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Stop Being Scammed and Ripped Off ( Avoiding the CROOKED in immigration)

Stop Being Scammed and Ripped Off ( Avoiding the CROOKED in immigration). By immigration attorney Michael Feltman and bilingual legal assistant Carmen Valverde. Who ACTUALLY is permitted to do immigration paperwork?.

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Stop Being Scammed and Ripped Off ( Avoiding the CROOKED in immigration)

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  1. Stop Being Scammed and Ripped Off (Avoiding the CROOKED in immigration) By immigration attorney Michael Feltmanand bilingual legal assistant Carmen Valverde

  2. Who ACTUALLY is permitted to do immigration paperwork? • Licensed attorneys who are in good standing with the bar association of their licensed state. • BIA accredited non-profit agencies, who have been approved by the Board of Immigration Appeals to do a certain part of immigration for a reduced fee. • THAT’S IT! NO ONE ELSE IS PERMITTED TO DO PAPERWORK • It is against the law (it is a punishable crime) for anyone else to fill out forms or choose forms for someone if it is not for you or a minor child. It is no different than a person trying to practice as a medical doctor who never went to medical school. • Who is not permitted? Notaries/notarios, bookkeeping agencies, non-lawyers who are not BIA accredited, tax preparers, travel consultants, lawyers from other countries who are not licensed in the United States of America and in good standing, nor ladies working out of their home who have helped a number of others with their process and may been successful for someone else, nor accountants, nor someone who just works for the court. Again they must be a licensed attorney in the USA in good standing or be a BIA accredited agency.

  3. How can you check? • If an attorney: • Ask what state the attorney is licensed in. • In nearly every state (with exception of possibly California to my knowledge) Federal immigration law can be practiced by any attorney in good standing who is licensed in any another state • Verify with the state bar association to see if the lawyer has been licensed in that state and is in good standing. • If a BIA accredited organization/individual: • Some organizations are limited to the type of immigration law they can do. • Call: (703) 305-9029 to check if they are. • You may also email at: r-a-info@usdoj.gov

  4. WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON SCHEMES USED? • Applying for a work permit without any other type of application • Applying for political or any other type of asylum, especially if you have been in the USA for more than one year or from Mexico (nearly every time it is denied) • Applying for a benefit for which immigrants are not eligible. • Advising that they have worked for the government or some other famous agency (eg LULAC incident) • Claiming they have an insider working for immigration to get a benefit for the immigrant(possibly bribing in some cases) • 6. Advising the notary works for an attorney (but the attorney is never present in the office) • 7. Guaranteeing the benefit (especially for a certain fee) • 8. Explaining the rules in an incorrect way (they sound familiar to commonly heard benefits, but twist the rules slightly to make money) • 9. Informing the immigrant that this is a rush to complete the process, because of a potential deadline with the laws. • 10. Claiming they have found a loophole in the laws that no one else, including attorneys know about.

  5. Warning signs • 1. Lack of full explanation: Be sure and ask them to cite to the law and print it out so you can read over it at home. Especially if it sounds too good to be true. Make them earn your confidence and money. If he or she gets cranky with you, that’s a warning sign. • 2. Guarantee: No one but God can guarantee anything. In one type of common immigration process I have been blessed with a 100% approval rate since I have been practicing over 5 years, but I still cannot guarantee any approval. I give everyone a 50% chance of winning this process. Then I state the recent national statistics. If anyone guarantees a result, that’s a warning sign. • 3. Lack of advisals of risks: The person helping you cannot articulate with some detail what the process is if you are denied. If they cannot, that’s a warning sign. • 4. Lack of information on how to overcome a violation: If a person does not advise in detail how you will overcome a violation, for example how a waiver is applied in your particular case or why one would need to be filed, that’s a warning sign. • 5. No license on the wall or a BIA accreditation to show that they are permitted to do this type of immigration process. If they do not, that’s a warning sign.

