Choosing an immigration attorney San Antonio residents can rely on starts with a question that sounds pedantic. Is this person even allowed to represent you? Immigration is the one area of American law where the answer is genuinely uncertain from the outside, because two very different kinds of people may lawfully appear, and a third kind advertises anyway.
Federal regulation answers it precisely. Section 1292.1 of Title 8 lists everyone who may represent someone before the immigration agencies, and then closes the door: “Except as set forth in this section, no other person or persons shall represent others in any case.”
Who May Actually Appear
The list is short. Attorneys in good standing who have registered with the Executive Office for Immigration Review come first. Supervised law students and law graduates may appear without payment. So may a “reputable individual” in a single case without compensation, though not anyone who regularly does immigration work or holds themselves out as qualified to.
Accredited representatives are the category most people have never heard of. These are non-attorneys authorized through a recognized organization, usually a nonprofit. Accreditation comes in two grades. A partially accredited representative may practice only before the Department of Homeland Security. A fully accredited representative may also appear before the immigration courts and the Board.
Registration is not optional for attorneys either. Section 1292.1(f) makes registration with the immigration courts a condition of practice before judges and the Board.
The Notario Problem, and What Texas Law Reaches
In much of Latin America, a notario público is a licensed legal professional. In Texas, a notary public is not. That mismatch is the whole fraud.
Two separate Texas statutes address it, and they cover different people. Government Code Section 406.017 makes it an offense for a notary public to imply they are an attorney, to accept compensation to represent someone in an immigration proceeding, or to advertise using the phrase “notario” or “notario publico.” A first offense is a Class A misdemeanor. A second is a third-degree felony. A violation is also a deceptive trade practice.
Note the limit, though. That statute reaches only people who actually hold a notary commission. The broader provision is Business and Commerce Code Section 17.46(b)(28), which makes it a deceptive trade practice for anyone to use a translated title — attorney, immigration consultant, immigration expert, lawyer, licensed, notary — to imply authority to practice law. It names websites, online video, business cards, and letterhead.
Federal law draws the same line differently. Regulation Section 1001.1(k) defines “preparation” as filling in blanks on printed forms with information the applicant supplies, and only where the work involves no professional judgment or legal advice. Anything past that is practice.
What the Record Shows About an Immigration Attorney San Antonio Clients Consider
Texas publishes more than most states. Government Code Section 81.115(b) requires the State Bar’s online profile for every licensed attorney to carry the law school and graduation date, the licensing date, any specialty certification, the primary practice location, and public disciplinary sanctions. Crucially, the profile must link to the full text of the disciplinary judgment, and must also show public sanctions imposed by another state.
Private reprimands and pending grievances do not appear there. So a clean profile means no public discipline, which is not quite the same as no history at all.
An immigration attorney San Antonio residents hire also answers to a second disciplinary system. Section 1003.101 lets the immigration courts disbar permanently, suspend, or censure a practitioner. The grounds at Section 1003.102 run from (a) through (w) and are unusually specific: grossly excessive fees, solicitation through runners, false or misleading claims about qualifications, failure to provide competent representation, failure to act with reasonable diligence, failure to maintain communication with the client, repeated failure to appear, and assisting a non-practitioner in the unauthorized practice of law.
Board Certification, and What an Immigration Attorney San Antonio Firm May Claim
Texas regulates how lawyers describe their own expertise. Disciplinary Rule 7.02(b) forbids advertising that a lawyer has been certified as possessing special competence, with two exceptions. One is a Certificate of Special Competence from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, stated in a prescribed form. The other is membership or certification from an organization the Board has accredited as granting certification only on published criteria.
Immigration and Nationality Law is one of the Board’s twenty-four recognized specialties. The general standards, approved by the Supreme Court of Texas, require at least five years in practice on a full-time basis. An applicant must also have maintained a Texas office and personally conducted business from it an average of three days a week for the three preceding years. Certification requires 60 hours of continuing education in the specialty within three years, a written examination, and confidential references attesting to competence. The term runs five years, and recertification requires 100 hours.
The immigration-specific standards add a practice threshold: a minimum of 25 percent of the applicant’s time in immigration and nationality law during each of the three years before applying. Applicants document matters across administrative hearings, administrative appeals, judicial review, and employer sanctions and bond proceedings.
Board certification is voluntary, and no lawyer must hold it to practice in any field. Plenty of capable immigration lawyers do not.
What AILA Membership Does and Does Not Mean
The American Immigration Lawyers Association describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, voluntary bar association serving more than 18,000 attorneys who practice and teach immigration law. Its published eligibility criteria require a law license, good standing, and no suspension or disbarment in the three preceding years.
Those criteria contain no competence examination and no minimum years in immigration practice. Law students and paralegals hold non-attorney memberships. Membership therefore signals engagement with the field and access to its continuing education. It does not function as a certification, and reading it as one is a common mistake.
Fees, and What an Immigration Attorney San Antonio Agreement Should Say
Texas Disciplinary Rule 1.04(a) prohibits an unconscionable fee, defined as one a competent lawyer could not reasonably believe is reasonable. Subsection (b) lists eight factors, including the time and labor required, the customary local fee, the results obtained, and whether the fee is fixed or contingent.
One detail gets overstated online. Rule 1.04(c) says the basis of the fee should be communicated “preferably in writing” — a preference, not a command. Only contingent fee agreements must be in writing, and contingent fees are prohibited outright in criminal cases.
Still, a written scope of work is the practical protection. It settles which filings the fee covers, what happens if the case moves from an agency to a court, and who pays government fees.
Free and Low-Cost Options That Actually Exist
The immigration courts maintain a List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers. Section 1003.61(b) requires that it be updated at least quarterly and given to people in removal proceedings. Pro bono there means uncompensated, with no direct or indirect remuneration including referral fees.
Appearing on that list is not the same as recognition of an organization under the accreditation rules. The regulation says so directly. Our guide to choosing the right attorney without guessing covers the general method; immigration adds these extra layers on top of it.
The Bottom Line
Immigration is the rare field where the threshold question is authority, not experience. A person can be fluent, well-reviewed, inexpensive, and still legally barred from filing anything on your behalf. The verifiable facts are unusually easy to reach: bar licensure and public discipline on the State Bar profile, board certification in a published specialty, accreditation status for a non-attorney, and a fee agreement that says what it covers. Checking those four takes an afternoon. Undoing a filing made by someone who could not lawfully make it takes far longer.
Frequently asked questions
Registered attorneys in good standing, supervised law students and graduates, certain uncompensated reputable individuals, fully accredited representatives of recognized organizations, and accredited foreign government officials. Section 1292.1(e) excludes everyone else.
For a notary public, yes. Government Code Section 406.017 makes it a Class A misdemeanor, and a third-degree felony on a second offense. A separate provision reaches any non-attorney using a translated title to imply authority to practice law.
No. AILA describes itself as a voluntary bar association, and its published eligibility criteria require only a law license, good standing, and no recent discipline. There is no competence examination.
On the State Bar’s online attorney profile. Government Code Section 81.115(b) requires the profile to show public sanctions with a link to the full disciplinary judgment, plus public sanctions imposed by other states.
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This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, and this site does not recommend or endorse any particular attorney or firm. Licensing status, board certification, and disciplinary records should be verified directly with the State Bar of Texas and the Executive Office for Immigration Review before hiring anyone.
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