How to verify your immigration attorney and avoid scams
Vulnerable people are targeted by immigration scams every day. Here is how to check a licence, what a guaranteed result really means, and what to walk away from.
Immigration law is complex, and vulnerable people are targeted by scams every day. Protecting your future starts with a clear way of checking who is actually representing you, what they are licensed to do, and what they are allowed to promise.
Why preparation matters
A consultation is a limited window of time. When that time is spent searching memory for dates or trying to reconstruct a financial picture from scratch, less of it goes toward what actually helps you: understanding your options. The more grounded you are in the facts of your own situation, the more we can focus on what comes next rather than on assembling the basics.
This doesn't mean you need a perfect file. It means a few key things in hand make a real difference.
What to bring
The clearest red flag is a promise of a guaranteed result. No attorney controls the final decision of an immigration judge or of USCIS, and ethical practice requires honesty about risk. Anyone who guarantees an outcome is telling you something they cannot know.
If children are involved, a simple summary of the current arrangement is valuable: who lives where, what the schedule looks like now, and what you hope it might look like going forward. You don't need a formal document. A few handwritten notes are enough.
Every legitimate immigration attorney is licensed. Ali Nassiripour is licensed in the State of New York, registration number 4189924, which anyone can verify through the New York State Unified Court System. Immigration is federal law, so an attorney licensed in any state may represent you nationwide and at U.S. consulates.
What you can leave at home
You do not need to bring every document you own. A box of unsorted paperwork often slows things down rather than speeding them up. You also don't need to arrive with a legal theory or a sense of what the "right" outcome is. That's our job to help you work out.
And you certainly don't need to have your emotions neatly arranged. People sometimes apologize for being upset in a first meeting. There's no need. We've sat across from many people on what is often one of the hardest days of their year.
The most important thing to prepare
More useful than any document is a clear sense of what you want from the meeting itself. Are you looking for a full picture of the divorce process? A read on a specific question? Reassurance about whether you even need to take legal action yet? Knowing your own goal for the hour lets us shape the conversation around it.
A first consultation is a beginning, not a commitment. Come with what you have, and we'll take it from there.
