An Immigration Consultant????

[bluetony]

Has anyone had any dealings with an "immigration consultant" by the name of Dxxxx Jxxx (edit susie-) operating out of Eustis, Florida.

He is claiming to Brokers that he has succesfully done 91 E2 cases and that only 5 or 6 of those had employees other than the business owners.

Can this be correct?

[peter gold]

Whether correct or not use an AILA attorney. We can recommend several but cannot and should not name them openly

[kirtida8]

I agree with Peter - there are so many scam artists around that you really cannot afford to go with anything other than an AILA affiliated attorney. Has he given you the names and addresses of any of these 91 E2 applicants by chance - so that you could go and talk to them to check out his story?

[Sab]

I think it has been said by Susie before if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true

[InnVic]

I googled him and came up with this.
""Highly recommended in assisting with change of status to E2 and the subsequent visa and purchasing or setting up of a business.""

If ANY so called immigration specialist talks about E2 STATUS and subsequent visa then run a mile. STATUS causes problems for many because they are effectivly landlocked. Although it shouldn't be the case it does appear that the test for E2 Visa via London is set at a higher level than that for Status processes in the US. If you buy a "borderline" business and get status only then you could find that if you need to return to the UK (or leave the US for any reason) you may not be able to get a visa. Although it is possible in certain circumstances to get a VISA without employees I believe for most qualifying businesses this is not the case. To avoid the situation of denial down the line be very careful....also bear in mind the consultant/attorney does not issue the visa - only the Embassy can do that. They may have an understanding of the process and may present your case well - but they have no influence overthe qualifying criteria. Check out the guidelines on the London embassy website - if the business you're considering does not look to qualify then do not risk your money - there are always other business's and representatives.

[Craney]

I spoke to Dxxxx Jxxx, and he speaks very well and gives an excellent impression of himself. He has strong opinions of the embassy and it's working practises. However, he encouraged us actively to change status, but in the next breath said that we should not apply for a visa via London because we weren't guaranteed to be successful.
This killed it for us. He also stated that forums were a waste of time.

I would rather wait and be sure than take a chance and be landlocked.

[InnVic]

I spoke to Dxxxx Jxxxx, and he speaks very well and gives an excellent impression of himself. He has strong opinions of the embassy and it's working practises. However, he encouraged us actively to change status, but in the next breath said that we should not apply for a visa via London because we weren't guaranteed to be successful.
This killed it for us. He also stated that forums were a waste of time.

I would rather wait and be sure than take a chance and be landlocked.

I think you've nailed it Craney. This deception by so called 'experts" can destroy lives. Perhaps he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong by being "economical with the truth" but so many people get seduced by 'the American Dream" that they willingly listen to someone who tells them what they want to hear.

[peter gold]

Craney
You are 100% right
Get the right business buy subject to E2 visa, escrow money with atty and you will be fine.
Use a buyers agent located in the area where the business is.

[anniefromessex]

Hi Craney,

Yes, we had dealings with him! Long story but my eldest son and his wife came over with their daughter for a holiday with us and my youngest son and family who were already over here, although jumping through hoops re immigration. They went to Susan Barnes (a Realtor/Broker) here who gave them some businesses to look at and then recommended they make an appointment with Dxxxx Jxxxx and his wife in Eustis. We all went to see him (at that time my youngest son had just been turned down for an E-2 and his Attorney had suggested going to the Embassy in Belfast to try to get B1/B2 Visas and then doing change of status - even the best Attorneys suggest it, and my family had made the appointment there). My eldest son spoke to him about the business they had viewed in St Pete's, then we spoke to him about the dilemma my youngest son was in. He told them not to go to Belfast but to go to the Bahamas and apply for B1/B2 Visas there, he said he was sending many people there and they were successful!! The rest of our story is history do wont carry on, but please be very careful, others on here have hit the nail on the head and even those these people might mean well (and I am sure they did) it can all end in heartache as it has for us. Be warned.

Love Anniexxx

[anniefromessex]

Sorry, thought the original posting was by Craney but it was Bluetony, apologies Craney but the rest still stands!

Love Anniexxx

[InnVic]

Well if it was Jxxxx that killed Annies family's American dream then I think we should all shout the warning.

BEWARE! BELIEVING THIS MISINFORMATION CAN HARM YOUR HEALTH AND WEALTH!

[britcan]

Always Use An Aila Lawyer....

[anniefromessex]

Britcan, good advice, wish I had found this forum before and then all our problems would be little ones!!!! Yes, Julie you are right, but a combination of everybodys favourite Consultant plus Mr Jxxxx, plus one other - the list is endless with bad advice, ha ha!!! Talk about Jonah's!!!

Love Anniexxx

[Sharon]

Either do it yourself or use an attorney who is a member of the bar and not a specialist, just look at the Dough Hall scam

[InnVic]

Now I can see why Mr Jxxx believes forums a waste of time!!! :-)

[bluetony]

Being new to the board I am not aware of the problem with "Annies family's American dream" refered to by InnVic, and touched upon by Annie in her comments about Jxxx, can anyone enlighten me.

