I'm here to talk with you about one of the top things that you should do in your immigration case
and that is to tell the truth. I know you're thinking that seems pretty straightforward
enough and you were planning on doing that anyway. But it's more complicated than that. I would
like to talk to you about what I mean about telling the truth in your immigration case
and why it's important. For those of you who are new here, I am Attorney Megan Pastrana of
the immigration firm for couples. We are dedicated exclusively to assisting couples in navigating
the US immigration process. We help couples all over the United States and all over the world.
Tell the truth in your immigration case. It is so so important. I really cannot stress that
enough. As I mentioned, you're probably planning on doing that anyway and that's great.
But the complicated part, something we see all too often, is that people don't realize
what things that they might have to tell the truth about. What are the things that could come up on an
immigration application. The immigration forms have a lot of eligibility screening questions
and the questions themselves might seem pretty straightforward and they seem very serious and
you're probably planning on answering no to a lot of them. But if you don't fully understand
the question and the legal basis behind the question and the consequences, the
elements that are involved that would determine whether or not you're saying yes or no, you might
say no to something that you should have said yes to. You could do that unwittingly, unintentionally
and so, that can definitely happen and we've definitely seen that. There's questions
about a false claim to citizenship or fraud and misrepresentation. If you don't fully
understand the legal background, the elements involved, what those really mean,
you could say no to those and they could be yes. And then, by not being honest on your
application, you're only going to cause yourself more issues. I'm not here to just scare you.
I'm just here to make you aware so you can take the necessary steps. So you can tread lightly, so
you can be careful, so you can avoid common pitfalls and issues in your immigration case.
The other thing that we see is that individuals might think, "I don't really have to tell the
truth about that because immigration probably wouldn't know anyway.
I'm just gonna say no or I'm not going to tell the truth."
That's not a foundation on which you should rest your future. Maybe you're not
thinking of doing that but we understand that maybe you want to successfully
navigate the immigration process and maybe the thought has crossed your mind and you wonder,
"Immigration probably doesn't know about that. There's no
way for them to know so I'll just answer no or I won't tell the truth about that." And again,
do not do that. You would be amazed at what information that immigration has. They keep records.
there are multiple different places in immigration, multiple different departments that keep records.
There's the Department of State that keeps records and that would be records on any time
you've had to go to a US embassy or consulate for a student visa or a tourist visa.
They keep records on your fingerprints. They have an Office of Biometrics and Identity Management.
They keep records on entries and exits out of the United States on prior applications
on anyone who you have ever had contact with in the immigration context. And by that
I mean, maybe somebody's petitioned for you before or you've petitioned for someone else.
They. Have. Records. Their officers are very highly trained to notice nuances, to pick up details
during your interview to ask you questions to really leave no stone unturned. The line of
thought that they probably won't find out, they probably don't know.
Again, not a foundation I would want to rest my future on and not one you should either.
It's very important to tell the truth. Also, in terms of why is it important to tell the truth
When I say tell the truth, I don't just mean telling the truth to immigration. If you have an
immigration attorney helping you navigate the immigration process or if you're thinking
of hiring an immigration attorney, it's very important that you're honest with your attorney.
I tell my clients that all of the time. Please tell me the truth about everything
because if you don't, I can't fully help you. There's not a point in having
having me assist you with your case if you aren't honest with me. My clients are amazing and they
they follow that advice because they take their cases really important. They take it as something
very important in their life. It's very very important you're honest with your attorney. Why?
Because as an immigration attorney, if I know all of the facts, if I know all of your background
then I can help you understand, "This was a mistake, this was something you did in the past,
these are the consequences. So there might be a waiver that we can apply for to ask
for forgiveness. "Sadly, there might not be an option but knowledge is power
and knowing that there isn't a way to overcome that particular problem, then it would be a good
idea to not file an immigration case that could lead to a deportation. Again, I'm not trying
to scare you. Maybe a little, just to make you aware of the consequences of not being honest.
It's very important to be honest with your immigration attorney
so that way, I have clarity. That way, we can go into your case knowing this is the
action they took, these are the consequences. These are the steps, this is a strategy that we need
to follow to give you the best case possible. To give you the highest chances of winning your case.
It really breaks my heart. It's really difficult for any of the attorneys on our team
when somebody who's tried to do their own case comes to us after they weren't honest or they
didn't know, they didn't understand a question and answered it in a certain way that led to
additional problems that makes it harder for us to fix. If we're even able to
fix it at all, depending on the issue that came up in that particular application.
Again, my advice is: tell the truth. Tell the truth. It is so so important for your immigration
case. I hope you found that information helpful. If you're needing help with your immigration case, our
attorneys are here to help you to make sure you are on the right track. Thanks so much for watching.