There are exactly two categories of people who may represent you before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or an immigration court, and both can be confirmed in a few minutes from a phone. One is an attorney licensed and in good standing with the bar of at least one state or territory. The other is a representative accredited by the Department of Justice and working for a specific nonprofit organization that DOJ has recognized. Everyone else, however knowledgeable, however many neighbors they have helped, is filling out forms without authority to appear on your behalf.
The state bar lookup, and what it tells you beyond a name
Every state bar publishes a searchable roster of licensed attorneys, free, with no account required. Search by last name, or better, by the bar number printed on the letterhead. What a careful reader checks is not only whether the name appears, but the status line beside it: active, inactive, suspended, resigned, or administratively ineligible. Read the disciplinary history if the profile offers one, and note the admission date. An attorney licensed in Texas may represent you in an immigration matter anywhere in the country, since immigration is federal, but the license itself has to be live somewhere.
Two mismatches are worth pausing over. If the name on the retainer agreement is not the name you found, ask who is actually signing the Form G-28 that enters an appearance in your case. And if the person you have been meeting with is a paralegal or case manager, which is entirely normal in a busy office, confirm that a licensed attorney is reviewing the filing and is the one whose bar number goes on the form. Both questions are ordinary. A functioning office answers them without friction.
The Department of Justice roster, which works differently
Accreditation is not a lesser law license. It is a separate authorization, granted by the Department of Justice through the Executive Office for Immigration Review, that attaches to a person and an organization together. The nonprofit is recognized; the individual is accredited to represent clients through that nonprofit. Move to a different employer and the accreditation does not travel. DOJ publishes the roster of recognized organizations and accredited representatives, and it is public. Look for the organization's name, then the individual's name beneath it, then whether the accreditation is partial or full.
The distinction matters more than most people expect. A partially accredited representative may handle matters before USCIS: green card applications, naturalization, work permits, humanitarian filings. Full accreditation adds the immigration courts, which is where removal proceedings live. If you have a Notice to Appear in hand, a partially accredited representative cannot stand up for you at a hearing, and a good one will say so on the first call and refer you out. Asking which level applies is a fair question, and it costs nothing to ask.
Notaries, tax preparers, and the word notario
A notary public in the United States is commissioned to verify identity and witness signatures. That is the whole job. In much of Latin America a notario publico is a credentialed attorney, and the collision between those two meanings has funded a durable industry. Tax preparers, travel agencies, and multiservice storefronts occupy the same space. None of them may give legal advice, select a form, assess eligibility, or sign a G-28, and the Federal Trade Commission is among the federal agencies responsible for policing deceptive practices in consumer services of this kind.
The practical damage is rarely the fee. It is a filed application built on the wrong theory, an admission written into an affidavit that follows you for years, or a missed deadline that converts a fixable problem into a removal case. Nothing that gets filed can be unfiled. That is why the verification step happens before the payment, not after.
What a recognized nonprofit actually charges
Recognized organizations are permitted to charge nominal fees, and most do, because the alternative is not existing. Expect a modest flat charge for the representation, separate from the government filing fee, which you pay to USCIS regardless. Sliding scales are common. What a legitimate nonprofit will do is give you the number in writing, itemize the filing fee separately, and issue a receipt. What it will not do is quote a fee that tracks what a private firm charges, or ask for cash without paperwork.
Both verifications are free, both take minutes, and both leave you with something you can write down: a bar number and a status, or an organization, a name, and a level of accreditation.