How do you verify an immigration attorney?

Who is allowed to represent you at all

The list is closed. An attorney in good standing with a US state or territory bar, not disbarred. A foreign attorney licensed and practising in their own country - but only on matters outside the US. An accredited representative of an organization recognized by the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review. And a law student or graduate working under the supervision of the first two.

Everyone else - consultants, agencies, 'immigration specialists', notaries - cannot represent you. They may help fill in a form; they may not give legal advice or act as your representative. The difference is not cosmetic: a representative has procedural rights and duties, a form-filling helper has none.

The word 'notary' is a trap of its own. In the US a notary public witnesses signatures and is not a lawyer; in a number of countries a notary is precisely a lawyer with broad powers. A whole category of fraud is built on that difference, and USCIS warns about it on a dedicated page.

The five-minute check

Step one: ask for the current licensing document and the state where the person is admitted. A refusal to provide this is itself an answer.

Step two: confirm the status with that state's authority. Every bar has a public name search showing current status and any restrictions. Search the name on the licence, not the name on the firm's website - they do not always match.

Step three: check the name against the Justice Department's public list of currently disciplined practitioners. The list is open and maintained; the check takes a minute and closes off the worst scenario.

Step four, the one people skip: make sure the filed packet contains a Form G-28 naming the person you actually work with. Sometimes the contract is with a firm while a different lawyer is the representative of record - not a problem in itself, but you should know who USCIS will write to.

And keep a copy of everything filed in your name. The right to see your own file is basic, and a conscientious representative does not find the request odd.

Signs that end the conversation

A guaranteed result. The agency decides, and no representative can promise approval. Promising a specific outcome is not optimism; it is one of the signs USCIS lists on its own fraud page.

Promised acceleration through connections for an extra fee. There is exactly one lawful acceleration - premium processing on Form I-907, paid to USCIS and open to everyone on the same terms. Everything else sells something that does not exist.

Refusing to show you the packet filed in your name, or to name the state that issued the licence. The right to see your own file is basic, and a conscientious representative does not find the request odd.

An offer to put something that did not happen on the forms, or to round a figure up. An inconsistency found by the officer lets them revisit the reliability of all your other evidence - the cost is out of all proportion to the gain.

No G-28 while the person corresponds on your behalf. Without that form they are not your representative to USCIS, and notices go past them - including an RFE with a response deadline.