(a) Authority. The Director in his discretion shall have the authority to approve or deny an application to be included on the List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers. The Director may request additional information from the applicant to determine whether the applicant qualifies to be included on the List.

(b) Decision. The applicant shall be notified of the decision in writing. The written notice shall be served in accordance with the definition of “service” set forth in §1003.13, at the address provided on the application unless the applicant subsequently provides a change of address pursuant to §1003.66, or shall be transmitted to the applicant electronically.

(1) Denials. If the application is denied, the applicant shall be given a written explanation of the grounds for such denial, and the decision shall be final. Such denial shall be without prejudice to file another application at any time after the next quarterly publication of the List.

(2) Approval and continuing qualification. If the application is approved, the applicant's name will be included on the List at the next quarterly update. Every three years from the date of approval, a provider must file with the Director a declaration, under penalty of perjury, stating that the provider remains qualified to be included on the List under §1003.62(a), (b), (c), or (d). For organizations and attorneys, the declaration must include alien registration numbers of clients in whose cases the provider rendered pro bono legal services under §1003.62(a)(1), (b)(1), or (d)(2), representing at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services each year since the provider's most recent such declaration, or since the provider was included on the List, whichever was more recent. Organizations must provide, for each case listed, the name of the organization's attorneys or representatives who provided representation or other pro bono legal services, or the name of the attorney, representative, or organization the case was referred to for pro bono legal services. If a provider fails to timely file the declaration or declares that it is no longer qualified to be included on the List, the provider's name will be removed from the List at the next quarterly update. Failure to file a declaration within the applicable time period does not prohibit the filing of a new application to be included on the List.

[80 FR 59512, Oct. 1, 2015]