On June 28, 2024, the United States Government announced the redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status for people in the country before June 3, 2024. This is great news, and many people are very excited to apply.
Unfortunately, there are many people, often referred to as “notarios” who take advantage of immigrants. Notarios are not attorneys. They say that they are qualified to help with immigration applications, but they are not. They often also charge a lot of money. They have repeatedly targeted shelters, and they will likely start doing so immediately.
Using someone who is not an attorney or an accredited representative can result in significant immigration consequences. Using a notario can lead to your case being denied, losing your chance to obtain residency or citizenship, criminal liability, or being deported, when your case should be approved. You may not be able to receive temporary protected status, even if you qualify, if you use a notario.
There will be attorneys working with the shelter to help people apply for free. There will be many legal aid organizations with attorneys who will be dedicating a lot of time to helping people apply for temporary protected status for free in Massachusetts. You cannot submit an application yet. Organizations are preparing to be ready when it becomes available.
There are also immigration attorneys that you can pay to help you apply.
You can check if someone is an attorney or an accredited representative online. At www.massbbo.org/s/ you can look up anyone’s name to see if they are an attorney in Massachusetts. Accredited representatives are not attorneys, but they have been approved by the government to prepare and submit immigration applications. There is a list of accredited representatives and organizations by state here: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/recognition-accreditation-roster-reports. If a person’s name is not on one of these websites, then they are not qualified to submit immigration applications, and working with them can have severe consequences.
Please note that this is not legal advice and it is meant to be used for informational purposes only.