The schemes that come up
Green card scams tend to rely on a shortcut the person was told is legitimate. Some involve fake employer sponsorship, where a company with no real job files paperwork or only claims to. Others involve arranged marriages for payment, which are not a shortcut at all but a serious federal offense that can bar future family petitions permanently. Some are plain fee schemes promising approvals through connections or programs that do not exist. In each of them, the person who paid is often left facing both a financial loss and an immigration problem.
Getting money back
Recovery usually depends on who took the money and whether they can be found. Gather payment records, contracts, messages, and the names and addresses used by everyone involved, including any company names. A civil claim against the person or business may be possible, and New York has laws aimed specifically at immigration assistance providers who mislead customers. If the person was a lawyer, a grievance with the attorney disciplinary authority is another route, and New York keeps a fund to compensate clients harmed by lawyer dishonesty. Reports to the state Attorney General and to law enforcement create a record that can matter later.
Protecting your immigration future
Before any complaint is filed, it matters what was submitted to the government in your name and what it said. If you took part in a scheme without understanding it, how that is addressed affects future applications, and statements in a complaint can be used later, so they need care. We review what you paid, what you signed, and what was filed, and then separate the money question from the immigration question. We also check whether anything that happened falls within the narrow crime-victim protections, which cover only certain offenses. The order in which these steps are taken often matters as much as the steps themselves.