[kirtida8]

Bluetony, go to this thread and you can read Annie's story as well as others

http://www.expatsvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2468

[peter gold]

"Either do it yourself or use an attorney who is a member of the bar and not a specialist, just look at the Dough Hall scam"

I am sorry I disagree with this. The attorney should be a specialist in immigration. I think you menat to say do not use an unlicensed visa specialist, which I 100% agree with.

[Sharon]

"Either do it yourself or use an attorney who is a member of the bar and not a specialist, just look at the Dough Hall scam"

I am sorry I disagree with this. The attorney should be a specialist in immigration. I think you menat to say do not use an unlicensed visa specialist, which I 100% agree with.

Opps, that is what I was trying to say

[bluetony]

On this subject I questioned a Broker about the need for employees for an E2

Her response copied............
"Tony: Upon receipt of your last email I wanted to verify that I was not
giving you bogus information. I called John V.A. Holmes at the
Immigration Law Center. They too informed me that companies that use
independent contractors can qualify for an E2 visa. The business is
supporting American workers thru independent contracts. What they
advised is to thoroughly document all the sub contractors with amounts
paid as well as copies of the actual 1099's. I was informed that the
subcontractors are considered indirect employment. Their
representative then told me of his last E2 case. The UK citizens did
their application in London with no employees only sub contractors
(documentation was all in place) and they were approved. I do realize
that this is probably very different information that you may be getting
on the internet. In my position, I rely on what the immigration folks
are capable of passing thru to E2 visas not simply on words that who
knows how long ago were edited.

Anyone agree with that?

[kirtida8]

My original E-2 business only had sub-contractors and I was approved. You must keep all records, including SSN's, 1099's and references and preferably background checks to ensure they have not obtained falsified docs. Hope that answers your question?

[InnVic]

On this subject I questioned a Broker about the need for employees for an E2

Her response copied............
"Tony: Upon receipt of your last email I wanted to verify that I was not
giving you bogus information. I called John V.A. Holmes at the
Immigration Law Center. They too informed me that companies that use
independent contractors can qualify for an E2 visa. The business is
supporting American workers thru independent contracts. What they
advised is to thoroughly document all the sub contractors with amounts
paid as well as copies of the actual 1099's. I was informed that the
subcontractors are considered indirect employment. Their
representative then told me of his last E2 case. The UK citizens did
their application in London with no employees only sub contractors
(documentation was all in place) and they were approved. I do realize
that this is probably very different information that you may be getting
on the internet. In my position, I rely on what the immigration folks
are capable of passing thru to E2 visas not simply on words that who
knows how long ago were edited.

Anyone agree with that?

The actual wording from the FAM manual below
9 FAM 41.51 N11 ENTERPRISE MUST BE
MORE THAN MARGINAL
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 9 - Visas
9 FAM 41.51 Notes Page 13 of 32
(TL:VISA-322; 10-10-2001)
The alien must not be investing in a marginal enterprise solely for the
purpose of earning a living. An applicant is not entitled to E-2 classification if
the investment, even if substantial, will return only enough income to
provide a living for the applicant and family. There are various ways to help
in determining whether an investment is marginal, in the sense of only
providing a livelihood for the applicant.
(1) First, look to the alien’s income from the investment. If the income
derived from the business exceeds what is necessary to support self
and family, then this, too, meets the test.
(2) If the first test is not met, and it becomes necessary to consider
other factors, one can look to the economic impact of the business.
The business must have the capacity, present or future, to make a
significant economic contribution. The projected future capacity
should generally be realizable within five years from the date the
alien commences normal business articulates. It is recommended
that applicant's submit a reliable business plan to verify the
capacity to realize a profit within a maximum five years.

The test that the "employee" situation arises is the one of marginality. The 'easy" test of whether a business is marginal is that it can support employees - i.e if you can afford to pay others then its obviously not marginal. However the rules do not state that you HAVE to employ,(or subcontract) but with many business's that is the only way to justify this. This is where I disagreed with Mr Jxxxx boast of numbers of business he's had approved, the question is the TYPE of business. If you are able to fulfil the requirement as specified in blue above then you should be okay. (assuming all other criteria is met.

[peter gold]

You are best advised to go direct to the atty, and avoid the risk of misquotes.

[JanetTom]

Hi, We met with Mr. Jxxxx in March after receiving a letter to go back for an interview for our E2 visa. He told us if we went back we would get denied and not be able to get back into the US. Our I94 ran out in June 07 and he wanted a lot of money to fill in the forms. We decided to do it ourselves, and got a 2 yr extension within 5 days. The embassy deferred our appointent for 3 months due to us having staffing issues whilst being away. We gave ouselves breathing space to make the right decision.

He "appeared" knowlegeable. He was willing to show us his filing cabinets and all of his files. He showed us letters and documents from a woman who came here 4 yrs ago with her child and started her own cleaning company with $178.00 outlay. He got her a 5 yr E2.....................!!!!
He charged the same ammount as a VA, so we decided to pay the VA.......

I have heard other horror stories about him, which is all hearsay, but don`t think this is the place to broadcast them. Just put your money with somebody who IS QUALIFIED to do the job they were trained for. Mr. Jxxxx started because he started helping friends fill in forms, and it grew from there. He has no formal training or qualifications.

