MARRIED/DIVORCED In order to get married in Cook county, you need to buy a marriage license from the City of Chicago, after which you can go across the street to the rusted-looking skyscraper which is the Courthouse and apply (and pay) to get married. That's it. To get divorced, unless you agree with your spouse on everything, you have to both talk to your separate lawyers, pay them a lot of money to fill out and then you (or your lawyer) will file paperwork with the same court where you got married. You will have a hearing and the judge will decide how to deal with your case. If you are good at legal matters, you will do well to talk to the court staff about general filing stuff, although don't expect any specific, case-related advise from them since they are prohibited from advising on your specific case. HOW TO GET A DRIVER'S LICENSE First of all, do not be afraid. Getting a driver's license in Illinois is much easier than in Belarus. You may use your Belarus license for up to 90 days after arrival, but it is highly recommended that you get your Illinois license as soon as possible. You will have to read a short book "Rules of the Road", then take an easy written test that will ask the most important questions and road signs. You are allowed 30% mistakes on this test. After passing your test, you will be given a learner's permit, which allows you to drive if there is someone next to you who has a valid driver's license. If you don't need practice, you can take your driving test right away and your driver's license will be ready a few minutes after successful driving test. Good luck! HOW TO SUE SOMEONE This is where you really need to prepare well and first try to prevent the need to sue by contacting an attorney and/or doing your own research to write a good, solid contract. Also, research, before you contract with someone, what would be involved if you had to sue them and prevent what you can. If, despite your best efforts, you need to sue someone, but cannot afford an attorney, please do yourself a favor and buy a book on civil procedure or research online. You will be surprised how many pitfalls there are for a non-professional. For first-timer, I would at least pay an attorney for a consultation and record it as a lecture. Obviously, if you can afford a lawyer, and it's worth it to sue, I recommend hiring them. Please remember that in America, what the law on the books says is not what you will see in court, because that text of the law has been changed (interpreted) via previous case decisions. You can learn a lot from reading about cases similar to yours. There are laws, procedure codes, court decisions(precedents) and Supreme Court rules that all play into your case. Unless you are willing to spend 2 weeks on intense study, hire an attorney. The court has a help desk downstairs for low-income people, but I found that fairly useless. HOW TO GET POLITICAL ASYLUM You have to file within 1 year of arrival. Filing later will make your case much more complex. The paperwork is not difficult. Please remember, if you cannot prove that Lukashenko regime is ACTIVELY after you, do not file, or you will lose and get deported. Hiring an attorney may improve your chances, but again, if you cannot prove your story, having an attorney will not help you. Write your story so that people believe you. Back up as many claims as you can with credible evidence/witness testimony. If you claim that you organized opposition, you better have proof. The government will check its sources and if you lied you will lose the case. If you do have a good case but for some reason received a denial from the USCIS and have to go to court, then you must hire an attorney or you'll likely lose. The process is fairly simple: you file an application with supporting documents, then wait for an USCIS interview, after which they may or may not approve your case. If they do, you will become a asylee for 1 year and after that will apply for Green Card. If they do not approve, you will be required to go to immigration court and prove your case there in front of a judge. Courts usually grant more cases than the USCIS, so unless your story is completely lame, you have a chance. Once again, there are no guarantees and you should hire an attorney for that court. HOW TO BUILD CREDIT HISTORY Main thing is be patient. First, find a bank that offers a "secured" credit card. This is a real credit card, but they'll ask you to give them some money as a guarantee. The amount is usually equal to your maximum credit limit. They return this money if you cancel the card. Use the unsecured card regularly and pay their bills in full and on time, as well as any other bills. If you work, accumulate as much money as possible on your bank account. After a while, usually a few months of regular payments, the organizations that keep your credit history(credit bureaus Equifax, Transunion, Experian etc.) will have information that you have a credit line and have paid on time. Other creditors can check that information and may send you "pre-approved" offers of credit cards. Those credit cards are what you are after--they are unsecured and usually have larger credit limits. It helps to have a clean history and a large bank account. One of the key purposes of having a good credit history is that it helps you save a lot of money when you buy a house. Good history, good income and large financial assets will get you the lowest possible interest rate, which, over the 30 years of typical mortgage, means a lot of money saved.
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