Lawyers and Liars

[NYN 0]

HI everyone!

I am sure you are all pretty smart, but I feel so bad for people who might fall prey to "lawyers" that turn out to be Liars.

I asked my fiance to do a little investigating on the marriage certification required for El Salvador before we even begin to file with the consulate.

He contacted a lawyer he found on the yellow pages, and the guy basically told him to lie!

I have only known Edwin for about a year through school, but this guy said he should just say he'd known me for two years.

He also told him that the fact that he lived so far away from the capital of San Salvador was "a problem" but that he could "fix that". I don't see what relevance his home town has, I just think this guy just preys on people's fears and anxiety. He said he would marry us etc. etc, like he was going to solve all our non-existing problems.

Of course solving those 'problems' would mean that Neftaly and I would have to have a consultation so we could discuss what to do. Neftaly said he would contact him later just to get him off his back.

This guy should not be practicing law, I mean he is telling us to break the law. I think that is how people get in trouble. And what is sad is that maybe some people have been caught in his web and could potentially get denied because they listened to his supposedly knowledgeable lawyerly advice.

To make matters worse, he is the only one listed in the yellow pages...

Any other scary lawyer experiences out there?

[BishopMnA 0]

This is a great post. For sure, you'll find on VJ that the truth is the way. VJ stats this for a reason, because the truth is the only way to GREEN!!!!

The path to to the visa, and then the greencard, and as far as you want to go, must be based in the truth. Believe it or not, the USCIS has great respect and understanding for the truth....even under the most difficult of circumstances.

Peace,

Mark-N-AAm

[BishopMnA 0]

This is a great post. For sure, you'll find on VJ that the truth is the way. VJ stats this for a reason, because the truth is the only way to GREEN!!!!

The path to to the visa, and then the greencard, and as far as you want to go, must be based in the truth. Believe it or not, the USCIS has great respect and understanding for the truth....even under the most difficult of circumstances.

Peace,

Mark-N-AAm

[Minya's wife 25]

HI everyone!

I am sure you are all pretty smart, but I feel so bad for people who might fall prey to "lawyers" that turn out to be Liars.

I asked my fiance to do a little investigating on the marriage certification required for El Salvador before we even begin to file with the consulate.

He contacted a lawyer he found on the yellow pages, and the guy basically told him to lie!

I have only known Edwin for about a year through school, but this guy said he should just say he'd known me for two years.

He also told him that the fact that he lived so far away from the capital of San Salvador was "a problem" but that he could "fix that". I don't see what relevance his home town has, I just think this guy just preys on people's fears and anxiety. He said he would marry us etc. etc, like he was going to solve all our non-existing problems.

Of course solving those 'problems' would mean that Neftaly and I would have to have a consultation so we could discuss what to do. Neftaly said he would contact him later just to get him off his back.

This guy should not be practicing law, I mean he is telling us to break the law. I think that is how people get in trouble. And what is sad is that maybe some people have been caught in his web and could potentially get denied because they listened to his supposedly knowledgeable lawyerly advice.

To make matters worse, he is the only one listed in the yellow pages...

Any other scary lawyer experiences out there?

Sounds like he's a quack! You can always file a complaint with your sate's Bar Association citing the untruths he told you.

What I don't understand, what do you mean he's the only one listed in the yellow pages....do you live in a very small town? If you wish to get some legal advice, you should do some research on family immigration attorneys in your area. If you live in any decent size metropolitan area, you should have some choices.

....

Wait I just re-read your post, are you in the US, or in El Salvador? If you're in El Salvador, I'm not sure what your remedy would be to file a complaint. I'm not even sure what the legal system is like there....perhaps laywers' ethics are not necessarily something that is or can be questioned?

Either way, if you are thinking of filing visa or immigration paperwork w/ a US consulate, you should be looking for the services of an american attorney, as it is US law that you need advice with.

Good luck,

-P

[NYN 0]

Hey again,

to avoid confusion I am Nydia, the American Citizen, and I went to El Salvador to study and was there for a little over a year. I am now in California for what I thought was a small trip to bring things back with me to El Salvador since I was supposed to stay for a few more years to continue studying. We were supposed to marry in a couple of years, but changed the plan and I will now return to El Salvador to marry, do the Direct Consular Filing and bring my Neftaly back with me to the US.

El Salvador also has yellow pages, and Neftaly said this was the only lawyer listed, although I am not sure under what category. And I would not even dream of reporting this guy, I don't trust Salvadoran law very much...

I am so glad I found Visa Journey, because it is frightening to know my options once I return to El Salvador. Also after reading so many posts I have come to believe in myself (with the help of all of you), and think I can do the process myself, no need for a greasy lawyer!