Best wishes and good luck

Janet

[bluetony]

My original posting “an immigration consultant” was to justify my opinion of Dxxxx Jxxx, as his name had come up again whilst talking to brokers, as we are now considering making a further application for a Visa, and to find out if others have had problems with him as we had. I think it is now appropriate to let all interested parties know about this man

We had some dealings with Jxxx back in 2005 after attending a presentation he did at a broker’s office in Orlando. I should have realised everything about him was not as he claimed when he hesitated over certain things and argued with a broker that an immigrant needed a new and separate E2 for every new business they bought or added to their corporation.

I now think that at this time he was only just starting out and had come across the change of status route by accident and this is referred to in an earlier posting by JanetTom. He didn’t really know what he was doing and was bluffing his way through.

We were expecting and prepared to invest $200K in a business and wait the long period required to obtain the right Visa, but were seduced at this meeting to belief it was a lot easier than we had thought, so we went along with it, BIG mistake.

I still have the card he handed out at that meeting which particularly refers to Visa’s saying “E2 visas can be obtained within 3 weeks” there is no mention of change of status.

He also claimed he had a direct line into immigration officials in Texas and quoted a telephone number which subsequently turned out to be an automatic answer service without any human interaction at all. He further claimed that one did not need to invest the expected sum of $100K+ or that you needed employees. His other claim was that immigration accepted a living wage for a family in Florida to be as low as $30K

We then signed a contract for a run down business costing just $45K with owner benefits of $35K, one employee, with the idea of re-vitalising it.

All down the line in conversations, emails, and written matter this man substantiated that what we were doing was OK and would work for an E2 Visa; change of status was never mentioned until much later

We subsequently met with him and he made an application on our behalf, confidently saying that the application would go through.

He then asked for a cheque, contrary to his written literature, (no fee until successful) we objected, he replied saying he would refund his charge of $3000 if it didn’t. This was in addition to the $1000 for premium processing and the $500 or so for the other applications.

Whilst doing this at his home, he also pulled what I thought was a deliberate trick, asking me to go to the local print shop and get a copy of the lease for the premises. Whilst I was away he got my wife, in her naivety, to sign a paper saying he was not offering immigration advice and that we were only using his print services to put the documentation together.

Needless to say, the application got turned down on all grounds, Jxxx then told us to appeal and include a business plan which he said at first we didn’t need. This we did at a further cost of about $800, then after a further 4 weeks of uncertainty the application got refused again.

Jxxx came up with all kinds of excuses and contradictions and at first refused to return our $3000. Only after pressure from the Broker did he refund it, but it still cost us a lot of money and weeks of heartache and uncertainty.

I did consider suing him and discussed it with an attorney who said we would have had a good case for damages but for the signature saying we were only using his print services.

My advice to anyone who considers dealing with this man, DON’T

[Susie]

I spoke to Dxxxx Jxxx, and he speaks very well and gives an excellent impression of himself. He has strong opinions of the embassy and it's working practises. However, he encouraged us actively to change status, but in the next breath said that we should not apply for a visa via London because we weren't guaranteed to be successful.
This killed it for us. He also stated that forums were a waste of time.

I would rather wait and be sure than take a chance and be landlocked.

Oh Dear

Have we all been wasting our time then ? I do not think so. This is the way we can all learn something new and by sharing and caring

Only today I was speaking with our New member #British Consul# and learned something new

Who said you cannot teach an old dog new tricks? They were wrong, but then again I am neither old or a dog, no comments please

[Susie]

Always Use An Aila Lawyer....

I would add and make sure they are also a member of the respective bar assn. This is the only way victims can get some sort of financial redress

[JanetTom]

Hi to you all again.
I have had a lengthy discussion with a very good friend of mine who has used D.J. for 3 years and sings his praises very highly. I value this person as a good friend, and whom I know I have upset by my comments about D.J. For causing him the upset ... I apologise

I meant no offense by my comments about D.J. and apologise if they have been misinterpretted.I can only comment on my personal experience and my choices at the time to go with a VA and not D.J.

Like in any walk of life there will be people on both sides of the fence waiting to tell you their good and bad experiences. This is true of D.J and any other person who works in the visa consultant/ attorney/advisor area.

Janet

[Susie]

Hi

For legal reasons I have edited the name of the Visa specialist.

Please, a polite reminder that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I urge anyone who has been a victim of any broker, immigration attorney, immigration specialist or accountant or other person to contact any mod or admin via private pn or e-mail

We do have a victim support group , again you can pm any mod or admin privately they can then match victims of the same together and give assistance if required


FYI I did use a visa specialist myself when my immigration journey began and as a result can only highly recommend that you instruct am immigration attorney who is trading in the USA and a member of the respective Bar assn.,


There is a section called the Unauthorised Practice of Law department and encourage victims to make a formal complaint. There is a form that you can download at www.flabar.org

The American immigration lawyers assn has a referral system www.aila.org or do a search of www.bestlawyer.com

Imho, slander an depremental comments are only such if the comments made are untrue. It is ok to type facts but we must be very wary of hearsay.