Immigration Consultant: explained

How this works

1. Ask the question in one sentence. Are you an attorney in good standing, or a representative accredited to a Department of Justice recognised organisation? There is no third answer that permits giving immigration legal advice for a fee, and anybody who is one of the two will answer it plainly and without being offended.
2. Check the organisation on the register. If the answer is accreditation, the organisation must be recognised, and the register on this site is that roster reproduced as the Department of Justice published it, with the office and the date recognition expires. An organisation nobody can find on the roster is the answer to your question.
3. Check an attorney with the state bar. If the answer is a licence, it is a state bar licence and every state bar publishes a searchable list of who holds one and whether it is in good standing. An attorney disciplined or suspended may not represent you before the immigration agencies either, and the agencies publish their own list of those.
4. Be careful with the word notario. In much of Latin America a notario publico is a trained lawyer; in the United States a notary public is a person authorised to witness a signature and nothing more. The overlap of the two words is the oldest immigration scam there is, and it costs people their filings and sometimes their status.

What the register does and does not tell you

This page is a description of who is authorised, not advice about your case, and this site is neither an attorney nor a recognised organisation. Preparing a form for a fee without authorisation is the unauthorised practice of immigration law, and USCIS publishes its own guidance on how those schemes are usually sold.

Common questions

Can an immigration consultant legally help me?

They can help with things that are not legal advice, such as translating a document or typing what you dictate. They may not select the form for you, advise on your eligibility or represent you, unless they are an attorney or an accredited representative. The register on this site is where the second of those is checkable.

What is a DOJ accredited representative?

A person the Department of Justice has approved to give immigration legal advice through a recognised organisation, under 8 CFR 1292.11 to 1292.20. Accreditation is partial or full; full accreditation adds the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

How do I check that an organisation is recognised?

Look it up here, or in EOIR's own roster, which is linked at the foot of every page on this site and is what these pages are made of. Every entry carries the date recognition was granted and the date it expires; an expired or missing entry is a reason to stop.

What should I do if somebody has already taken my money?

EOIR's Recognition and Accreditation Program takes complaints about recognised organisations and their representatives, and USCIS publishes where to report an unauthorised preparer. Both are linked below. This site cannot act on a complaint and does not collect them.

Recognised organisations by state