Hari Heerekar

I normally don’t leave public reviews like this, but I feel I must share my experience so that others can make informed decisions when choosing legal representation — especially in sensitive cases like asylum, where someone’s life and safety may be at stake. I hired this firm to represent me in my... asylum case. Unfortunately, I experienced repeated negligence and disorganization throughout the entire process. ❌ Important documents were either submitted late, submitted incorrectly, or never submitted at all — despite the fact that I had provided everything in advance. ❌ My divorce certificate was never sent to the court, which led the judge to question whether I was even divorced. ❌ A witness was scheduled to testify without any immigration status, which the judge said made him ineligible. I was never warned, and as a result, I lost the opportunity to bring someone else. Not only was my case weakened — but my witness was also put at risk. ❌ I was advised that a non-certified translation of my passport was sufficient, but during the hearing, this was challenged and reflected poorly on me. ❌ Just two days before my first hearing, they suddenly replaced my attorney with someone who knew absolutely nothing about my case — not even the basics. He arrived late to court, kept turning off his camera during the hearing (which the judge commented on), and did not say a single word in my defense. There was no closing argument, no support, no professionalism. ❌ Even the judge directly stated that the case had been handled with clear negligence. ❌ At my second hearing, the attorney was again completely unprepared. The government attorney didn’t even bother asking questions — that’s how weak and unconvincing the case was. In addition, there was miscommunication with the court regarding my travel plans (I had only visited family in New York, but the court was told I had “moved”). The judge was visibly confused and frustrated by this misleading information. After everything — after losing my case due to clear mishandling — I received a request from the law firm asking for an additional $4000 to submit a new application. There was no acknowledgment of what had happened. No apology. Nothing. This entire experience left me devastated. I trusted this team to fight for me and protect my son and me — instead, I was left alone and unprepared in one of the most critical moments of my life. I do plan to file a formal complaint with the California State Bar. If anyone else has experienced similar treatment, I would be open to connecting — not out of anger, but out of genuine concern that this doesn’t continue happening to other vulnerable people. I sincerely hope the firm uses this feedback to reflect, improve, and take more care with the lives placed in their hands. No one deserves to go through what I went through.

He messed up my case. He made many reckless mistakes such as he didn't come prepared for my hearings. If he had read my case files before coming to judge, he would know how old my kid was or where my current residence was, but he didn't even read that. He showed up completely unprepared, and unprofes...sional. He not only made mistakes on my USCIS application, but he showed up in my hearing without a copy of my documents in front of him, which was very unprofessional and unacceptable. Because of his recklessness and unpreparedness, my case got postponed again for more years. He submitted my application with the wrong info printed to USCIS. I had to do everything again and start over again. About communication - At the beginning, when you are still making monthly payments to him, his office is good with communication, but once you're done with the payments they completely ignore your requests and calls. You're just a number to him, to collect money from you. He doesn't care if you win your case or not, at least in my experience with him. It was my worst decision to hire the Law office of Hari Heerekar as my immigration attorney and I'm glad I fired him – things are much better again. I'm not shocked by other "5 star reviews" because this attorney asked me to leave him a 5-star review, and I did leave him a 5-star when things were going smoothly until they weren't. Until he used all my referral friends and I paid him, then I was no longer any use for him.

Hari is an extremely exceptional Attorny! He is very approachable with the best customer care i have ever received from other legal professionals! Hari's wealth of knowledge regarding Asylum issues is beyond imaginations! He made my asylum journey too smooth as opposed to what many people had made it... seem like! Within hours of my first interaction with him and answering his questionnaire form, he assured me of having the submission done before COB! Trust me, he kept his word and submission was done within hours! Be blessed Hari.