Many clients seek out the professional immigration lawyer services of Si-makovsky Law after starting their case with an immigration consultant. What starts as a simple immigration ques-tion quickly turns into a complicated case if done by an immigration consultant who is not trained in the law.
I Immigration consultants do not have formal immigration law training and they are not allowed to answer even the most basic legal questions that every immigrant has when applying for an im-migration bene-fit. Unfortunately, in Co-lumbus, Ohio we have many immigration consult-ants at Banadir, Global, International, and the West Side Mall.
Speaking the same lan-guage and having computer skills does not make a person qualified, trained, or experienced to give immigration advice.
The forms that immigration consultants are filling out and the advice they are giv-ing is the practice of law. Your legal status is too important to place it in the hands of an immigration consultant.
Simakovsky law has been helping the Somali community since 2004. We are very familiar with the barriers faced by refugees and immigrants including fear of the immigration system, lack of language skills, lack of transportation, lack of trust, and other barriers that make see-ing out professional legal services difficult.
Turning to members of their own com-munity seems like the easiest way to over-come some of the barriers but it also comes with severe consequences of hav-ing a non-lawyer complete forms and give advice on a very legal and complicated process.
Recently we took a case to trial at Im-migration Court in Cleveland, Ohio. The case was initially completed by an immigration consultant at Banadir Mall. The client was married and but the immigration consult-ant filled out her green card form as single. Due to this mistake her citizenship was denied and she was placed into removal proceed-ings. This error on a form caused the client years of hardship including having her husband deported and being left to raise four children alone. After fighting this case for years the cli-ent’s green card was restored and we are now in the process of helping her attain U.S. citizenship and reuniting her and her four children with their father who fled to Canada so as not to be deported to Soma-lia.
Please stop using notary services or services of community members who are not lawyers. The immigration system now is more complicated, and the consequences are much more severe. Please call Simakovsky Law at 614.695.4605 or come to 460 East Main Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215 so we can assist you with your immigration questions. ■
