Avoiding Immigration Legal Services Fraud

If you need help with an immigration issue and want to hire an immigration consultant rather than an attorney, it's important to understand what an immigration consultant can and cannot do for you. View our English/Spanish playlist below for more information on immigration consultants and tips to avoid fraud.

Attorneys or accredited representatives must be registered with the Executive Office of Immigration Review before appearing in Immigration Court.

Beware of those who call themselves notarios

In some Latinx communities, immigration consultants and other nonattorneys advertise their services as notarios or notarios públicos. Consumers can be confused by this title, because in some countries, notarios have training similar to lawyers and can perform legal services in those countries.

In California, however, notaries public are not lawyers, but the Spanish translation is notario or notario publico. Notarios take advantage of this confusion to mislead or imply that they can provide advice or services and demand fees for services they are not legally allowed to offer, defrauding consumers of large amounts of money in the process.

Immigration consultants are not allowed to use the term notario or notario publico to advertise their services.

If you want to hire an immigration consultant, here are a few tips to avoid fraud:

• Be wary if someone requires cash payments.
• Keep a paper trail. If you don't have a bank account, use a cashier’s check.
• Check the State Bar's website for a list of people who have received cease and desist notices, which warn nonattorneys that certain of their practices may violate the law.
• Check the federal list of those not authorized to practice immigration law.
• Get references. Check with community groups or attorneys who specialize in immigration law to find the name of a reputable immigration consultant. Don’t hire an immigration consultant based only on an advertisement, a phonebook listing, or a friend’s recommendation. If your references report that people have lost money or paid the immigration consultant without ever hearing back, find another immigration consultant.
• Check out the immigration consultant’s background. Once you have the name of an immigration consultant, you can easily check to see if they are registered in California. Immigration consultants are required by law to register and file a $100,000 bond with the Secretary of State. Check on an immigration consultant’s bond online or call 916-653-3984. If you can’t find the consultant’s bond, they may not have a bond or the consultant may not be reputable.
• Get a written contract. If you decide to hire an immigration consultant, insist on having a written contract. The contract should list what the consultant will do, the fees you expect to pay, and other costs. It should be in English and in your native language. If you change your mind within 72 hours, you can cancel the contract and get your money back. You can also cancel your contract at any time after the initial 72 hours. Make sure you cancel the contract in writing.
• Keep your original documents, and make copies of documents you submit to the immigration consultant. This includes receipts, contracts, government forms, statements, and financial records.
• Ask questions. Make sure the immigration consultant can actually provide the services promised. An immigration consultant can only perform limited services, such as translate your documents for you, help you complete forms, and submit them to the federal agency.
• Be wary if they charge you for forms or require you to pay before they do the promised work. For example, you can download most U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services forms (USCIS) for free. Immigration consultants can deceive you by charging you extra fees, saying that they know someone at the USCIS who can quickly process your documents.
• Never sign blank documents or forms that have false information. If an immigration consultant asks you to do this, ask for your paperwork back and find another immigration consultant.
• If you have already made a payment, you are entitled to ask for an accounting of your bills.

Related Topics

• Call the State Bar multilingual hotline: 800-843-9053
• File an Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) Complaint
• File an Attorney Misconduct Complaint
• FTC Consumer Advice: Detect immigration scams that start on social media