Credentials for everyone

USCIS forms have signature blocks that demand specific facts about the preparer — bar number, jurisdiction, address, phone. Today we make sure every member of your firm has those captured once, so they flow into every filing automatically.

My Credentials

Open My Credentials from the nav menu. Each member has their own record; the page only shows the signed-in user’s credentials.

Fields to fill in (depending on role):

• Full legal name — exactly as it appears on your bar license
• Bar number + jurisdiction — for attorneys; paralegals can leave these blank
• USCIS rep type — attorney, accredited representative, law student, or none
• Direct phone + direct email — how USCIS reaches the preparer
• Mailing address — your office address, prefilled from the firm’s Organization defaults but editable per person
• Signature — drawn on a canvas pad, used on G-28 and other forms that need a wet-style attorney signature

Why every member, not just attorneys

Paralegal credentials fill the “preparer” block on every form a paralegal touches. USCIS distinguishes attorney-of-record from preparer; both need contact information filled in.

How credentials flow into forms

Once a member’s credentials are saved, Fola pulls them into the matching signature and preparer blocks every time that person generates a form — no retyping a bar number on each filing.

When a paralegal runs a form that requires attorney credentials (a G-28, a mandamus complaint), Fola prompts them to pick which attorney at the firm should be named, then pulls that attorney’s credentials into the signature block.

When credentials are missing

If someone tries to generate a form that needs a credential they haven’t filled in — say, a G-28 with no bar number — the form generation stops and tells them exactly which field is missing. The fix is to complete the credentials record and retry. This is deliberate: an unsigned G-28 with a blank bar number is worse than none at all, because USCIS will reject the whole filing.

Filling credentials for someone else

If a member can’t get to their own page (on leave, hasn’t signed in yet), an admin can capture credentials on their behalf under Administrative. The member can still edit later — an admin’s entry doesn’t lock the record.

Do this once, up front

Getting every attorney’s bar number and signature in on day one saves a scramble later, when a filing is ready to go and one blank field is all that stands between you and a clean submission.

What’s next

Every member now has credentials wired into their filings. That completes the getting-started guide — your firm is set up to run real cases. From here, explore the rest of the workspace at your own pace, or revisit any page in this guide as your team grows.