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What to Do With Free Immigration Advice

Let’s face it – you can google anything nowadays and get free advice on just about everything.  Thanks to the World Wide Web, free information is right at your fingertips. It’s an amazing thing, but it can also be scary.  Scary because how do you know the free advice you’re getting is the right advice for you?

Fewer things can be scarier than an immigration case gone awry due to bad immigration advice.  But it can happen, it does happen. I meet with clients all the time who are misinformed due to what they’ve read on the net or even what they’ve been told by calling the toll free USCIS 1-800 number.  For example, I had a lovely couple who came to my office looking to get a green card through marriage to a U.S. Citizen. She was from the U.K., living in the U.K. and she and her then fiance knew that they wanted to get married.  So, they called the USCIS 1-800 number and someone there told her to enter the U.S. on her tourist visa (which she already had) and then get married and file her “papers” in the U.S.

Whoa!  This advice she was given is certainly contrary to what I would’ve advised her and her future husband if they had called my office.  She entered the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa (B1/B2) with immigrant intent (she wasn’t visiting the U.S. for pleasure, she was visiting the U.S. to get married and become a U.S. Permanent Resident).  This dual intent is impermissible for tourist visa holders.

Thankfully this story has a happy ending, but not without some heartache that could’ve been avoided.  Heartache is one thing – a visa fraud determination, deportation, getting arrested – these are all entirely different things and things that could happen if the one-size-fits-all free immigration advice doesn’t work for your particular case and facts.

So, what should you do with that free immigration advice you read somewhere on the internet or were told by your brother’s wife’s mother who had almost the same situation as you?

  1. DO seek out an experienced, qualified immigration lawyer who is willing to give you a free consultation to evaluate your case.  Once an evaluation is done, you will then be able to better decide whether or not you want to hire the attorney or whether you feel like you can handle the case on your own.
  2. DO make an InfoPass appointment at your local USCIS office.  There, you can speak with an Information Officer in person who might be able to confirm whether that free advice you got is advice you should follow.  The Information Officers at the Norfolk USCIS office, which is an office that serves Virginia Beach, Norfolk, all of Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore and Richmond areas, are seasoned (not contractors like you might get when you call the 1-800 number) and again, you’re engaging in face-to-face communication.  You can hand them your documents to show them, they can look information up for you, and they can give you the forms and applications that are applicable to your case.
  3. DO realize that you should not take action with free advice given to you if your case is complicated.  How do you know if your case is complicated or not? Sometimes it’s readily apparent, other times it’s not.  Some examples of factors that might complicate your immigration case include:
  • you’ve been charged with a crime or convicted of a crime
  • you’ve overstayed your visa
  • you entered the U.S. without inspection and you’ve traveled back and forth between the U.S. and your country
  • you haven’t abided by the terms of your H-1B visa (i.e., you’re working a side job ‘under the table’)

These are just a few examples and by no means represent the variety of complications that can exist.

Sometimes the best things in life are free.  Other times you get what you pay for (or in the case of free advice, what you didn’t pay for).  While I encourage everyone to take advantage of free information by researching all you can about your case and being informed, I believe that you should always proceed with caution when acting on free immigration advice.

Now it’s your turn – have you ever used free immigration advice and benefited from it?  Or has free advice ever been detrimenal to your case? Tell us what you think in our comments section.

Related posts:

  1. Watch Out for School Buses and School Zones
  2. Citizenship Day 2019
  3. Get Peace of Mind with Gardner & Mendoza
  4. One Good Reason You Need to Lawyer Up

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Testimonials

Well, hard to believe… job done! I’m frank to admit I had no idea that it would be so involved compared to 10 years ago when I did the renewal myself. Happily I was fortunate enough to find the best people to help get it done this time. When I was a working stiff it was mostly as a field guy in sales & marketing. High tech communication in those days was a pay phone in customers’ lobbies, so someone back in the office skilled in dealing w/problems was absolutely essential when I couldn’t be contacted. Most of those who supported me that way were good at what they did, some were outstanding. None were better than you!! This tedious & sometimes worrisome process would have been unbearable without your keeping it, & me, on track. So we want to extend our thanks to you and Radlyn. Hoping for Gardner & Mendoza to continue the good work for many years to come. - Anonymous
Gardner and Mendoza Law Firm is a great law firm no matter what kind of situation you may be in! For example I had court today, John Gardner, my attorney represented me today and got the charged dismissed totally the first time we both appeared in front of the judge in Virginia Beach Traffic Court. He uses every bit of knowledge he can to help you get the best results!! He also works very well with Latinos! They have a Spanish speaking person in their office at all times!! - Sebastian
My husband and I had a great experience with Mrs. Mendoza. She provided excellent information and a sense of urgency with every step of our immigration process. Her team was always supportive in getting us the information we needed throughout the whole process. This legal firm also treats their clients with the highest levels of respect. In all of Virginia I would say that the Gardener & Mendoza team is the best recommendation for same sex immigration cases and for immigration cases in general. It was a pleasure to work with them. - Anonymous
I Highly Recommend Radlyn Mendoza, An Excellent Immigration Lawyer. My wife and I were very worried about my wife’s immigration and legal status. We were quite impressed with Attorney Mendoza during our initial consultation. She proved to be a smart, knowledgeable, and very capable immigration attorney. She and her staff were very helpful and responsive to all of our requests. Kudos to her and staff, especially Leesa, for successfully handling our case. Thanks for a job well done. - Thomas and Cheong W.
My daughter received a reckless driving ticket going 60 in a 35 mph zone, so understandably, I was very concerned. In court, Mr. Gardner was able to get the reckless driving charge and ticket completely dismissed due to his knowledge of what the police officer had to present in court. Mr. Gardner was a familiar face to the judge and the clerks in the Virginia Beach courthouse. When we contacted John Gardner’s office at Gardner & Mendoza, he and his staff made us feel comfortable by explaining the whole process to us. His track record and the reviews online helped make the decision to choose Mr. Gardner over other attorneys easy. I highly recommend Mr. Gardner. He gave us peace of mind and won the case too! - Michelle

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