Immigration Relief Group, Corp. (Florida): what its vice president admitted about his 2007–2010 cases

Took the money. Skipped court. Abandoned clients.

This is not an accusation. It is an admission. In 2015, attorney Gary P. Royle signed a stipulation with the State Bar of California and admitted misconduct in six immigration cases from 2007–2010: he took advance fees, missed hearings and abandoned clients. That was before Immigration Relief Group existed. Today he is its vice president. We do not recommend trusting this firm with your case. Below are only facts and links to official records.

Check your contract before you pay Already a client? What to do now All sources

What the firm’s vice president admitted

Gary P. Royle is the vice president of Immigration Relief GroupE, and his address of record with the State Bar of California is this firmD. In 2015 he signed a stipulation with the State Bar and admitted culpability in six matters involving immigrant clientsA. These are the hearings he did not attend.

  1. Client E. R. — asylum case, paid $3,500

    The client told Royle that a health problem would keep him from attending. Royle did not attend the hearing either, did not explain the client’s absence to the court, and said that he himself was ill. The court ordered the client removed to El Salvador in absentia. Royle then took another $250 for a motion to reopen the case, never filed it and never returned the money.

    No-show

  2. Client E. S. — asylum and work permit, paid $2,500

    The client came to the hearing alone. Royle told the court he was ill. The hearing was reset for December 4.

    No-show
  3. and

    Clients C. V. and A. V. — cancellation of removal, paid $2,790

    Royle did not file the documents the court required and did not attend either of the two hearings. Both clients were denied cancellation of removal. Royle did not return the money.

    No-show

  4. Royle switches his license to inactive status without telling clients who have hearings scheduled.

  5. Client E. S. — second time

    The client again came to the hearing alone. Royle never completed the asylum case and never filed the work permit application.

    No-show

  6. Client S. C. — asylum, paid $3,600

    Two days before the hearing, the office told the client that Royle had left the country and would not be there. The client had no time to find another lawyer.

    No-show

  7. Client E. H. — asylum, paid $3,000

    From December 2009 she could not reach Royle: his phone was disconnected and the office was closed. He did not attend the hearing.

    No-show

The 2007–2010 events are summarized from Royle’s stipulation with the State Bar of California, case 10-O-1209 and related mattersA. Royle stipulated that these facts are true. Client names are abbreviated.

What the court and the State Bar decided

The Los Angeles Superior Court assumed jurisdiction over Royle’s law practice and directed the State Bar to take possession of all of his clients’ files, records and property.B
The State Bar Court ordered Royle involuntarily enrolled as an inactive member, barring him from practicing law in California.B
– 
Suspended from practice before the immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and DHS. The suspension took effect immediately; the BIA issued its final order on May 19, 2016, and he was reinstated on July 14, 2016.CKL
Royle admitted culpability in six matters. Discipline: six months of actual suspension, a two-year stayed suspension and three years of probation. The State Bar ordered him to pay $18,390 plus interest in restitution to six clients. Two of them had already been reimbursed by the State Bar’s fund for clients harmed by attorneys.A
– 
Suspended from practice in California.D
Today
His California license is active, and he does not appear on EOIR’s current list of suspended practitioners. Address on file with the State Bar: Immigration Relief Group, 99 King St #1071, St Augustine, FL.DL

Who is behind the firm

The firm

Immigration Relief Group, Corp.

