Hi everybody,
Recently, I found a person selling his services as an "immigration helper" (note: he is not a lawyer, but works with a lawyer). This person claimed to help people to immigrate to the U.S. by filing an employment-based petition through his contact at a U.S. government agency (i.e. an I-140 that says the agency wants to hire me). I am not going to mention his name or the agency for obvious reasons. For his services, the immigration helper required a payment of several thousand dollars. However, he signed a contract saying that in case the petition is denied, part of the money will be refunded.
After the payment has been made, the immigration helper indeed filed the immigration documents (I have the receipt notifications). However, there was a subsequent request for additional evidence (RFE), to which we responded, and the case was eventually denied. That person promised to gather more documents, address the issues in the denial, and re-file the case. However, I have no evidence that he has done something. A few weeks earlier, he stopped responding to phone calls and e-mail.
Now, my question is: since I have a written contract signed by him (although I don't know if it meets the legal definition of contract), as well as a copy of my payment check and the notices sent by USCIS, is it possible to sue that person to get the refund he promised? It'd be something like breach of contract or misrepresentation. If I can't sue, at least I'd like to report this "helper" to USCIS, FBI or whatever enforcement authority.
I am sure many people have been victims of immigration scams, so could somebody please let me know what my options are? Any input is appreciated.
Thanks
Recently, I found a person selling his services as an "immigration helper" (note: he is not a lawyer, but works with a lawyer). This person claimed to help people to immigrate to the U.S. by filing an employment-based petition through his contact at a U.S. government agency (i.e. an I-140 that says the agency wants to hire me). I am not going to mention his name or the agency for obvious reasons. For his services, the immigration helper required a payment of several thousand dollars. However, he signed a contract saying that in case the petition is denied, part of the money will be refunded.
After the payment has been made, the immigration helper indeed filed the immigration documents (I have the receipt notifications). However, there was a subsequent request for additional evidence (RFE), to which we responded, and the case was eventually denied. That person promised to gather more documents, address the issues in the denial, and re-file the case. However, I have no evidence that he has done something. A few weeks earlier, he stopped responding to phone calls and e-mail.
Now, my question is: since I have a written contract signed by him (although I don't know if it meets the legal definition of contract), as well as a copy of my payment check and the notices sent by USCIS, is it possible to sue that person to get the refund he promised? It'd be something like breach of contract or misrepresentation. If I can't sue, at least I'd like to report this "helper" to USCIS, FBI or whatever enforcement authority.
I am sure many people have been victims of immigration scams, so could somebody please let me know what my options are? Any input is appreciated.
Thanks