One person's write-up of the difference between a licensed attorney, a DOJ accredited representative at a nonprofit, and someone who charges to type forms. Covers what goes into a fee quote, which documents should never leave your hands, and how a case moves once it is filed.
The moment that is hard to reverse is not signing a fee agreement. It is the afternoon you leave your passport, your birth certificate, your children's school records, and your only copy of a prior denial notice in someone else's file cabinet. Getting those back from a person who turns out to have no authority to represent you can take months, and in the meantime a filing deadline moves without you. Three checks, all free, all doable from a phone in a parking lot, sort out who is standing in front of you.
The attorney check, and what the status line actually says
Any lawyer practicing immigration law before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the immigration courts must be licensed and in good standing with the bar of at least one state, and in the Brazos Valley that usually means Texas. The State Bar of Texas keeps a public searchable directory of every licensee, listing the bar card number, admission date, current eligibility status, and any public disciplinary history. Search by name, then confirm the office address matches the one on the business card, because names repeat and a common surname will return several profiles. What matters is the status line: eligible, or not.
A license from another state is not disqualifying, since immigration is federal practice and an attorney admitted in Illinois or California may lawfully appear for you here. But you should then verify with that state's bar rather than assuming, and you should ask, plainly, who will handle a hearing at the Houston immigration court if one is scheduled. Attorneys who do this work routinely answer that question without hesitation. The ones who change the subject are telling you something about how the case will be staffed later.
The two EOIR lists worth reading
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Justice Department component that runs the immigration courts, publishes a list of practitioners who have been suspended or expelled from practice before EOIR and the Department of Homeland Security. That list is separate from state bar discipline, and a lawyer can be in good standing in Texas while barred from immigration practice specifically, which is exactly the gap the list exists to close. Checking both takes a few minutes. Checking only one leaves the more relevant half unchecked.
EOIR also maintains the roster of recognized organizations and accredited representatives, which is how nonprofits lawfully provide immigration representation without a lawyer on staff. An accredited representative is not a lawyer and does not pretend to be one, but the accreditation is real federal authority, granted to a named individual working for a named organization, at either partial or full accreditation depending on whether they can appear in court. Look up the organization, then look up the person, because accreditation attaches to both and expires. A nonprofit whose recognition lapsed is not a cheaper option; it is no option at all.
Why the notario comparison collapses
In much of Latin America a notario público is a credentialed attorney with substantial legal authority, and the word carries that weight when it appears on a storefront in Texas. A Texas notary public is authorized to witness signatures and administer oaths, nothing more, and cannot select a form, advise on eligibility, or sign as your preparer in any capacity that binds anyone. The comparison people make in their heads is between a licensed attorney at a higher fee and an immigration consultant at a lower one. That is not the actual comparison, because only one of the two can appear when a notice to appear arrives.
Consider what happens after a bad filing. A represented applicant has a Form G-28 on file, receives copies of agency correspondence through counsel, and has someone with standing to file a motion when a request for evidence is missed. An unrepresented applicant whose paperwork was quietly prepared by a consultant has no such person, and the consultant's name appears nowhere in the record. The Federal Trade Commission oversees deceptive practices of this kind and treats unauthorized immigration services as a consumer protection matter. The practical remedy, though, is prevention, and prevention is a search box.
What to bring, and what to keep
Bring copies and keep originals, at least until you have verified the credential and signed a written fee agreement that names the person responsible for the case. Ask for the bar number or the accreditation, in writing, and expect it without friction, because legitimate offices give it out constantly. Photograph every document you do hand over, and get a signed receipt listing what was left. Careful readers of these rosters tend to end up with better representation for the same money, mostly because the offices that welcome the question are the offices that have their filings in order.