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Know Your Rights!
Anyone offering immigration help must follow
certain laws. These are some of the most important ones:
- Any person who says he/she is a lawyer
must have a license from the State Bar of any state. You can
ask to see his/her license and write down the number, and you can
call the State Bar where he/she is licensed to find out if the
license is valid.
- A person who does immigration papers but is
not a lawyer is called an immigration consultant.
An immigration consultant must obey these
laws:
1. Give you a written contract
that:
- is in your own language
- says you can cancel for any reason within
72 hours
- that says how much money you have to pay
- that says what kind of application the
person will file for you
2. Pay a $50,000 bond to the Secretary
of State and give you proof of the bond.
3. Have a big sign in his/her office
saying he/she is not an attorney and show that the bond has been
paid.
4. Never pretend to be a lawyer.
5. Never say he/she has special
influence with the INS.
6. Never file any document for you
without going over it with you and explaining it to you.
7. Never keep your original documents
and refuse to return them unless you pay.
8. Never tell you to lie on an
application.
What to do
if someone has cheated you:
If the person cheating you is a lawyer, call
the State Bar where he is licensed. In New York, that number
is 1-518-463-3200.
If the person cheating you is not a lawyer,
you can call
- The Attorney General of the United States:
1-888-587-0557.
- Your city's police department or district
attorney's office.
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