The Law Offices of Wolf W. Kaufmann
Southern California Immigration Attorney
Telephone: (951) 710-3250
Email: info@wolfklaw.com
Main office in Riverside - Serving clients worldwide
 |
 |
 |
Why do I need an attorney? Can’t I do things myself?
It is somewhat puzzling: U.S. immigration law is probably the one law subject with most experts in the world: almost everyone who once visited the U.S. seems suddenly to know everything about visa, port of entry procedures, adjustment of status and so on. And even those who have never been here love to set up a website, an internet forum or another vehicle and pretend that they are an expert, ready to give advice to the naive and unwary.
Among real experts, though, U.S. immigration law is known to be very complex, full of pitfalls and a field where mistakes come back quickly to haunt you.
If you are just surfing the internet from your living room, studying immigration law by reading internet forum postings might be a nice pastime. However, if you are seriously planning to immigrate, or even only to spend an expensive vacation in America, you should trust the real experts.
Would you go to a hospital for major surgery and tell the nurse: “I don’t need a surgeon, I read all about the procedure on the internet, and I brought my next door neighbor to perform the surgery?”
Emigrating into a new country should be taken as seriously as major surgery.
Besides the self-appointed experts on the internet there also are myriads of self-appointed “notarios,” “immigration consultants”, “agencies”, and whatever other name they invent. They love to charge you for more than doubtful “consultations” or even illegally offer to file applications for you or represent you.
Under United States Law only an attorney admitted in the United States may advise or represent you in immigration matters for a fee. And only a few accredited institutions may advise you for free.
That means, if you rely on internet-experts, notarios, agents, consultants etc. what really happens is that you are on your own. The USCIS will not recognize them and will hold you only responsible for any mistake they make during the process.
You will have no recourse against those who gave you wrong advice. They will not be able to accompany you to an interview, to file motions for you or represent you in court.
An admitted attorney, on the other hand, will officially enter as your representative in all dealings with the authorities. He or she is able to directly contact them and advocate for you. The authorities will communicate with your attorney.
If you have a grievance against the attorney, you can apply to her or his State Bar and file a complaint. If you have a fee controversy, there are mandated processes to solve them. An attorney must treat any payments he or she receives from you for government fees in a trust account. He will be accountable to you. And usually an attorney is insured against malpractice.
An attorney also knows the law. All American attorneys must constantly learn about the law through mandatory continuing legal education.
Attorneys can network among their peers in the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the best professional group that can be found. The AILA is a partner of the U.S. government in issues pertaining to immigration law, AILA is being heard, and constantly meets with liasion partners in the government and Congress. Only attorneys can be members of AILA.
We think you owe it to your dream of living in the United States not to seek doubtful “expert advice” on the net or with “consultants” but to let an immigration attorney handle your case. We at the Law Offices of Wolf W. Kaufmann treat every case with the respect it deserves: we know it is your American Dream we are working on. We will work hard to make it come true.
The contents of this website may constitute advertising of legal services. We do exclude any warranty for the correctness of the information posted here. Users of this website will not enter an attorney - client relationship with the Law Offices of Wolf W. Kaufmann unless a written client agreement is signed by both parties.