[Minya's wife 25]

Aha, that clarifies a bit...but still, if any legal advice is needed, it is the legal advice of a US attorney. You will be dealing w/ US law. Most here on VJ do this process without the help of an attorney and succeed.

As far as marrying in El Salvador and advice on that end....I just did a quick google search and came up w/ this, on a discussion board for those in the Peace Core who marry in El Salvador. The title of the thread is "How to get married in El Salvador" and the pertinent text is:

To get married I needed:

1) a recent copy of my birth certificate with Apostille seal (no more

than 90 days old)

2) certificate of "being single" with Apostille seal

3) copy of passport

4) translations of all documents

5) to get all documents authenticicated in San Salvador

How we did it:

1) got my mom to get and send me my birth and single certificates with

Apostille stamps ($80)

2) went to all of the abogados in the pueblo to see what their prices

were and IF THEY KNEW HOW TO DO A USA CITIZEN MARRIAGE. Most required

documents other than the ones you actually need, and prices were much

higher ($100 and up). But finally we found one who knew what she was

taking about and...

3) hired a "abogada" from my pueblo who agreed to get my documents

translated ($30, which I could have done myself!), authenticicated in

san sal, and to do the marriage papers with the Alcaldia ($40). So we

paid $70 total. So all we did was give her what she needed and then

signed the forms at the civil ceremony.

4) about 3 days after the abogada did the ceremony we could go to the

alcaldia to get a copy of our official marriage record.

>From the time I asked my mom to get the birth certificates to the time

I had my marriage license = 6 weeks

Here's the link to what I found:

http://groups.google.com/group/pcesmarriage

Good luck,

-P

Edited February 2, 2008 by Paula&Minya

[NYN 0]

Thank you for the info!

I had gone to El Salvador's US Embassy website where they also had a guideline for marriage in El Salvador, and that's where my investigation started and the website said the steps I needed were:

1. proof of date of birth

2. a marriage license trough a notary public or like official

3. a civil ceremony and to sign a certificate of public marriage

4. then we have to get the certificate of public marriage certified "at the Mayor's office, the Governor's office, the Ministry of Interior and, lastly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs"

5. prenups

Lucky for me I was born in El Salvador, but have lived here over half my life (I am a Naturalized Citizen) so the birth certificate I seek is actually from El Salvador. Therefore I also speak Spanish which means I don't need a translator to talk to the notary.

So, everytime I think I have the answers more questions arise..

1. I guess the passport is the ony thing that would need to be translated?

2. While I am at it I think I should Not take my husbands’ last name right? (at least not yet I mean) Because that would change all my documents, my social security, taxes, bank account, passport…. Am I right about this?

3. I am thinking I would probably need all these things reverse translated too right, I mean for the consular filing process? Need all this marriage stuff translated into English?

Any advice on these things would be great, if not I guess I can start a new post… My questions seem endless!!

[Enlighten one :) 5]

Fear is what the use to try and convince you that you need them. I give credit though to a lawyer that gave me free advice around my lawyer. He basicly stated that I sounded like I could do it myself. HE was even asking me questions.

Here was my letter to my lawyer.

After careful consideration, we have decided to terminate your representation of my

husband, Michael Gbenga Jibowu, and I, Melissa Violet Ayotte. I have discovered that

retaining you to represent us to alleviate the stress and tediousness of the process has

actually added stress, anxiety, and hours of work. There is one thing to assist

individuals whom are ignorant to the process, but to take advantage of this lack of

knowledge is unacceptable.

We have numerous complaints regarding your services and handling of our case. You have

blamed these delays and incident on your previous assistant, but I have also been made

promises from you that were not delivered. After I discovered the errors in our case,

Jonathan and I had a discussion. We believed that you would handle our case with more

attentiveness taking into consideration the errors you had admittedly made. It was with

great disappointment to discover that this was not the case.

Below are detail lists of problems you have created or contributed to regarding our case:

1. Your assistant was rude to use when we first were processing, despite the fact we had

only contacted her a couple of times.

2. You provided us and were tracking our I130 with an incorrect receipt number.

3. You had no idea that our I130 had been approved.

4. When you discussed our case with me over the phone you didn?t even know what country

my husband was from. I know you can?t know everyone?s case inside and out, but you could

at least review our case before you called me.

5. During that conversation you stated that you mailed out our check to the NVC. I asked

for the receipt number you did not have one.

6. You lacked to divulge the information that our I129F petition was mailed out two

months after our I130 receipt date until I discovered the problem.

7. You told me that the USCIS was termination I129F petitions, when this was not the case.

8. Number 5. & 6. led me to make an uniformed decision that we should move forward on the

CR1.

9. After I discovered your office did not mail out our I 129F until September, you never

responded to my email.

