2.3 - Attorneys

(a) Qualifications — Attorneys may represent individuals before the Board as the practitioner of record, or provide document assistance, only if they are a member 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 of any court 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 Board who is the subject of discipline in any jurisdiction must promptly notify EOIR’s Office of the General Counsel.  See Chapter 11.6 (Duty to Report).

(1) eRegistry — Attorneys must electronically register with EOIR eRegistry through ECAS in order to appear before the Board and use ECAS.  See 8 C.F.R. § 1292.1(f).  An attorney who fails to provide required registration information risks being administratively suspended from practice before EOIR.  Once EOIR has activated the registered account, the attorney will be assigned a unique EOIR ID number.

(2) Address Obligations — All practitioners have an affirmative duty to keep the Board 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 Board.  To perform the functions of and become the practitioner of record, the attorney must file a Notice of Appearance (Form EOIR-27) for each represented respondent.  See 8 C.F.R. §§ 1003.2(g)(1), 1003.3(a)(3), 1003.38(g)(1); Chapter 2.1(b) (Entering an Appearance as the Practitioner of Record).  Attorneys who have not filed a Form EOIR-27 to become the practitioner of record in a proceeding before the Board, and who provide document assistance to unrepresented or pro se respondents with the drafting, competition, or filling in the blank space of a specific appeal, motion, brief, form, or other document or set of documents intended to be filed with the Board, must disclose such assistance by completing a Notice of Limited appearance (Form EOIR-60), which must be filed along with the assisted document or set of documents.  See 8 C.F.R. §§ 1003.2(g)(1), 1003.3(a)(3), 1003.38(g)(2); Chapter 2.1(c) (Limited Appearance for Document Assistance).  

          (1) Completing Form EOIR‑27 and Form EOIR-60 — If information is omitted from the Notice of Appearance (Form EOIR-27) or Notice of Limited Appearance (Form EOIR-60), or they are not properly completed, the attorney’s appearance may not be recognized, and the filing may be rejected.  The following information must be completed by attorneys in completing a Form EOIR-27 or Form EOIR-60. 

(A) Attorney information — The Notice of Appearance (Form EOIR-27) and Notice of Limited Appearance (Form EOIR-60) 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).  The EOIR ID number issued by EOIR through the eRegistry process must be provided on the Form EOIR-27 or Form EOIR-60.

(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 Notice of Appearance (Form EOIR-27) or Notice of Limited Appearance (Form EOIR-60).  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 or disbarred – must be listed and the state bar number, if any, provided.

(C) Discipline information — An attorney must not check the box regarding attorney bar membership and disciplinary action on the Notice of Appearance (Form EOIR-27) and Notice of Limited Appearance (Form EOIR-60) 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 form and may include an explanatory supplement.  An attorney who fails to provide disciplinary information risks not being recognized by the Board and may be subject to disciplinary action by EOIR.

(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, the immigration courts, and DHS.  See Chapter 11 (Discipline).  Where a practitioner in a case has been suspended or disbarred from practice before the Board and the respondent has not retained new counsel, the Board will treat the respondent as pro se.  All mailings from the Board, including briefing schedules and orders, will be mailed directly to the respondent.  Any filing from a practitioner who has been suspended or disbarred from practice before the Board will be rejected.