Zavala Texas Law
Can any lawyer do immigration?
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Immigration Lawyer
LAWYER
I would encourage checking with the Immigration Court, but I believe that it is like Social Security Court where anyone licensed in an ABA Jurisdiction can practice in their courts just by filing an appearence.
Do check though, since Tax Court I know for example requires that you file some paperwork (super easy but still required first) and it may be like that.
I doubt that it is as complicated as say Patent Court which has its own exam and other barriers.
I have not practiced in it myself but did see it advertised on Docketly awhile back for an Attorney seeking an Appearance Attorney with no reference to any specific additional license required (take that for whatever it is worth).
The following link is to an Avvo discussion on the same topic, it may help. Avvo is answered by lawyers, but lawyers (especially the ones with decades of experience) are OFTEN WRONG (laws change) plus a lot of people comment on it just to get their "rating" up (based in part on number of replies) which is why you see so many nonsense answers and total waste of time stuff like "ask a lawyer". It can be.....painfully stupid......take with grain of salt (if not the full saltshaker) is my point. But link below all the same to it.
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Do check though, since Tax Court I know for example requires that you file some paperwork (super easy but still required first) and it may be like that.
I doubt that it is as complicated as say Patent Court which has its own exam and other barriers.
I have not practiced in it myself but did see it advertised on Docketly awhile back for an Attorney seeking an Appearance Attorney with no reference to any specific additional license required (take that for whatever it is worth).
The following link is to an Avvo discussion on the same topic, it may help. Avvo is answered by lawyers, but lawyers (especially the ones with decades of experience) are OFTEN WRONG (laws change) plus a lot of people comment on it just to get their "rating" up (based in part on number of replies) which is why you see so many nonsense answers and total waste of time stuff like "ask a lawyer". It can be.....painfully stupid......take with grain of salt (if not the full saltshaker) is my point. But link below all the same to it.
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LAWYER
If you want to reach out to them directly (best idea before showing up) their contact information is on the following link as well. Even if allowed, there likely is a specific appearance form to use. For example social security requires a 1696 (even if appearance counsel) for EACH AND EVERY case.
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Michael Chen
Immigration is definitely one of the more dynamic practice areas right now and the demand for competent practitioners is real across the board — not just removal defense.
If you're looking at immigration as a practice area, I'd strongly suggest looking into the business immigration side as well as humanitarian. EB-1A and EB-2 NIW petitions for professionals and researchers are relatively straightforward to learn and the client base (universities, tech companies, research institutions) tends to be stable and well-funded.
The downside of immigration: policy changes can materially affect your caseload and strategy almost overnight. What was a strong case under one administration's policy priorities may become much harder under another's enforcement priorities. You need to be comfortable with a lot of uncertainty and be the kind of practitioner who stays on top of USCIS policy memos and AAO decisions regularly.
Happy to discuss further — what's your background and which area of immigration are you most drawn to?
Rookie
Yes, any licensed lawyer in any state can practice immigration all over the USA