U.S. Department
of Justice
2.3 - Attorneys
(a) Qualifications — Attorneys may represent individuals before the immigration court as the practitioner of record, or provide document assistance, only if they are members in good standing of the bar of the highest court of any state, possession, territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and are not under any order suspending, enjoining, restraining, disbarring, or otherwise restricting them in the practice of law. See 8 C.F.R. §§ 1001.1(f), 1292.1(a)(1). Any attorney appearing before the immigration court who is the subject of discipline in any jurisdiction must promptly notify EOIR’s Office of the General Counsel. See Chapter 10.6 (Duty to Report). In addition, an attorney must be registered with EOIR in order to appear before the immigration court. See 8 C.F.R. § 1292.1(f), and Chapter 2.3(b)(1) (eRegistry), below.
(1) eRegistry — An attorney must register with EOIR through ECAS in order to appear before the immigration court and use ECAS. See 8 C.F.R. § 1292.1(f).
(A) Administrative suspension — If an attorney fails to register, they may be administratively suspended from practice before the immigration court. See 8 C.F.R. § 1292.1(f).
(B) Appearance by unregistered attorney — An immigration judge may, under extraordinary and rare circumstances, permit an unregistered attorney to appear at one hearing if the attorney files a Form EOIR-28, and provides, on the record, the following registration information: name; date of birth; business address(es); business telephone number(s); e-mail address; and bar admission information (including bar number if applicable) for all the jurisdictions in which the attorney is licensed to practice, including those in which they are inactive. See 8 C.F.R. § 1292.1(f). An unregistered attorney who is permitted to appear at one hearing in such circumstances must complete the electronic registration process without delay after that hearing.
(2) Address Obligations — All practitioners have an affirmative duty to keep the immigration court apprised of their current contact information, including address, email address, and telephone number. Changes in an attorney’s address or contact information should be made by updating the registration information in EOIR’s eRegistry to include the new address and contact information. See Chapter 2.1(b)(6) (Address Obligations of Practitioners).
(b) Appearances — Attorneys must complete the proper form to make an appearance before the immigration court. To perform the functions of and become the practitioner of record, an attorney must file a Form EOIR-28. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.17(a); Chapter 2.1(b) (Entering an Appearance as the Practitioner of Record). Attorneys who have not filed a Form EOIR-28 to become the practitioner of record, and who provide assistance to pro se respondents with the drafting, completion, or filling in of blank spaces of a specific motion, brief, form, or other document or set of documents intended to be filed with the immigration court, must disclose such assistance by completing a Form EOIR-61, which must be filed along with the assisted document or set of documents. See 8 C.F.R. 1003.17(b); Chapter 2.2(c) (Limited Appearance for Document Assistance).
(1) Completing Form EOIR-28 and Form EOIR-61 — If information is omitted from the Form EOIR-28 or Form EOIR-61, or they are not properly completed, the attorney’s appearance may not be recognized, and any accompanying filing may be rejected. The following information must be completed by attorneys in completing a Form EOIR-28 or Form EOIR-61.
(A) Attorney information — The Form EOIR-28 and Form EOIR-61 must bear an attorney’s current contact information, including address, email address, and telephone number, and the attorney’s signature in compliance with the requirements of Chapter 3.3(b) (Signatures). When filing a paper Form EOIR-28 or Form EOIR-61, all information required on the form, including the date, should be typed or printed clearly. The EOIR ID number issued by EOIR through the eRegistry process must be provided on the Form EOIR-28 or Form EOIR-61.
(B) Bar information — When an attorney is a member of a state bar which has a state bar number or corresponding court number, the attorney must provide that number on the Form EOIR-28 or Form EOIR-61. If the attorney has been admitted to more than one state bar, each and every state bar to which the attorney has ever been admitted —including states in which the attorney is no longer an active member or has been suspended, expelled, or disbarred — must be listed and the state bar number, if any, provided.
(C) Disciplinary information — An attorney must not check the box regarding attorney bar membership and disciplinary action on the Form EOIR-28 and Form EOIR-61 if the attorney is subject to an order disbarring, suspending, or otherwise restricting the attorney in the practice of law. If the attorney is subject to discipline or otherwise restricted in the practice of law, then the attorney must provide additional information on the back of the form. (Attorneys may attach an explanatory supplement or other documentation to the form.) An attorney who fails to provide disciplinary information will not be recognized by the immigration court and may be subject to disciplinary action.
(c) Practitioner Misconduct — The Executive Office for Immigration Review has the authority to impose disciplinary sanctions upon practitioners who violate rules of professional conduct before the Board of Immigration Appeals, the immigration courts, and the Department of Homeland Security. See Chapter 10 (Discipline of Practitioners). Where a practitioner of record in a case has been suspended from practice before the immigration court and the respondent has not retained new counsel, the immigration court treats the respondent as unrepresented. In such a case, all mailings from the immigration court, including notices of hearing and orders, are mailed directly to the respondent. Any filing from a practitioner who has been suspended from practice before the immigration court is rejected. See Chapter 3.1(d) (Defective Filings).