u/ArtfulMarmot

I've been carrying this around for a while and honestly just need to vent, but I'm also hoping someone has been through something similar.

My parents and I came to the U.S. in 2002 and, like many immigrants at the time, they relied heavily on an immigration lawyer because they didn't understand the system or speak English fluently.

In 2004, the first lawyer filed an adjustment of status case for my father. Years later, we discovered that the filing allegedly contained a fake I-94 and other information that my parents never reviewed. The prepare left out preparer information and wrote an address we never seen.

The worst part is that my parents didn't fully understand what had happened. They were terrified because of their immigration status and believed that if they questioned the lawyer or contacted the government, they could be deported. So nothing was challenged at the time.

Life moved on. My parents worked, paid taxes, raised a family, and tried to stay out of trouble.

Fast forward many years later. I became a U.S. citizen and petitioned for my parents. Even then we were victims to another lawyer, who ran away with our initial payment. We had a very hard time reaching out to him and later found out he did not fill out the paperwork we needed, this was around 2020. We had to go to a larger firm because our trust had broken even more.

Instead, my mother's I-485 was recently denied. One of the major reasons appears to be connected to the old adjustment case involving my father. My mother was listed as a derivative beneficiary on that original filing, so the consequences of what happened decades ago are now affecting her case.

I'm struggling with the fact that a fraud committed by someone else over 20 years ago is still haunting my family today.

We're now looking at possibly filing an I-290B motion and trying to gather evidence. I'm wondering:

• Has anyone successfully reopened a case involving attorney fraud or forged documents from many years ago?
• Has anyone used a forensic handwriting expert to prove a signature wasn't theirs?
• Has anyone hired a private investigator to locate evidence about an old immigration lawyer or law office?
• How much weight did USCIS give to evidence showing that the immigrant was a victim rather than a participant?

What makes this especially frustrating is that my parents were never trying to cheat the system. They trusted someone they believed was a professional, and now they're paying the price decades later.

If anyone has experience with immigration fraud victim cases, attorney misconduct, motions to reopen, or even just words of advice, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you for reading.