How to avoid scams related to the latest immigration announcement

There’s lots of news lately about a new immigration process for spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens. If you’ve been paying attention, the scammers have too. They might call, email, or send text messages claiming to have special access. Or say they can help you apply now, for a fee of course. But those are lies. Here’s how to find out if you’ll be eligible and avoid immigration scams.

The first thing to know is that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) won’t accept applications until August 19, 2024. Its webpage has the latest official information on eligibility and the process that might help some spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.

When changes like this happen, scammers take advantage by creating official-looking websites and inventing immigration programs that don’t exist. To avoid these scams, learn to detect the fakes and:

Check out ftc.gov/languages for more advice in a dozen languages. Suspect an immigration scam? Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov — or in Spanish at ReporteFraude.ftc.gov. To report in other languages, call (877) 382-4357 and press 3 to speak to an interpreter in your preferred language.

Spot immigration scams. Only scammers promise special or early access to immigration programs.

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Cindy August 12, 2024

I was called from a washington dc number saying that my profile was use to creat charity in vietnam the beginning of this year and demand me to go to vietnam right away to clear things up. But the thing was i wasnt in vietnam the beginning of this year.