For-profit corporation, Florida, No. P23000051034. Filed July 10, 2023; status active; most recent annual report filed April 11, 2026.E

99 King St #1071, St Augustine, FLThe firm’s address in every registry. This address is the USPS Saint Augustine post office.M

  • Natalia Mikhailova

    President and registered agentE

    Not listed in the attorney registries of California, Florida or New York, or in EOIR’s roster of accredited representatives (at the time of checking).QR

  • Gary P. Royle

    Vice presidentE

    Attorney, State Bar of California No. 212199. Admitted misconduct in six cases from 2007–2010 — details above.D

  • Olga Koloditskaya

    Attorney · New York

    Licensed in New York since 2002, registration No. 4013595. The New York attorney registry lists her employer as Immigration Relief Group, at the same address.N

Immigration Relief LLC — an earlier company of Royle and Mikhailova at the same address, formed in 2021. It never filed an annual report, and in September 2022 the State of Florida administratively dissolved it.O

Everything on this board comes from public records. Sources below ↓

Only an attorney or an EOIR-accredited representative may advise you on your case and represent youS. Ask in writing who exactly is handling your case, and check their license yourself — it takes two minutes in the registriesR. The disciplinary records on this page concern Gary P. Royle only; we are not aware of misconduct by anyone else at the firm.

Before you pay, open your contract

Before any payment to a lawyer or law firm, check the request against your contract. You only owe what the contract provides for.

Until you are shown the contract clause and an itemized bill, do not pay.

Communicate with any law firm only in writing and keep all correspondence.

What to check in your contract

Put the contract next to you and go through it point by point

  1. How the fee is calculated

    Find how the fee is calculated in the contract: a flat fee or an hourly rate in dollars. If an amount on a bill does not follow from these terms, ask in writing how it was calculated.

  2. What the fee covers

    Check whether the paid work includes appearing at court hearings. If it does and the lawyer did not show up, that work was not done.

  3. Who can change the terms

    A lawyer cannot unilaterally change the payment terms or add new charges. Any change to the terms requires your written consent.

  4. Itemized bill

    Request it in writing: date, what was done, how much time, at what rate. An attorney licensed in California must provide such a bill at your request, generally within 10 days.F

  5. Refund of unearned fees

    If the work was not done, the attorney must refund the unearned part of the advance fee.G

For matters over $1,000, California law requires a written fee agreement stating how the fee is calculated. Without one, the client may void the agreement, and the attorney is then entitled only to a reasonable fee, not the amount they billed.F A fee dispute with a California attorney can often be taken to State Bar fee arbitration, and before suing a client for fees, the attorney must notify the client of this right in writing. The exception: an attorney who is also licensed in another state, has no office in California and did not do the work there.H

If you are already their client

  1. Check your case today. If your lawyer missed a hearing, the court may have ruled without you. Enter your A-number at acis.eoir.justice.gov or call 1-800-898-7180.

  2. Attend every hearing yourself. Even if your lawyer says you don’t need to come or that the hearing was moved, check the date in the court’s system and go. If you were notified of a hearing and did not attend, the court orders you removed in absentia.P

  3. If you were ordered removed in absentia, count the days. A motion to reopen based on exceptional circumstances, including a lawyer’s error, must be filed within 180 days of the order. You can file only one such motion.J

  4. Don’t let the same firm fix it. A motion based on a lawyer’s error must include a copy of the bar complaint against that lawyer and proof that it was filed, or an explanation of why no complaint was filed. In a July 2026 case where the new attorney worked at the same firm as the attorney being reported, the Board of Immigration Appeals wrote: “The danger of collusion is especially high in such a case.”I Show your documents to an independent lawyer, and check any payment request against your contract.

  5. File complaints. With the bar of the state where the lawyer is licensed: the State Bar of California for Royle, New York’s Attorney Grievance Committees for attorneys licensed in New York. With EOIR for misconduct in immigration court. With the FTC for fraud.

  6. Try to get your money back. If a California attorney took your money and did not do the work, apply to the State Bar’s Client Security Fund (application form, PDF). The fund does not cover mistakes or negligence.

Corrections

Found a mistake? Write to us and we’ll fix it.

Every fact on this page comes from official records, linked in the sources. If you believe something is inaccurate or out of date, send us a link to a document that shows it.

We will check it and correct the page. This applies to the firm itself and to anyone mentioned here.

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We do not give legal advice and we do not handle cases. If you are a client of the firm and need help, start with If you are already their client.