U.S. Department of Justice Seeks Comments on Updated Immigration Forms for Limited Legal Help
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The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) at the U.S. Department of Justice has announced updates to two important forms. These forms let lawyers or representatives tell immigration courts or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that they are helping someone just with paperwork, not full legal representation. The forms are called EOIR-60 and EOIR-61.
The new changes update how forms can be submitted. Now, attorneys and representatives can file EOIR-60 and EOIR-61 online using the EOIR Courts and Appeals System (ECAS) Respondent Access Portal. The rules for filing by mail are changed, and people are told to look at the EOIR Policy Manual for guidance. There is a new section in the forms that lets users say if they gave documents electronically using ECAS.
The updates also fix some legal citations in the Privacy Act notice. The forms now say that case information can be found online, in English or Spanish, through the EOIR Automated Case Information System.
A new sentence was added to EOIR-60. It tells people that this limited help is not allowed in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cases that are handled by the Board of Immigration Appeals.
These forms are needed for lawyers or representatives who want to help someone with a document or filing, but not appear for the whole case. According to the notice, filling out these forms is required if a person wants to enter a limited appearance in these immigration matters.
The Department of Justice says that around 40 people are expected to submit Form EOIR-60 to the BIA each year. Around 22,018 are expected to submit Form EOIR-61 to the immigration courts every year. Each form takes about 6 minutes to fill out. Together, this is about 2,206 total hours of work each year. There are no fees to file, and the forms can be completed electronically.
The estimated cost, based on attorney wages, for all these forms each year is about $160,310.02.
Comments about these changes are being accepted until September 8, 2025. People who want to give feedback should go to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain and find this collection under “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments.” The OMB Control Number is 1125-0021.
For more information, contact Justine Fuga, Associate General Counsel, EOIR, or Darwin Arceo, Department Clearance Officer.
The Department is seeking public comments on whether these forms are needed, their usefulness, the accuracy of the agency’s burden estimates, if the information is clear, and ways to make the process easier through technology.
This notice was published on August 7, 2025, in the Federal Register.
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