Do-It Yourself Immigration Law Can Backfire

    DALLAS, TX, July 14, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- US immigration law is arguably the most complex and difficult law in the world today. Thousands of people are turned away from this country and held in detention without constitutional protections over laws they don't understand. However, much of the public still feels that they can tackle their own case without a lawyer. This article will address what can happen when there is a lack of knowledge involved.

If you look at immigration, you would think that all you need to do is fill out the forms and you are home free. However, knowledge of the law is more important than ever. Unfortunately, people often think that the Internet will solve all of their problems. Yes, there is a lot of information on the Internet, but web sites rarely provide the whole picture and as a result, one missed detail can derail an entire family's hopes and dreams.

Lawyers in the United States do not enjoy the best reputation, especially as compared to other countries, where they are respected for their knowledge and abilities. Immigration law is a very unique category in that the results can change a family's finances and life dramatically, yet the rates that immigration lawyers can charge are amongst the least of any area of law. Most cases are prepared on a flat-fee basis. Many cases, such as marriage to a US citizen, also called an I130 or 485, as well as Adjustment of Status case can easily last a year. The case requires an initial consultation, the preparation of forms, the follow-up procedures, and dealing with numerous delays. The average cost for such a case is in the $3500 range.

Arguably one of the easier cases to prepare, the Adjustment of Status case is one that people often attempt without an immigration lawyer. The results can be disastrous. We spoke with the internationally-known immigration lawyer and author of www.US-Immigration-Explained.com , Stefano Riznyk. Last week he received phone calls from two separate couples who were caught in the trap of not knowing the law for this deceptively easy-looking procedure. In the first scenario, a gentleman did not want to hire a lawyer to prepare the case so he spent 6 months on the Internet researching. He finally prepared the case himself and sent it to the government. He was the US citizen and his wife had entered illegally from Mexico several years ago. He filed the case and his wife received her work permit, also called the Employment Authorization Document (or EAD). She worked, opened a bank account, and finally obtained her driver's license. A year later, she had received her interview for the Green Card. The case was denied.

Puzzled, the man thought the case would be approved as his wife was married to a US citizen. He called Mr Riznyk at www.Immigration-Explained.com and discussed the issue. He had 30 days to appeal the case. What he didn't know, states Stefano Riznyk was that "If a person enters illegally and marries a US citizen, they have the burden of submitting a waiver that demonstrates extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse, child, or parent. Additionally, the person has to schedule the interview outside the United States". He had not prepared any documentation to that effect. Moreover, his case could not be won as his wife could not prove extreme hardship and, states Stefano Riznyk: "extreme hardship goes well beyond the hardship caused by separation alone". His wife would now lose not only her status, but work authorization and her ability to live in the US or return for at least 10 years.

It is a sad situation when something like this happens, but this could all have been prevented with a simple phone call to an immigration lawyer. Moreover, his wife earned $3,000 a month. It takes approximately 30 days to receive an EAD. In the extra 5 months it took her husband to research the Internet on how to do the case without a lawyer, she could have earned 5 x $3000 = $15,000 which she lost, in an effort to save $3500. Now the government has her address and all of her information, even her picture. All that is left is deportation without notice as her marriage to a US citizen, absent extreme hardship, does nothing for her. She has the choice of leaving the country or waiting until she is arrested at 6 AM without notice.

In the second scenario, a potential client called Stefano Riznyk's immigration law firm at www.Immigration-Explained.com and was looking forward to marrying his Canadian fiancee. She was arriving within a couple of days, and his plans were to marry her in August and keep her here. This man had called a number of lawyers, and unfortunately they all expressed to him that what he was doing was perfectly legitimate. As Stefano Riznyk specializes in complex cases, he was able to avert a major disaster for this man.

By entering the US as a visitor and intending to marry a US citizen, the person is committing immigration fraud. The essence of entering as a visitor it that the person does not abandon his or her foreign residence (which she did). The person is also promising to return to their country of origin (which she had no intention of doing). Although in this case, as in the one above, she would most likely be issued a work permit or EAD, a year later at the interview the results would be disastrous. Having entered with an intent to remain, she would have violated section 214(b). This section is one of the most popular sections when it comes to denials. It basically states that an intending immigrant (ie someone who wants to live in the US permanently) shall not be granted a visa (all nonimmigrant visas are temporary in nature).

At the interview, the woman would most likely have "immigration fraud" stamped in her file, which would have her barred from the United States. In order to overcome something of this nature, a complex document called a waiver has to be created. However, in her case, she would have a hard time winning. In her scenario, to enter the United States she would have had to lie to the immigration officer or he would not let her enter. She had already given up her apartment in Canada, closed her bank accounts, and left a complete trail of a life chapter closing. This is first-degree fraud (or premeditated); it does not get any worse. She would then remain in the US working when she was not supposed to even be there. She could blame the previous immigration lawyers for their advice but as neither of them hired one of the lawyers, they would have no proof and it would be hard to blame the lawyers when they chose to tackle the case themselves.

These two examples from the many calls www.Immigration-Explained receives weekly underscore the life-changing disasters that can occur when people try and tackle immigration law on their own. This article is not endorsing the hiring of immigration lawyers in this article. The point of the story is that unlike immigration in many other countries, US immigration law is a minefield, with tricks and traps that many lawyers don't know, let alone the public. If you are tackling this area of law, the cheapest thing you can do in the long run is hire good, competent help. In both cases alone, the combined airfares required to move the wives back far exceeds the cost of a competent immigration lawyer to have helped them and averted the disasters in the first place.

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