What happened
On September 9, 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced that a 44-year-old Houston woman, Alla Nowowiejski, had been charged with mail fraud and false statements “in relation to her job as an immigration attorney.” The release says she was taken into custody and made her initial appearance that afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Bennett.
According to the indictment as the release describes it, she accepted payments from clients to help them establish or adjust their work status and apply for work visas, but allegedly “never submitted the applications or only submitted them in part.” The indictment further alleges that she gave clients “false documents or reference numbers associated with active immigration cases unrelated to her clients,” and used them to make the clients believe immigration authorities were processing their applications.
The release says that if convicted she faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, with help from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Harris County Constable’s Office, Precinct 1. The release ends with the standard sentence: “An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.” We found no later Justice Department release on the case as of October 22, 2026.
Who this is about
The charges are about one attorney and the clients named in the indictment. The release does not say how many clients were affected, and it does not name them. The Advocasí short mentions more than 100 possible victims; that number is not in the Justice Department release, so we have left it out.
The case turns on something USCIS explains on its own pages: the receipt number. USCIS’s page “Checking Your Case Status Online” says the receipt number is “a unique 13-character identifier that USCIS provides for each application or petition it receives,” made of three letters followed by 10 numbers, and that “You can find it on notices of action USCIS has sent you.” The same page says USCIS’s Case Status Online tool “will show the last action taken on your case,” and that a free account at my.uscis.gov shows up to the last five actions on a case.
USCIS’s “Legal Services” page says who may represent someone before USCIS: an attorney in good standing with a U.S. state or territory bar, an accredited representative working for an organization on the Justice Department’s list of recognized organizations, and, under supervision, certain law students and graduates. It also says “You do not need a representative to file forms with USCIS,” and that in the United States, notary publics “are not attorneys and cannot represent you in legal matters, including immigration cases.”
What it does not mean
- It does not mean the attorney has been found guilty. An indictment is an accusation; the release itself says she is presumed innocent unless convicted.
- It does not mean that working with an attorney is the problem. The person charged here is described as a licensed attorney, and USCIS still lists attorneys and accredited representatives as the people who may represent someone before it.
- It does not mean that a receipt number on a piece of paper proves a case exists or belongs to you. The indictment alleges the clients were given numbers tied to other people’s active cases. USCIS says the real number comes on the notices of action USCIS itself sends.
- It does not mean anything about the status of any one person’s case. The release does not say what happened to the clients’ cases or what options they have now.
What to do with this
The details these documents turn on are the notices of action that come from USCIS, the 13-character receipt number printed on them, and whether the person helping with a case is an attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. What a notice, a missing notice or a receipt number means for one person’s case is a question for a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. The organizations below are a place to start, and every city page on this directory lists more.
Advocasí is not a law firm. We explain what a policy says and help people prepare their own paperwork once a qualified advisor has told them which path applies.