Immigration Consultant Bond

What is an immigration consultant bond

Immigration consultant bond is a surety bond required for immigration consultants before they can get their specialized license. Immigration consultants typically provide non-legal immigration services.

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Who Needs a Immigration Consultant Bond?

Individuals who provide non-legal immigration advice in the following states are required to post an immigration consultant surety bond

California
Utah
New York
Georgia
Nevada

In California and Utah, individuals who provide non-legal immigration services are immigration consultants and require to be licensed. Several other states, including New York and Georgia, refer to immigration assistance providers using slightly different terms. However, these states still maintain surety bond requirements.

In Nevada, the work that immigration forms specialists do is categorized under “document preparation services" and requires a document preparation service provider bond, which essentially is the same as an immigration consultant bond

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Why do I need an immigration consultant bond?

Because immigration consultant bond achieve three goals:

Filter out disqualified individuals from becoming an immigration consultant (i.e., those with low credit scores for whom the surety company will not issue a bond)
Provide a financial guarantee that a bonded immigration consultant will act according to the rules and regulations for the industry
Prevents bonded immigration consultant from committing fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract, or financial failure

How does an immigration consultant agency bond work

Each immigration consultant bond is a legal contract binding three parties together.

The principal is the immigration consultant or prospective immigration consultant who purchases the bond.
The obligee is the state government agency who requires the bond
The surety is the insurance company who issues the bond.

If a immigration consultant conducts fraudulent activities (i.e., misrepresentation, breach of contract, lying to customers), the obligee can seek reimbursement by filing a claim against the immigration consultant's bond. If a claim is prove to be valid, the surety will pay for the claim up to the bond amount. Then, the surety will require reimbursement from the immigration consultant

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How much does an immigration consultant bond cost?

The cost of immigration consultant bond varies, depending on the state and your credit score. The exact cost of your bond depends on two factors

The required bond amount, which varies among states
Your credit score

Different states require a different bond amount. For example, Utah requires a $50,000 bond amount but California requires a $100,000 bond amount. The higher the bond amount, the more costly your bond will be because your bond premium is a % of the bond amount. The Georgia "Immigration Assistance Provider Bond" only costs $100.

The higher your credit score, the less costly your bond would be

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