Under the current administration, immigration has become a fraught issue, and it is increasingly challenging to successfully navigate the immigration laws and gain citizenship in the United States. If you are trying to get your green card, it is essential that you follow every rule and fill out every document with meticulous accuracy. Otherwise, you run the risk of being accused of immigration fraud.
Because the authorities are working hard to catch people who are trying to break the rules about entry into the country, people who are trying to do the right thing need to be extra careful. That is one of the reasons that hiring an experienced immigration attorney is such a good idea.
If you are accused of immigration fraud, it is not the end of the world, but you need to work with an attorney who knows the proper way to defend against the charge. Otherwise, you face serious risk of criminal prosecution and potential deportation that would prevent you from ever achieving your goal of becoming an American citizen.
There are a few defenses against charges of immigration fraud. These include:
- Lack of knowledge – This is probably the most commonly-used defense and the one that is most likely to be true. The immigration laws are extremely complex, and that makes it easy for mistakes to be made. There are also risks that documents submitted may not have been accurate or may contain misrepresented information that the individual was not aware were incorrect.
- Lack of intent – The court will want to know whether the individual accused of immigration fraud meant to perpetrate a fraud or simply was not aware of what was expected of them and thought that they were doing the right thing.
If you’ve been charged with immigration fraud, one way to help yourself is to be able to show that the documents that support your petition for citizenship exist. Having an experienced attorney represent you in these proceedings will make the biggest difference, as they can file the appropriate papers for you to prove that the submissions you made were simply a matter of ignorance of the law rather than looking for a way to fool anybody or misrepresent your situation.
