Notice from the VO Regarding the Omission of Information on Forms

The State Department has asked AILA to remind members to fill out forms completely and thoroughly. This request came after the post at Dhaka, Bangladesh, sent the following message to the Visa Office ("VO"):

"Please raise the issue of I-130s and of the obligation to prepare the form accurately and completely. In particular, I refer to Section C, # 16. 'List husband/wife and all children of your relative' which requires Name, Relationship, Date of Birth and country of Birth. We have been seeing increasing numbers of I-130s with this section left blank or shown as 'N/A.'

On June 4th, an applicant filing for an IR-5 told the Consular Officer that his lawyer in New York, Mr.___________, told him not to list names and DOB of the kids on the petition. I'm hoping this is not a common practice among AILA's membership."

VO advised AILA that, "At this particular post, where relationship fraud pervades the visa application process, the experience of officers leads them to view any failure to list all children as a potentially material omission that requires further, detailed investigation to determine what else lies beneath the case. Therefore, attorneys who counsel clients to hide information requested on the form, perhaps in the belief that it is not relevant to the case, are not doing their clients a favor."

In our response to the Visa Office, we advised them that the particular attorney in question was not a member of AILA, and that most lawyers spend substantial amounts of time interviewing their clients to extract the information which allows them to determine eligibility for benefits under our immigration laws. We also stated that we are subject to ethical rules, which do not allow us to advise clients to make material omissions.

We also noted that some attorneys may omit listing someone in this section because the person is a US citizen or is over the age of 21 (no longer typically a qualifying "child" for immigration law purposes) in the belief that their listing is irrelevant or not required. In addition, we might actually mess up and forget someone, or the client may not advise us of the existence of the spouse or child. So, our failure to list such persons is not necessarily an indicator of any malfeasance or the "hiding" of information, as the inquiry characterized it.

That said, please note that the State Department expects this question to be completed whether the person is a US citizen, over 21, etc. As you well know, please be cautious and thorough in the completion of all documentation to be submitted for review at the consulate. This note of caution includes the underlying completion of petition to the INS, which will be forwarded to consulates. We know that our membership tries its best to know the law and to improve their lawyering skills. As immigration lawyers, we are going to subject to more scrutiny than ever in the past as to our ethical and zealous representation of our clients.

So, please be even more meticulous than ever.