As those of you who participate in the ImmInfo Discussion Forum know, the site has been down more than it has been up for the last three weeks. Initially, we had a problem with the provider we were using. They came under attack and our site suffered. We moved to a second provider and that turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. We have now found and moved to a very stable provider and do not expect to have any further problems.

I want to take this opportunity to remind visitors of what the forum is and is not. It is a place where people can post questions of general interest to the immigration community for discussion and clarification. It is not a service for diagnosing and recommending solutions to specific, unique problems.

Perhaps an illustration is in order. If a person writes in and asks for information about a specific section of law or CIS procedure, we are happy to elaborate on it and clarify it. What we cannot do is look at a specific set of facts, unique to the individual writing the post, diagnose their issue and offer a solution. This is neither possible nor ethical.

Without knowing all of the facts of a case, which involves a lengthy and detailed interview and analysis, it is impossible to understand the true nature of the issue presented. Sometimes the most seemingly trivial facts make all the difference in the outcome. Without knowledge of all of the facts, it is irresponsible to try to offer a solution to a unique problem. For these reasons, we will not attempt to answer questions involving unique situations, so please don’t ask them. On the other hand, if you would like to know more about a particular policy or interpretation of law, we are quite happy to deal with those kinds of questions.

Another problem that comes up frequently is the practice by some visitors of asking questions about their own cases when they are already represented by counsel. We can’t even answer general questions when they involve a case where someone is already represented by another attorney.

There is a sound basis for the prohibition on one attorney advising the client of another attorney. The second attorney generally has no detailed knowledge of the facts and circumstances of the case. As a result, it is very easy for the second attorney to overlook a critical fact and make a recommendation based on incomplete knowledge. We will never knowingly comment on any specific case where the person asking the question is represented by counsel. We ask that you please disclose this fact if you are represented by counsel and post a question.