  6. Warning signs continued • 8. Advising you to not tell the truth, not mention something, or that it didn’t matter since no one knows: This is the biggest problem I see. This will potentially cause an immigrant a lifetime from being able to complete a process and years in jail. DO NOT DO THIS OR LET SOMEONE DO THIS FOR YOU. RUN FROM THE PERSON if they tell you to not tell the truth. God knows and there is a fair chance immigration will find out eventually too, especially with new technology updates. This is the most aggravating thing to me in my practice. So many families I have seen torn apart by the problem of notarios and lying lawyers just looking to make money off of you do this specific type of action. God helps the one who is honest and does the right thing. I firmly believe this. If the person preparing your paperwork appears to be dishonest in any manner with how the process will work, that is a HUGE WARNING SIGN to never talk to them again. • 9. The person does not put their name on the paperwork, this is a big warning sign. • 10. Incomplete/incorrect information on the forms: Ask for a copy before anything is filed. Have a person you trust, read it with you/translate it for you. If the person filling out the paperwork does not allow this or offer this, that is a warning sign. • 11. In transit/newly arrived: If the person preparing your paperwork, is new to the area, it is a warning sign to be very careful and probably to get a second opinion before taking filing. • 12. Bad reputation: No one is perfect, but if you hear something about a person doing paperwork that is negative, ask them about what happened to the other case. Confidentiality may not allow, but if permission is granted from the immigrant, ask the immigration perparer what went wrong with that particular case. 6. Rushing your business or questions: It is my job as the attorney to make sure you are aware of the process and how it works. I believe if the initial meeting does not last at least 45 – 60 minutes you weren’t told everything you should know. If you ask questions and you feel rushed or they make you feel bad for asking questions, or you feel like a nuisance and it has been less than that time, that’s a warning sign. 7. Not asking you about violations: If you or someone you know has been caught by immigration or in the USA illegally, that’s a problem that needs to be fixed. If they don’t ask and explain in detail how the problem is fixed, that’s a warning sign.

  7. WHERE CAN YOU GO TO VERIFY? • www.uscis.gov (many pages are in Spanish now too) If you are patient you can get to a live officer:1-800-375-5283 • Clinic (Catholic Immigration Agency) 202.635.2556 • www.aila.org 202-507-7600 • www.ailf.org 202-507-7500 • www.firrp.org(520) 868-0191 • www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org202-507-7500 • www.ilrc.org415-255-9499 x626 (attorney of the day) • www.assista.org (Victim cases) 515-244-2469 • If you know or believe you were taken advantage of you may want to contact the Kansas Consumer Protection Agency: 1-800-432-2310 THERE ARE A NUMBER OF AGENCIES THAT ARE REPUTABLE FOR VERIFYING INFORMATION REPUTABLE NATIONAL AGENCIES LISTED HERE ARE OFTEN VERY HELPFUL

  8. FINAL NOTES • 1. PRAY ABOUT WHO YOU SHOULD GO TO. JAMES 1:5 in the Bible says to pray for wisdom and God will not withhold it from you and will give the wisdom abundantly. God cares about you or your family’s situation. So pray about it. • 2. Be completely honest with the person working on your case and make sure the person preparing it is too. • 3. If you move and file or if you are a legal resident or have some other lawful status, you must change your address within 10 days on form AR-11. If you do not it is a deportable offense. Even for permanent residents.

  9. TWO AREAS OF THE LAW TO TAKE NOTE OF • D.A.C.A. (AKA DREAM ACT) (in general summary) • Between the ages of 15-30 • Physically present for five years continuously before 6/15/2012 • GED, HS Diploma, or continuing in school • No Felony, Significant misdemeanor, or 3 or more misdemeanors • In USA without permission • Benefit: 2 year permit with potential option to renew and option for work permit • VICTIM VISAS HIGHLIGHT • (U visa in particular) • 1. Victim of domestic violence or other similar activity in most cases • 2. Victim of labor law (eg not paid what you were supposed to be paid) • 3. Reported to police or other state agency • 4. Will be or was helpful to investigation of the crime • Benefit: 4 year permit with option of legal residency in 3 years. Include many family members. Nationally, statistically very high approval rate, waives nearly every violation in immigration

  10. THANKS FOR LISTENING! CONTACT INFORMATION IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR WANT TO REPORT IMPROPER ACTIVITY OF PERSON DOING PAPERWORK: MICHAEL FELTMAN 312 WEST WYATT EARP DODGE CITY 620-225-1300 michaelfeltman@feltmanlaw.com

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