One of the top things that you should do in your immigration case is to tell the truth. That seems pretty straightforward enough and you were planning on doing that anyway but it’s more complicated than that.
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 in an immigration application? The immigration forms have a lot of eligibility screening questions and the questions themselves might seem pretty straightforward and serious. 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, you might say no to something that you should have said yes to. You could do that unwittingly and unintentionally.
There are 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 should’ve been answered as a yes.
And then, by not being honest on your application, you’re only going to cause yourself more issues. This is not meant to scare you. This is necessary for you to be aware so you can take the necessary steps.
Will Immigration Know That I’m Lying?
You might think, “I don’t 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 you want to successfully navigate the immigration process and wonder if you can hide a few things from immigration or not tell the truth.
Do not do that. There are multiple different departments in immigration that keep records. There’s the Department of State that keeps records on any time you’ve had to go to a US embassy or consulate perhaps for a student visa or a tourist visa.
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. These may be people who have petitioned for you or you have petitioned for.
Their officers are very highly trained to notice nuances and to pick up details during your interview. The line of thought that they probably won’t find out if you’re lying is wrong. They have records that will confirm whether you’re telling the truth or not.
Being Honest With Your Immigration Attorneys
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. If you don’t tell the truth to your attorneys, they can’t fully help you. There’s no point in having them assist you with your case if you aren’t honest with them.
Why? Because as an immigration attorney, if we know all of the facts and your background, then we can help you understand your actions and their consequences. We can come up with a solution for that through waivers and other options.
Sadly, there might not be an option to petition for your case but knowledge is power. 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 deportation.
Immigration attorneys can identify the steps needed to be taken for your particular case and create a strategy to follow to give you the best case possible. To give you the highest chances of winning your case.
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 understand a question and answered it in a certain way that led to additional problems that make 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, tell the truth.