Who does what

Immigration attorney

Also called EB-5 attorney, EB-5 lawyer, immigration lawyer.

An immigration attorney is the lawyer who prepares an EB-5 investor's petitions and enters an appearance before USCIS on Form G-28, a role 8 CFR 103.2(a)(3) reserves to an attorney licensed in a US state, an attorney licensed abroad acting in matters outside the United States, or a representative accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

What it decides

Representation is entered on Form G-28, or on Form G-28I where the attorney practices outside the United States, and 8 CFR 292.4(a) requires the petitioner to sign it before USCIS will recognize the appearance. 8 CFR 1.2 defines an attorney as a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state, territory, possession or the District of Columbia who is under no order restricting practice, so a foreign consultant or a migration agent cannot sign as counsel on an I-526E. Two EB-5 specific points follow. 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(I)(v)(III) counts a regional center's and a new commercial enterprise's attorneys among the parties associated with a regional center, so counsel the offering introduces may already act for the project. Then 1153(b)(5)(K)(iv) requires every investor petition to carry an investor-signed disclosure of all fees, ongoing interest and other compensation that the regional center or the new commercial enterprise knows anyone has received or will receive in connection with the investment. A referral payment to the lawyer who signed your G-28 belongs there, so read the disclosure before you sign it.

Governed by 8 CFR 103.2(a)(3), which is the provision that governs who may represent a petitioner on a benefit request; 8 CFR 1.2; 8 CFR 292.4(a); 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(I)(v)(III) and (K)(iv); USCIS form pages for G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative, and G-28I, both last reviewed 4 August 2026. 8 CFR 292.1(a) is the wider representation list and also allows unpaid law students, law graduates, reputable individuals and accredited foreign officials, so it is the wrong section to cite for who may file an EB-5 petition.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into immigration attorney rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Form G-28Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative, is the filing that puts a lawyer or accredited representative on the record in a USCIS matter, and by doing so it decides who USCIS serves with the requests for evidence, the notices and the decision.
Securities attorneyA securities attorney is the lawyer who works on the EB-5 offering rather than the immigration petition, meaning the private placement memorandum, the subscription and operating agreements, and the exemption that lets the interests be sold without registration under section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933.
Direct and third-party promoterA direct or third-party promoter is any person, migration agents and their subagents and employees included, who promotes a regional center, a new commercial enterprise, an affiliated job-creating entity or an issuer of EB-5 securities to immigrant investors, and who must register with USCIS on Form I-956K before doing so.
Regional centerA regional center is an economic unit, public or private, that USCIS has designated to sponsor pooled EB-5 investment within a defined, contiguous and limited geographic area, and it is the only route on which a petition may count indirect and induced jobs.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary