Direct answer by jurisdiction
| Jurisdiction | Safe concise answer | Verify with |
|---|---|---|
| United States | For EOIR matters, validly licensed attorneys and fully accredited representatives acting through their sponsoring EOIR-recognized organization may represent people. Partial accreditation is limited to USCIS. Private notarios and immigration consultants are not substitutes for authorized legal representatives before EOIR. | DOJ/EOIR Accreditation FAQ |
| Canada | A paid representative must be authorized. IRCC lists law-society lawyers and paralegals, Quebec notaries, and CICC consultants in good standing. | IRCC CICC Register |
| Australia | Immigration assistance may be provided by a registered migration agent, legal practitioner, or exempt person. Only RMAs and legal practitioners may lawfully charge for immigration assistance. | Home Affairs OMARA |
| United Kingdom | IAA-regulated advisers provide immigration advice within their authorized level. Solicitors, barristers, and other legal professionals use their own professional regulators. | IAA guidance GOV.UK directories |
| New Zealand | Immigration advice generally must come from a licensed immigration adviser or an exempt person. New Zealand lawyers with current practising certificates are an exempt category; some representation is reserved to lawyers. | NZ IAA Immigration NZ |
Do not universalize the labels
“Advice,” “information,” “assistance,” and “representation” are not interchangeable global terms. Their definitions, exemptions, professional bodies, and forum limits are jurisdiction-specific.
For a shorter label-first answer, read Migration agent vs immigration consultant vs adviser vs lawyer. This research guide remains the source of record for authorization detail.
What the official sources establish
United States
DOJ/EOIR distinguishes validly licensed attorneys and accredited representatives acting through their sponsoring EOIR-recognized organization from private notarios, document preparers, consultants, and travel agents that are not authorized to practise law or represent people in immigration court. Partial accreditation is limited to USCIS; full accreditation extends to EOIR.
Canada
IRCC states that a paid representative must be authorized and lists the relevant legal-professional and CICC categories. The CICC Public Register is the live source for RCIC and RISIA licence information. Using a representative does not mean an application will be approved.
Australia
Home Affairs and OMARA distinguish registered migration agents, legal practitioners, and exempt people. Only RMAs and legal practitioners may charge for immigration assistance; exempt people must not charge. The OMARA register is for checking registered migration agents, and its publication is not marketing consent.
United Kingdom
The Immigration Advice Authority regulates advisers within authorized competence levels. The former OISC name changed to IAA in January 2025. Solicitors, barristers, and other legal professionals follow their own approved professional bodies rather than the IAA adviser path.
New Zealand
New Zealand immigration advice generally must come from a licensed immigration adviser or an exempt person. The official guidance distinguishes public information from tailored advice and notes that advice can be regulated even when it is given offshore.
How to verify a provider without treating a label as proof
- Identify the jurisdiction, forum, and service involved.
- Use the current official register or the relevant professional body, not a marketing directory.
- Check current status, scope, and any conditions shown by that official source.
- Ask a qualified local professional to interpret what the status means for the specific matter.
What this guide cannot decide
This comparison cannot determine individual eligibility, a provider’s competence for a particular matter, current standing without a live lookup, suitability, or likely case outcome. Digital Rocket does not verify or recommend individual providers.
Editorial, legal, and proof boundaries
Required disclaimer
This guide is general, source-linked information, not legal or immigration advice. Authorization can depend on the jurisdiction, forum, service, licence status, professional body, and facts at the time of use. Digital Rocket does not verify or recommend individual providers. Check the live official register and obtain advice from a qualified professional for your situation. Report corrections to the page’s named correction contact.
United States proof boundary: this is an editorial research asset. Any linked commercial evidence would be labelled as a United States immigration-law-firm example. It does not predict an authorization conclusion or marketing result and is not a benchmark or forecast for another country or provider type. This draft contains no performance proof.
Primary source register
Every jurisdictional statement in this draft maps to an official government or regulator source. The same records are available in the machine-readable source ledger.
- US-1DOJ/EOIR — Can Someone Represent You Before EOIR?
- US-2DOJ/EOIR — Recognition and Accreditation FAQ
- CA-1IRCC — Learn about representatives
- CA-2CICC — Public Register
- AU-1Home Affairs — Who can help with your application?
- AU-2Home Affairs — Using a migration agent
- AU-3OMARA — Helpers not registered as migration agents
- AU-4OMARA — Request for agent list
- UK-1IAA — About us
- UK-2IAA — Information for advice seekers
- UK-3GOV.UK — What advisers can do
- UK-4GOV.UK — Search for an immigration adviser
- NZ-1New Zealand IAA — Who can give advice?
- NZ-2New Zealand IAA — Who needs a licence?
- NZ-3Immigration New Zealand — Getting immigration advice
Method, update policy, and review gate
The editorial desk used current official regulator and government pages, recorded the source identifier and supported scope, and avoided state-by-state or individualized conclusions. Editorial policy requires official source-link checks monthly and jurisdictional claim review quarterly and after regulator, statute, or material guidance changes.
Professional review is pending in every jurisdiction
Before indexing, every gate below needs a named reviewer, recorded scope, review date, credential verification, and explicit approval:
- United States: Validly licensed U.S. immigration attorney or EOIR-recognized-organization subject-matter reviewer. Verify through the relevant official state-bar directory or EOIR Recognition and Accreditation record.
- Canada: Active RCIC or Canadian immigration lawyer. Verify through the CICC Public Register or relevant official law-society register.
- Australia: Active RMA or Australian immigration lawyer. Verify through OMARA or the relevant official legal-practitioner register.
- UK adviser: Currently registered IAA adviser. Verify through the IAA Adviser Finder and Register.
- UK legal: UK immigration solicitor or equivalently qualified UK immigration legal professional. Verify through the relevant official professional directory reached from GOV.UK.
- New Zealand: Active New Zealand LIA or New Zealand immigration lawyer. Verify through the official LIA or practising-certificate register.
- Editorial: Named editorial source-map reviewer. Verify against the internal assignment record and governed primary-source ledger.
If one country row is not approved, remove that row from an indexed version or keep the full comparison noindexed. Source owner: Digital Rocket editorial desk. Next review due: August 13, 2026.
Source-change log: July 13, 2026 — initial official-source draft created; no professional sign-off recorded.
Correction owner: Digital Rocket editorial desk. Send a correction.