Foreign Agents Registration Act Attorneys

Overview

Wiley has extensive experience with respect to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq. Under the FARA statute, persons acting as an “agent of a foreign principal” as defined in the statute, must register with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) within 10 days of becoming, or agreeing to become, such an agent unless an exception to registration applies. Enacted in 1938, the purpose of this statute is to ensure that persons acting within the United States as agents of foreign principals engaged in political or quasi-political activities disclose their relationship with the foreign principal, activities, and disbursements and receipts in connection with these activities to the U.S. government.

Wiley’s FARA practice is an established practice that has been in existence for well over twenty years. To help clients successfully navigate FARA, Wiley has authored the FARA Issues Handbook which reviews the rules that govern whether an entity should register with the FARA Registration Unit of the DOJ, the registration process, the obligations of registered agents, and the penalties that may be imposed for FARA violations.

Our attorneys routinely counsel clients on whether registration is required under FARA and, if so, the requirements for registration. We also regularly draft advisory opinion requests on behalf of clients to the National Security Division of the DOJ, which is tasked with administering and enforcing the statute. Wiley has drafted dozens of advisory opinion requests in recent years, most of which have resulted in a positive result for its clients.

Wiley attorneys actively assist clients with completing and executing their FARA filings and ensuring full compliance with the law. We also provide FARA trainings to foreign agents and potential foreign agents on an individual and company-wide basis. Additionally, our attorneys have assisted clients with preparing for and participating in DOJ FARA audits as well as responding to DOJ FARA-related subpoenas.

Our attorneys have handled FARA matters for a variety of clients, including 501(c) entities, public relations firms, law firms, media companies, government affairs practices, public policy consulting firms, tourism agencies, and foreign governments/foreign political parties.