Complaint Review: LAW OFFICE OF MANUEL SOLIS - Houston Texas

"I wanted to write a report to stick up for Manuel Solis. I know from personal experience that dealing with INS can be a pain. I moved to this country 5 years ago, and had a hard time of it. However, Manuel Solis helped me to eventually get work status, and I currently working on my path towards citizenship. I think that some of the negative reviews of Solis Law on this site are unfair, and were written by individuals who are just frustrated with the immigration process, and needed someone to blame. For anyone currently trying to gain citizenship or residency, I wish you luck on your journey. With some hard work and dedication you can make it. But I know that the Solis Law Firm really cares about their clients and have helped many people with their immigration issues.

I'm truly sorry to hear about your experience with attorney Manuel Solis. As someone who works in the area of immigration law, I can tell you that your experience is not unusual. Over the years I have spoken with several people who have been scammed by the offices of Solis, which begs the question, how can he operate like this an stay in business?

I believe the answer is that most of the clients they scam are too intimidated to come forward and report the abuse (often for fear of being deported). Sadly, this allows people like Solis to take advantage of people with impunity. 

I suggest that you file a grievance with the bar. You can also allege ineffective assistance of counsel, as it is unethical for any attorney to lie or encourage their client to lie to the government (which is exactly what he purportedly did by telling you to lie on your application and say that you entered the US illegally. 

In sum, the only way to stop unethical, rip off artists is by reporting their actions to the appropriate authorities.

The situation is like this- the last time I entered the country was legally and never went back to mexico, a couple of years later my mom lost her purse and all of our identifications were in the purse. Now that I'm married im wanting to fix my papers I don't have the visas to prove that I did have permission to enter the country, I did however have a form called Forma 13 which is a form that has a US seal and states the date when we  were approved for the visas and the names of all of us. Anyways, I explained everything to all of the many representatives that i spoke with, and all of them told me that my case could not be settled in the US, that I would have do a consular process on which I would have to go to Mexico and have my case processed over there because the Forma 13 was not proof of legal entrance to the country. So, when I sent the first form to start my case the lawyer suggested that I should put that I entered Illegally because there was no other way to do it. Me thinking that I was putting myself in good hand and thinking that he knew what he was talking about and that he was advising me correctly decided to do it that way. Now my brother which has the exact same case as I, already has his green card. He unlike me went to some pretty good and knowledgeable lawyers that know what the forma 13 is and were able to settle his case here in the US. On the other hand I am still waiting for an appointment in Mexico, it has been almost 2 years now and my case has gone nowhere. Now I'm going to the same lawyers that my brother went to and my case is complicated because of the fact that the first form said that I had entered Illegally when the truth is that I entered legally and the forma 13 IS proof of legal entrance, plus all my school records also show it, I have been in this country for as long as I can remember! I tried speaking to Manuel Solis to try to explain my case again and let him know that it is not fair that I'm having to go to another lawyer and pay more money to try to settle my case here, just because he did not advice me correctly, he of course not caring to even hear it said that I could not get a refund because I had signed a contract. So now I'm back where I started 2 years ago or even worse! Do you get now why I'm mad? When you go to a lawyer you expect them to advice you correctly and not mislead you and just get money out of you!

What is the reason you needed to hire an immigration lawyer?? Are you seeking to become an American citizent?? Or are you here illegally and have gotten into legal trouble?? How did he "stold" your money?? Your complaint makes no sense