Find Help with Immigration
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If you are an immigrant living in the United States, you may be eager for legal help with your immigration status. Or you may be looking for information about how to become a citizen.
But be careful. Unfortunately, there are many dishonest individuals or businesses who may try to take advantage of you. In some cases, they will not only take your money but also may harm your immigration case. Sometimes these dishonest providers pretend to be attorneys or are immigration consultants who tell you that they can provide you with legal advice when they cannot.
What the State Bar can do
The State Bar can connect you to services that will help you find a trustworthy lawyer or immigration consultant. We can also refer you to legal aid organizations that help immigrants.
The State Bar can help you protect yourself against fraud. If you have been the victim of a dishonest lawyer, nonlawyer, immigration consultant or document preparer, the State Bar can investigate it if you file a complaint. If a provider is breaking the law, we can seek to shut down their business and prevent others from being victimized.
Finding trustworthy legal help
- Find free or low-cost legal advice through LawHelpCA.org, a free website that lists providers and provides information on legal issues immigrants may face
- Use a lawyer referral service to find an attorney in your area. Many offer services in different languages.
- If you need immediate assistance during an immigration raid, here is a list of local rapid response lines in California. (Source: California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice)
Avoiding fraud
Whether you hire an attorney or a legal consultant, it's important to know your rights and how to protect yourself.
Avoid fraud by a notario or immigration consultant
- Pamphlet: Have You Been a Victim of Nonattorney or Notario Fraud? | Spanish
- Look up a lawyer’s license with the State Bar.
- Check the State Bar's list of people who have recently received cease and desist notices, which warn nonattorneys that their practices may violate the law.
- More about immigration consultants
Filing a State Bar complaint
If someone promises or provides immigration legal services, but you suspect them of misconduct or of not being a licensed attorney, you should file a complaint with the State Bar so that it can be investigated. There is no charge to file a complaint, and you do not have to be a U.S. citizen to file a complaint. The State Bar does not ask for and does not track your citizen or immigration status.
If someone promises or provides immigration legal services, but you suspect them of misconduct or of not being a licensed attorney, you should file a complaint with the State Bar so that it can be investigated. There is no charge to file a complaint, and you do not have to be a U.S. citizen to file a complaint. The State Bar does not ask for and does not track your citizen or immigration status.
The State Bar investigates complaints of misconduct against attorneys licensed in California as well as complaints against nonattorneys who defraud consumers by practicing law without a license (also known as UPL).
- File an attorney misconduct complaint
- File a nonattorney unauthorized practice of law (UPL) complaint
Other websites offering to help immigrants
California
- Immigration Resource Directory: Multilingual immigration resource directory from the California Courts. En Español: Recursos de inmigración.
- Immigration Services Fraud Webpage: From the California Attorney General, comprehensive resources to help immigrants identify and report fraudulent immigration services. Available in multiple languages.
- California Immigrant Guide: Updates and multilingual information on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and where to find legal services.
- California Rural Legal Assistance: Services and programs to low-income residents in rural areas, including immigrants.
- Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA): Information in English, Spanish, Korean and Chinese for immigrants with questions about their rights.
- Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs: Multilingual information on how to recognize fraud, consumer rights and where to complain about legal fraud.
- The California Department of Social Services funds organizations that offer free legal services and information for immigrants.
National
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC): multilingual information for immigrants about how to avoid scams.
- In its Stop Notario Fraud campaign, the American Immigration Lawyers Association has a list of state immigration laws, state groups that discipline attorneys, federal immigration laws and resources, and various state laws governing the unauthorized practice of law.
- As part of its Fight Notario Fraud campaign, the American Bar Association has developed training materials, case law, and other resources for consumers and attorneys. The association also has information in Spanish, Lucha contra el Fraude Notarial.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website: brochures and posters in 25 languages that deal with immigration topics, including avoiding immigration scams.