An outline of who may appear before USCIS and the immigration courts, what a signed representation form commits both sides to, and how fees are built up in nonprofit and private offices.
Federal immigration practice is closed to almost everyone. The regulations that govern who may appear before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the immigration courts name a short list, and anybody outside that list is barred from giving legal advice about your case no matter how many forms they have filled out or how confidently they explain the process. That restriction is not bureaucratic fussiness. It is the reason you can check a stranger's authority in a public database before you hand over money, and the reason a person who cannot be found in one of those databases is telling you something important about themselves.
The three categories the rules recognize
The first is an attorney: someone admitted to the bar of the highest court of a state, territory, or the District of Columbia, in good standing, and not under any order restricting their practice. Immigration law is federal, so an attorney licensed anywhere in the country may handle a case anywhere in the country, which is why a lawyer in Los Angeles can file for a client in Ohio without any special permission. The second is an accredited representative, a non-attorney approved by the Department of Justice to represent clients through a specific nonprofit that has itself been recognized. The third is a law student or law graduate appearing under the direct supervision of a licensed attorney or accredited representative, with the adjudicator's permission and without charging a fee.
The middle category is the one most people have never heard of, and it is worth understanding, because it is the backbone of affordable representation in this country. Recognition attaches to the organization, accreditation attaches to the individual, and both come from the Department of Justice, which oversees the program that authorizes nonprofits and their staff to practice. Accreditation comes in two grades. Partial accreditation covers filings with USCIS. Full accreditation adds appearances in immigration court and before the Board of Immigration Appeals. An accredited representative is not a discount lawyer; within the scope of their accreditation, they are a real representative who can sign a Form G-28 and take responsibility for a case.
How to verify each one before you pay
For an attorney, go to the member directory of the state bar where they say they are licensed, search by name, and read what comes back: admission date, status, and any public discipline. Every state publishes one, free, and a search takes about a minute. If the person cannot tell you which state licensed them, that is your answer. Firms that concentrate in this field usually say so plainly, and a practice that describes itself as an Immigration Lawyer should still be findable in a bar directory under a specific individual's name.
For accredited representatives and recognized organizations, the Executive Office for Immigration Review publishes a roster listing every recognized nonprofit, every accredited representative attached to it, the accreditation level, and the expiration date. Accreditation has to be renewed, so a name that has lapsed will show it. The same office publishes a list of practitioners who have been disciplined, suspended, or expelled from practice, which is the single most useful five minutes of research available to anyone about to sign a fee agreement. For a law student, ask who the supervising attorney is, then verify that person instead.
Everyone else is a typist
A great many people prepare immigration forms for a fee without being in any of the three categories. Some are honest about it. In several states they register as document preparers, charge a modest amount to transcribe answers you supply onto the correct form, and say clearly that they cannot tell you which form to file or what an answer means. That is a real service, priced accordingly, and for a straightforward renewal it may be all you need. The problem arises when the same person starts answering questions, because the moment they say what you should file or how to describe a past arrest, they are practicing law without authority.
The word notario is the recurring danger here. In much of Latin America a notario público is a credentialed attorney; in the United States a notary public witnesses signatures and has no legal training. The confusion has been exploited so consistently that state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission have both pursued it as consumer fraud. A useful test is the G-28 itself: a representative who is authorized signs that form and appears on the record, while a typist never does, which means nobody outside your household is accountable if the filing goes wrong.
What the decision actually costs
Price and category do not line up the way people expect. Private attorneys typically charge a flat fee per case type, quoted in advance, with government filing fees separate. Recognized nonprofits charge on a sliding scale or nothing at all, and their accredited representatives often carry deeper experience in one narrow area, such as asylum or naturalization, than a general practitioner would. The waiting list is the real cost there. An unauthorized preparer is cheapest at the counter and by far the most expensive afterward, because a form filed with a wrong answer becomes evidence, an incorrect eligibility claim can become a finding of misrepresentation, and fixing either usually requires the attorney you were trying not to hire.
The check costs nothing. Two public databases, a name, and a few minutes will tell you whether the person across the desk can sign your G-28, what they are allowed to do once they have, and who hears about it if they do the job badly.