Strange Immigration Scam

I received a heads up from my law partner today about a strange, apparently new, Immigration scam.

     A person who is here in the U.S. on a visa is called by a "representative" of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") who tells them their visa status is out of date and that this needs to be remedied IMMEDIATELY or the person faces deportation.

   The person is then told that they need to send money, usually in the form of money orders or traveler's checks to an address to prevent the deportation. 

    This is a scam, pure and simple.  We will spend some time analyzing this over the next few days.

NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE.  IF THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.

                                             

http://www.tauskvega.com

 

----------à>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

 

Born in the USA (Sort of) VIII

Let's continue with our discussion of "notarios" - those who engage in the practice of Immigration law without a law license.

     There are three main problems with using a notario for Immigration work.

     The first, obviously, is that the person is not an attorney and is not qualified to practice Immigration law.  As we have already discussed, the practice of Immigration law is a complex legal field demanding not only a sound legal education but also the capacity to keep current with the state of the law.  Immigration law is a constantly changing field.  Immigration practitioners must keep constantly updating their knowledge base.  Attorneys have to do this as a license requirement.  Notarios have no such requirement.  As such, notarios do not have the knowledge base to practice Immigration law.

     This leads to the second issue: because Immigration law is so complex, it is important to be able to perform a legal analysis BEFORE submitting forms to Immigration.  Sometimes the best course of action for Immigration practitioners is to do nothing at all.  If Immigration forms are sent to the USCIS and the person has no legal status and cannot receive a legal status, what can happen is that a person who applies for Immigration benefits but is unable to receive status may find themselves in Deportation/Removal proceedings. Notarios have been known to send people to interviews with the USCIS with the end result that these people are placed in Removal proceedings.  In other words, a person who does not know what they are doing can get their clients deported.

     Finally, a person who is practicing law without a license is committing a crime (in the State of Texas).  The unauthorized practice of law is a serious offense.  This is fraud, pure and simple.

   Here is an article on the crackdown of such notarios: http://www.yourvalleyvoice.com/news/article_2344dd0a-92c8-11e0-8b89-001cc4c002e0.html

    Next, we will look at what can be done if you are a victim of a notario.

www.tauskvega.com

Have a great and fraud-free day.


-------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk