Lawyer says to delete Facebook entirely...is that really necessary?

[ValerieA 350]

CC90 beat me to it. There is also this link from the field operator's manual:

Matter of Battista , 19 I. & N. Dec. 484 (BIA 1987) . An immigration judge was found to have erred in denying adjustment as a matter of discretion solely due to a preconceived intent to remain permanently at time of entry as a nonimmigrant when there were also positive factors to be considered.

Link to above

[Ayman___ 92]

I think if you have nothing to hide why delete it? It makes no sense to delete something that is for family and friends to stay in touch... show pictures ,talk about events ect...

[Moomin 292]

Not quite. Have you read the Matter of Cavazos?

Yes, and I would still say it's a different matter AS LONG AS the couple didn't do the same and get married same day as arriving in the US (while talking about it on facebook). You're basically forced to submit your evidence of entering and marrying all on the same day. Which is a wee bit different than being asked to delete facebook accounts. Unless you planned on moving to the US before you even arrived, or you had played around with the thought of it too much.

To see it from a different perspective, I'd assume you had something to hide if you both decided to delete your accounts on facebook at the same time. Why did the subject even come up with the attourney? If you literally wrote "i'm taking a shortcut through US immigration" or something similar, I'm pretty sure you'll be flat out denied if being discovered.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

CC90 beat me to it. There is also this link from the field operator's manual:

Link to above

No you're wrong. You should read the entire case, or at least the start which states you are wrong. Read the Matter of Batista here: http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/INT/HTML/INT/0-0-0-65/0-0-0-4012.html#0-0-0-304

The important part is here:

(1) The immigration judge erred in denying the respondent's application for adjustment of status on the ground that he had a preconceived intent to remain in the United States at the time of his entry as a nonimmigrant where the respondent was eligible for an immigrant visa and his uncontroverted testimony was that he had only intended to visit his family in this country for a short period at the time of his arrival.

"Uncontroverted" means "Of which the truth or validity is not disputed." I.e. there was no knowledge of intent, it was assumed.

Again, assumption alone is not enough to deny. KNOWLEDGE is.

[codygrace 14]

I wish that I could have just submitted my Facebook password for USCIS long ago! Everything they need to know is on there somewhere

[KazuriSana 324]

If you told THAT lawyer that you belong to this forum, he/she will definitely tell you to light a shack out of here faster than Usain Bolt.

Tell you what, a lawyer like that is an alarmist, insecure, controlling, and outright afraid that you might learn better from your facebook friends or from this forum, and might not need his/her services.

High-tail it from such a one, friend, and save your money. Self-help is often better than help from such kangaroo lawyers - and that's not even fair to the kangaroos.

[DandT14 272]

They can, and have, used FB to investigate a persons relationship (and used it when denying).

If you have nothing to worry about, then don't delete or anything. If you're worried you may have some post somewhere, at some time, where you discusssed coming here and circumventing immigration laws by entering with intent, then delete...

I don't think deleting it would do much more than making it private. The information doesn't disappear,even when deleted, it's there somewhere. If USCIS wanted it, they'd get it.

Funny though, my first thought wasn't that the "incriminating" thing on there was about immigrant intent. My first thought was "uh, oh, who's cheating?" Guess we know where my mind is...

[hamigirl710 112]

I don't think deleting it would do much more than making it private. The information doesn't disappear,even when deleted, it's there somewhere. If USCIS wanted it, they'd get it.

Funny though, my first thought wasn't that the "incriminating" thing on there was about immigrant intent. My first thought was "uh, oh, who's cheating?" Guess we know where my mind is...

I agree! Even if it is deleted if they wanted it they could find it.

[ChrisB0707 4]

Thats a bunch of #######. I have never seen this before. Get a new lawyer

[Jahwaree 83]

Maybe he's paranoid, is he ok in the head? If he is maybe he knows something that he sees when he goes to your FB that is not looking good, a shout out from others that read intent to come and stay ?, or something you just might not remember... I'd go over the account.

[stronger 43]

The lawyer is not paranoid. I've known more than a few folks who've gone to interview with their Facebook pages pulled up on the screen. One was even asked to login at AOS interview in the same situation. Married while visiting. I might follow his advice if there is a question at all. Its not forever. And its only Facebook.

[Jennifer&Bolu 0]

My lawyer said that my wife and I should ENTIRELY delete Facebook. Not just deactivate our accounts or make them super-private, but entirely delete it. It seems our lawyer thinks the government will dig into our Facebook (even though they are deactivated and/or set to private), and use the information in our Facebook against us. We don't have anything incriminating in our Facebooks, however. Neither my wife, nor I, want to delete it entirely and lose all our connection to old friends. Do any of you really see this as necessary? We want to just make our profiles private, or deactivate our Facebook for a temporary period.

Thanks!

your lawyer is either paranoid or you are not revealing the whole facts that lead to your attorney to suggest that. If you have nothing to hide then deactivation is more that good enough.

[LH&me 2]

My lawyer said that my wife and I should ENTIRELY delete Facebook. Not just deactivate our accounts or make them super-private, but entirely delete it. It seems our lawyer thinks the government will dig into our Facebook (even though they are deactivated and/or set to private), and use the information in our Facebook against us. We don't have anything incriminating in our Facebooks, however. Neither my wife, nor I, want to delete it entirely and lose all our connection to old friends. Do any of you really see this as necessary? We want to just make our profiles private, or deactivate our Facebook for a temporary period.

Thanks!

I doubt your lawyer would tell you to delete your FB account without a reason. There is probably something fishy regarding your situation that made him to give such advice. Otherwise, it makes no sense...

[Justine+David 218]

You need to answer a few questions: Which visa are you going for? K1/CR1; are you adjusting from VWP? Are you a natural-born British citizen?

The UK is a low-fraud country. Unless you've got skeletons in your closet, your lawyer is crazy and why are you even using one?

[rade2rising 205]

well it depends what you are doing on your facebook. your lawyer is right not to take a chance bcoz your lawyer doesnt have time to look through your facebook and tell you what to delete and stuff. You better be sure there is nothing on there to harm you otherwise the safest thing to do is delete it.