Only two kinds of people may legally take your money and represent you in a permanent residence case, and both can be verified in a few minutes.
Two categories of people may accept a fee, give you advice about a permanent residence application, and appear on your behalf before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services or an immigration court. The first is an attorney licensed by a state bar, the District of Columbia, or a United States territory, and in good standing. The second is a representative accredited by the Department of Justice while working for a specific organization the department has recognized. Everyone else falls outside that circle, whatever the office window says, and the distinction is verifiable in about ten minutes.
What the attorney check actually involves
Ask for the state where the person is admitted and the bar number, then look the number up in that state bar's public member directory rather than accepting a scanned certificate or a framed diploma. You are confirming three things: that the name and number match, that the status reads active or in good standing rather than suspended, resigned, or inactive, and that any public discipline record is visible to you before you sign an agreement. An attorney admitted in any single state may handle a federal immigration case for a client anywhere, so a New York license and a client in Arizona is normal, not a warning sign.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review also publishes a list of practitioners who have been disciplined, expelled, or suspended from practice before the immigration agencies, which is a separate record from state discipline and worth a second search. A lawyer can remain in good standing with a state bar while being barred from immigration practice, and that combination is exactly what a quick, single-source check misses. The whole exercise costs nothing. Do it before money changes hands, not after the retainer clears.
Accredited representatives, and why the organization matters
Accreditation is not a personal credential that travels. The Department of Justice recognizes a nonprofit, religious, charitable, or social service organization, and then accredits named individuals to represent clients through that organization, which is why the roster lists people and employers together. Partial accreditation covers work before USCIS; full accreditation adds the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Check that the person's name appears, that the organization named beside it is the one you are actually walking into, and that the accreditation has not lapsed. Recognized organizations may charge only nominal fees, so a large bill from one is itself a flag.
Notarios, consultants, and the line they cannot cross
In much of Latin America a notario público is a senior licensed attorney with substantial legal authority. In the United States a notary public witnesses signatures and administers oaths, and that is the whole job. The gap between those two meanings is the engine of a long-running fraud problem, and the Federal Trade Commission is among the federal bodies responsible for pursuing deceptive practices aimed at consumers, immigration services included. Several states license or register immigration consultants and document preparers under their own rules, typically with bond requirements, mandatory written contracts, and a plain disclosure that the person is not an attorney.
What such a person may lawfully do is narrow: transcribe answers you supply onto a form, translate, photocopy, and mail. What they may not do is choose which form or category fits your situation, advise you on whether a prior removal order, an overstay, or an arrest creates a problem, draft a waiver argument, or speak for you at an interview. The clearest structural test is Form G-28, the notice of entry of appearance. Only an attorney or an accredited representative can file one, so a fee-charging helper who will not appear on your G-28 is telling you their status without saying it.
Reading the paperwork for the same answer
Immigration forms carry a preparer section for someone who filled in the form but is not your representative, and it asks for a name, a business address, and a signature. A preparer who leaves that blank, or who hands you a completed package to sign with the signature line for the preparer empty, has made a choice you should ask about. Compare it against the retainer or service agreement: a document that promises advice, strategy, or representation while the forms show no attorney of record is describing two different services, and only one of them is lawful.
Keep the receipts, the written agreement, and copies of everything filed under your own name, in your own possession. The verification steps are simple enough that skipping them is a decision rather than an oversight, and doing them turns an act of trust into something closer to a check on a title before you buy the house.