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Orientation · 9 min of reading and practice
Attorney, accredited representative, preparer and notario. Only two of them represent, and accreditation is never given to a person standing alone.
A neighbor tells you that his cousin "is a notaria and sorted out the papers for half the family". Without looking anything up yet: what would have to be true for that cousin to be able to speak and sign for someone before the government? Write it down in your own words.
By the end you will be able to
In the previous lesson you saw the third edge of 8 CFR 1.2: not holding yourself out as qualified. Today's four labels are the four ways that edge gets crossed.
There are four labels going around and only two of them authorize representation. To represent is to speak, sign or appear for another person before the government. It is not a tone or a matter of trust: it is a permission, and it is proved with a piece of paper.
The four of them, in order of what they can do. The attorney licensed in the United States represents. The representative accredited by the Department of Justice represents, with limits. The preparer fills in blank spaces and does not represent. And the notary public has functions of its own that 8 CFR 1.2 itself leaves outside its definition: it is not an immigration credential.
To speak, sign or appear for another person before the government. It is what 8 CFR 292.1 reserves to six categories and to nobody else.
What this lesson does NOT qualify you to do
A person accredited by the Department of Justice. Accreditation is given to someone who is employed by or a volunteer of a recognized organization; never to someone standing alone.
It is the G-28. Its own title names the two figures that can enter the case, and half the answer is already there.
A flyer says: "Certified immigration consultant. We handle your work permit. We go with you to your appointment". We are going to check it in five steps, without calling anyone.
What everyone repeats
With a course I can get accredited on my own before the Department of Justice.
The source says the opposite
Accreditation is not given to a person standing alone and it is not given by a school. 8 CFR 1292.12(a) requires the person to be "employed by or … a volunteer of" a recognized organization. And 8 CFR 1292.11(a) requires that organization to be non-profit, federally tax-exempt, and to serve mainly low-income clients. It is a real and open route, but it is an organization's route, not that of a business of your own.
That same rule explains the other difference you are going to hear. Partial accreditation allows you to act only before DHS. Full accreditation also allows you to act before the immigration courts. It does not change what the person knows: it changes where they can appear.
Careful
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