关于非法提供法律服务的告示

美国移民局近日发表如下关于非法提供法律服务的告示，我们摘录在此供读者参考:

Scope of the Problem

The unauthorized practice of law encompasses various activities, including:
o
Applying for benefits on behalf of an immigrant who is ineligible for those benefits
o
Misrepresentation of facts in documents submitted to USCIS
o
Accepting an applicant’s money without ever submitting any documents to USCIS (this is the hardest to track because USCIS has no record of the unauthorized practitioner or documents submitted on behalf of the applicant)
o
Other examples include unauthorized practitioners who claim to be able to obtain labor certifications for employers

Primarily a “local issue of national scale”

Many unauthorized practitioners promise to expedite cases, and then take an applicant’s money and disappear – applicants are willing to pay more to an unauthorized practitioner than they would to a private attorney because they may believe that notary publics can provide premium services (stems from a difference between the role of notary publics in the U.S. and other countries)

Some attorneys lend their names and bar numbers to UPL practices – these attorneys can be disciplined for failure to supervise, but there is nothing that can be done to the unauthorized practitioners

Unauthorized practitioners sell forms through their websites and conduct phone consultations

There are companies overseas that claim to provide assistance with the “green card lottery”

In recent years, there has been an increase in internet-based scams

Unauthorized practitioners include ex-government officials, including previous employees of INS, USCIS, DHS, and DOS

Unauthorized practitioners often threaten to report applicants to USCIS or ICE when they complain about fees or lack of service

Most serious threat is mom and pop shops that advertise with flyers and in local papers or through referrals and hand out business cards advertising themselves as notary publics or attorneys

Applicants have an incentive to protect unauthorized practitioners because once an unauthorized practitioner is caught, all cases are reopened

Some therapists working with U visa applicants assist clients with preparing/filing forms