Endorsed by VJ Part II

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Damara and X-Factor:

I'm going to put up a link I posted earlier that has somehow become broken since I first posted it. I don't know if you were able to read it before.

https://cliniclegal.org/sites/default/files/chapter_4_1.pdf

And just in case the link breaks again before you get a chance to read it, I'll give you tidbits from it. BTW, the information is from Catholic Charities, a non-profit organization that has been instrumental for helping immigrants regularize their status for ...... well, decades. They know their stuff.

The Article is called "Authorization for Non-Attorneys to Practice Immigration Law". Read carefully what I'm about to put up and you will realize that what we perceive to be some pretty innocuous stuff can actually be "practicing law".

Learning Objective: To understand Board of Immigration Appeals Recognition and Accreditation and how to apply for Agency Recognition and Staff Accreditation.

Your agency has no attorneys on staff, you have no money to hire any, but you want to offer immigration legal services. Or your agency has been helping immigrants for years with simple immigration matters, but you’ve realized that what you’re doing is unauthorized practice of law, and you would like to get authorization to do the work you’ve been doing. Or your agency has attorneys and non-attorneys on staff, and you’d like your experienced non-attorney staff to expand the range of the immigration work they do.

In each of these common situations, your agency should seek recognition for the agency and accreditation for non-attorney employees so that they may practice immigration law with legal authorization. This is not a difficult process, and the process of applying is not complicated. We will begin this chapter by explaining what is meant by “practice of law” and “representation” and what constitutes unauthorized practice of law.

Many programs employ non-attorney, non-accredited staff. It is important to understand what constitutes unauthorized practice of law, and why you will need either an accredited representative or an attorney on your staff in order to offer immigration legal services.

Practice of Law

What does it mean to “practice law”? What does it mean to “represent” a client? It turns out that almost any advice you give to clients about their own particular immigration situation may be construed as “practicing immigration law.” Even something as simple as handing out immigration forms may constitute practice of law.

Examples of “Practice of Law”:

• Immigrant walks into your agency and says “I’ve been a refugee for three years. Now I want to apply for a green card. Which forms do I need? Can you give them to me?” A staff member hands her a packet of forms.

• Immigrant brings you a form and asks for your help filling it out and you help him figure out what is meant by the questions “date of last entry” and “current immigration status.”

Immigration regulations define “practice” of law thus: “The term "practice" means the act or acts of any person appearing in any case, either in person or through the preparation or filing of any brief or other document, paper, application, or petition on behalf of another person or client before or with the Service, or any officer of the Service, or the Board.” 8 CFR § 1.1(i)

And further define “preparation” thus: “The term "preparation," constituting practice, means the study of the facts of a case and the applicable laws, coupled with the giving of advice and auxiliary activities, including the incidental preparation of papers, but does not include the lawful functions of a notary public or service consisting solely of assistance in the completion of blank spaces on printed Service forms by one whose remuneration, if any, is nominal and who does not hold himself out as qualified in legal matters or in immigration and naturalization procedure.” 8 CFR § 1.1(k)

The reason that all these seemingly innocuous and trivial activities might constitute practice of law is that they may cause an immigrant to think that she is being given advice about how to handle her immigration situation, and to rely on that advice. That can have dangerous consequences. If the immigrant above who asked you for “green card application forms” has a Y 59 conviction that makes her deportable, and she applies for permanent residence because your agency, a reputable immigrantserving agency she trusts, gave her the forms and thus, she believes, it is fine for her to apply for residency, you have not actually served her well at all.

Examples of what is not “practice of law” in immigration matters:

• Helping someone fill out a form that he brings you, merely by filling in the blanks as he directs

• Translating documents

• Interpreting (i.e., in-person translation of real-time conversations)

• Providing general information about immigration law (for instance, about the requirements for naturalization) in a group setting in which you make it clear that you are not advising anyone about her or his individual case

Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) is a serious problem in immigrant communities around the country, with unscrupulous individuals claiming authorization to practice immigration law. Many immigrants have been defrauded by “immigration consultants” who demand large fees and expose them to serious immigration consequences by doing shoddy work, or filing fraudulent or frivolous applications. Such consultants, often known as “notarios,” engage regularly in unauthorized practice of law, sometimes with devastating consequences.

The next link I'm going to put up is 8 CFR 292.1. That the Code of Federal Regulations Title 8, Chapter 1, Subchapter B, Part 292 (just in case something breaks again, you know.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=49289d55b4d5df5b9c32796f1c54b554&mc=true&node=pt8.1.292&rgn=div5#se8.1.292_12

That's the legal mumbo jumbo that Catholic Charities is trying to explain in their big ol' paper.

What. Does. All. This. Mean?

You are dealing with government paperwork. Think about - your tax return. It's government paperwork. When you sign your tax return, you sign that you prepared it. If you didn't prepare it, then there's another line for the person who prepared it to sign. Things are done this way because the government wants to know who is attesting to the truth of the document.

There are similar places on the I-129F (and all other immigration documents) for the preparer to sign. There's also a disclaimer on the form saying that if a preparer signs, they must also submit a Form G-28. G-28 is the attestation of the preparer that they are BIA accredited.

So. As you can see, what seems innocuous at first.....really is not. It may seem harmless for someone to collect a fee to help with paperwork. But 8 CFR 282.1 indicates it is not harmless. The government has laid down a set of rules, a 'scope of practice' if you will, for anyone who assists with immigration paperwork.

*edited to test for links*

Edited November 10, 2015 by Rebecca Jo

[Elf 146]

I'm going to put up a link I posted earlier that has somehow become broken since I first posted it. I don't know if you were able to read it before.

https://cliniclegal.org/sites/default/files/chapter_4_1.pdf

And just in case the link breaks again before you get a chance to read it, I'll give you tidbits from it.

*edited to test for links*

I haven't looked into this enough yet to comment, but wanted to explain the issue with the earlier link.The period at the end of the sentence somehow got incorporated into the URL, so the link wouldn't resolve if someone simply clicked on it. The way the rich text edit box handles links is a bit buggy. I try to get around it by typing two extra spaces after the text I want to link, creating the link then deleting the spaces. Kludgy, but it works.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I haven't looked into this enough yet to comment, but wanted to explain the issue with the earlier link.The period at the end of the sentence somehow got incorporated into the URL, so the link wouldn't resolve if someone simply clicked on it. The way the rich text edit box handles links is a bit buggy. I try to get around it by typing two extra spaces after the text I want to link, creating the link then deleting the spaces. Kludgy, but it works.

Yeah, but I've been posting on message boards a long time and I often almost always cite my sources with links. Because I do that, I always go back to the post and test my links. So I know these links worked when I first posted them.

It's the "somehow incorporated" bit that perplexes me.

But only for a little while.

[Ryan H 3,818]

***Two posts violating the below quoted provision of the TOS removed along with one member's access to this thread. Posts that either quoted or referred to the removed posts also removed.***

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