10. The NVC requested payment on Oct 15th, You did not notify us until Nov 15th.

11. You stated in an email, that I still have, that you would mail out our check to the

NVC the next day. You did not mail it out till 2 weeks later.

12. Despite the fact that Jonathan overnighted the payment to your office the check did

not go out until Dec. 5th.

13. After several desperate emails requesting were the check was, you never responded to

any. This added stress to Jonathan & I as to whether or not we needed to get another

check, but you refused to respond.

14. If that I129f was submitted when it was supposed to be, Michael would have been home

for Christmas. The embassy is now backed log and it is taking 7 months for a CR1

Interview and 2 months for a K3.

15. My husband could have been getting the needed information for the NVC a month ago if

you would have answered my 1 of 3 emails requesting what he needed to get to you. You

did not ever provide me with the information. You provided it to Jonathan. Who you do

not represent. When I question you on this your response was I had spent hours looking

up information I should know already. How dare you.

The final straw was when this weekend my brother in-law did not want to consider the K3

visa because you told him that you would call the embassy if we did not have a CR1

interview in 4 weeks. Why would you tell him that? Was that to ease his mind until you

got off the phone with him? That is insulting to his intelligence. I told him that you

had not more clout then my senator.

After a frustrating weekend, I contacted an attorney. He answered all my questions

regarding my situation for free and provided me with plenty of FREE advice. Yet,

Jonathan couldn?t even get the lawyer, Michael Solomon, which he paid for, to answer his

questions.

I made a generous offer with you for a fair refund, but you did not accept. After

speaking with an attorney, I am now demanding $2000 be refunded. The $500

you can use to box up our case and please express deliver along with his

financial information he provided. Then have your assistant email us the tracking

number. Please let us know if you need anything special signed to get our information

returned. I will be filing the required form that designates me as the contact person on

Michael?s behalf.

HI everyone!

I am sure you are all pretty smart, but I feel so bad for people who might fall prey to "lawyers" that turn out to be Liars.

I asked my fiance to do a little investigating on the marriage certification required for El Salvador before we even begin to file with the consulate.

He contacted a lawyer he found on the yellow pages, and the guy basically told him to lie!

I have only known Edwin for about a year through school, but this guy said he should just say he'd known me for two years.

He also told him that the fact that he lived so far away from the capital of San Salvador was "a problem" but that he could "fix that". I don't see what relevance his home town has, I just think this guy just preys on people's fears and anxiety. He said he would marry us etc. etc, like he was going to solve all our non-existing problems.

Of course solving those 'problems' would mean that Neftaly and I would have to have a consultation so we could discuss what to do. Neftaly said he would contact him later just to get him off his back.

This guy should not be practicing law, I mean he is telling us to break the law. I think that is how people get in trouble. And what is sad is that maybe some people have been caught in his web and could potentially get denied because they listened to his supposedly knowledgeable lawyerly advice.

To make matters worse, he is the only one listed in the yellow pages...

Any other scary lawyer experiences out there?

[lucyrich 20]

You've got two almost completely separate problems, with two sets of laws.

First, you've got to figure out how to get married in El Salvador. For this, you're dealing with Salvadoran officials, and their legal system. I (and most others here) have no experience with this. You may need the assistance of a Salvadoran attorney, or maybe not.

Second, after you're married, you've got to get a visa. This is a US problem with US laws. If you want legal assistance, you should be working with a US-based attorney. But many people here do the process without any attorney whatsoever. A Salvadoran attorney who is not licensed by a US bar association can't legally offer you legal advice regarding US immigration.

To answer a couple of your questions

2. While I am at it I think I should Not take my husbands’ last name right? (at least not yet I mean) Because that would change all my documents, my social security, taxes, bank account, passport…. Am I right about this?

It's your decision. If you are going to legally change your name, the marriage may be the easiest time to do it, though.

3. I am thinking I would probably need all these things reverse translated too right, I mean for the consular filing process? Need all this marriage stuff translated into English?

The USCIS rules for translations are on their "general tips" page, Here. Essentially, you'd have to translate them and sign that you're fluent and that the translation is accurate. I'm assuming you're competent to do the translation, based on the fact that you can write English well and the fact that you say you're fluent in Spanish. Legally, you can do the tranlsations yourself, assuming you have the required language ability. Or you can hire someone to do it for you. Anyone with the required language ability can do it, if they sign the recommended certification statement.

However, all of those rules are for petitions filed with the USCIS at one of the USCIS service centers in the US. You're not filing with the USCIS; you're filing with the consulate. Consulates have their own rules which are different. The only thing I can say absolutely is to check with the consulate. Most Latin American consulates will accept documents in Spanish with no translation required, but I don't know about El Salvador. When they do require translation, rules vary widely.