Comments sought on change to immigrant

representatives rule

A federal proposal seeks to expand the number of non-attorneys who can appear in immigration matters.

By E. JAMES WILDER

Fall 2015

A federal office wants to know what you think about a new proposal to change how non-attorney immigrant representatives are accredited.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review wants to amend its Recognition and Accreditation program in an effort to expand the number of non-attorneys who can handle immigration cases filed with EOIR and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The EOIR said it’s responding to a “critical and ongoing shortage of qualified legal representatives.” Currently, less than 20 percent of the 1,600 representatives are fully accredited to appear before the USCIS, the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. The vast majority are only partially accredited, meaning they can appear solely before USCIS.

The proposed amendment seeks to change that.

For more information on how the change would achieve that goal and how you can comment on the proposal, go to the Federal Register’s website.

E. James Wilder is Assistant Regulation Counsel in the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association’s Spanish Speaking Lawyers Committee and regularly speaks on issues related to the unauthorized practice of law.