What is LegalNet and when should you use it?

As many immigration attorneys know, the State Department has a legal advisor office that issues advisory opinions on the interpretation or application of immigration law to visa cases. When I adjudicated visa applications, I sometimes reached out to that office myself. Even though I was an attorney, I wasn’t in an attorney role and there were situations, often involving applying ineligibilities, where I needed legal guidance before deciding.

Visa applicants and attorneys can contact LegalNet too, but there are a few important points that are often misunderstood:

• LegalNet is not a second chance for a 214(b) refusal. It won’t re-evaluate factual determinations made by consular officers.

• LegalNet is part of the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, but it doesn't oversee consular officers. Complaints about interviewer behavior should go to the post itself, and egregious behavior should not be ignored. But LegalNet isn’t the right place to send those emails.

• LegalNet cannot intervene once a case has been returned to USCIS. If your O-1 visa was refused and the petition returned to USCIS, it’s out of LegalNet’s hands.

• Most importantly, LegalNet is not an appeals channel. It does not oversee consular discretion or “overturn” factual decisions. I feel like I said this already in point 1, but I think it's worth repeating. Too often, immigration attorneys see LegalNet as a way to try to “overturn” a discretionary consular decision.

So can LegalNet still be useful? Yes! But it's best when used as intended, like when you:

• Raise a case-specific legal question.

• Identify a possible misapplication of immigration law.

• And preferably (in my opinion) are supported by legal research you have already done and present persuasively. Used strategically, LegalNet can be a valuable resource. Used as a workaround for an unfavorable decision, it will likely disappoint.

It can backfire to ask LegalNet for an advisory opinion when you aren’t reasonably confident of the outcome. The resulting opinion might make the consular officer feel “locked into” a refusal or ineligibility when they were still coming to a decision about your case.

Need help reaching out to LegalNet? Reach out if you’re wondering if LegalNet can help your case.