(a) Generally. To be included on the List, any organization, pro bono referral service, or attorney that is eligible under §1003.62 to apply to be included on the List must file an application with the Director. Applications must be received by the Director at least 60 days in advance of the quarterly update in order to be considered. The application must:

(1) Establish by clear and convincing evidence that the applicant qualifies to be on the List pursuant to §1003.61(c);

(2) Specify how the organization, pro bono referral service, or attorney wants its name and contact information to be set forth on the List; and

(3) Identify each immigration court location where the organization, pro bono referral service, or attorney provides, or plans to provide, pro bono legal services.

(b) Organizations. An organization, whether recognized or not under part 1292, must submit with its application a declaration signed by an authorized officer of the organization that states under penalty of perjury:

(1) That it will provide annually at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services to individuals in removal or other proceedings before each immigration court location identified in its application;

(2) That every attorney and accredited representative who will represent clients pro bono before EOIR on behalf of the organization is registered to practice before EOIR under §1292.1(f);

(3) That no attorney or representative who will provide pro bono legal services on behalf of the organization in cases pending before EOIR:

(i) Is under any order suspending, enjoining, restraining, disbarring, or otherwise restricting him or her in the practice of law; or

(ii) Is the subject of an order of disbarment under §1003.101(a)(1) or suspension under §1003.101(a)(2); and

(4) Any specific limitations it has in providing pro bono legal services (e.g., not available to assist detained individuals or those with criminal convictions, or available for asylum cases only).

(c) Pro bono referral services. A pro bono referral service must submit with its application a declaration signed by an authorized officer of the referral service that states under penalty of perjury:

(1) That it will offer its referral services to individuals in removal or other proceedings before each immigration court location identified in its application; and

(2) Any specific limitations it has in providing its pro bono referral services (e.g., not available to assist detained individuals or those with criminal convictions, or available only for asylum cases).

(d) Attorneys. An attorney must submit with his or her application a declaration that states under penalty of perjury:

(1) That he or she will provide annually at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services to individuals in removal or other proceedings before each immigration court location identified in his or her application;

(2) Any specific limitations the attorney has in providing pro bono legal services (e.g., not available to assist detained individuals or those with criminal convictions, or available for asylum cases only);

(3) A description of the good-faith efforts he or she made to provide pro bono legal services through an organization or pro bono referral service described in §1003.62(a), (b), or (c) to individuals appearing before each immigration court location listed in the application;

(4) An explanation that any such organization or referral service is unavailable or that the range of services provided by available organization(s) or referral service(s) is insufficient to address the needs of the community;

(5) His or her EOIR registration number;

(6) That he or she is not under any order suspending, enjoining, restraining, disbarring, or otherwise restricting him or her in the practice of law; and

(7) That he or she is not the subject of an order of disbarment under §1003.101(a)(1) or suspension under §1003.101(a)(2).

(e) Applications approved before November 30, 2015. Providers whose applications to be included on the List were approved before November 30, 2015 must file an application under this section as follows: Organizations and pro bono referral services, within one year of November 30, 2015; attorneys, within six months of November 30, 2015. The names of providers who do not file an application as required by this paragraph shall be removed from the List following expiration of the application time period, the removal of which will be reflected no later than in the next quarterly update.

(f) Notice and comments—

(1) Public notice and comment. The names of the applicants, whether organizations, pro bono referral services, or individuals, meeting the regulatory requirements to be included on the List shall be publicly posted for 15 days after review of the applications by the Director, and upon request a copy of each application shall be made available for public review. Any individual may forward to the Director comments or a recommendation for approval or disapproval of an application within 30 days from the first date the name of the applicant is publicly posted. The commenting party shall include his or her name and address. A comment or recommendation may be sent to the Director electronically, in which case the Director shall transmit the comment or recommendation to the applicant. A comment or recommendation not sent to the Director electronically must include proof of service on the applicant, in accordance with the definition of “service” set forth in §1003.13.

(2) Response. The applicant has 15 days to respond from the date the applicant was served with, or notified by the Director of, the comment. All responses must be filed with the Director and include proof of service of a copy of such response on the commenting party, in accordance with the definition of “service” set forth in §1003.13.

[80 FR 59511, Oct. 1, 2015]