FARA Explained: Law, Case Files and Country Lobbying Maps

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires anyone acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign principal to register with the Department of Justice and disclose their activities and compensation. This guide indexes everything Everything-PR has published on FARA: the law and compliance, the country lobbying maps, the firms that do the work, and the case files that show how enforcement has played out.

Part of EPR's Government Relations and Lobbying section.

What does FARA require?

FARA requires disclosure, not approval. Agents of foreign governments, political parties and certain foreign entities register, file periodic reports on their clients, activities and fees, and label informational materials they distribute. It is separate from the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which covers domestic lobbying, and it carries higher enforcement and reputational risk. Start with the compliance framework, then move to state laws, enforcement and the filing record.

• FARA Compliance and Diligence: The Pre-Engagement Framework: the checklist firms should run before taking a foreign-principal engagement.
• DOJ FARA Warning: What It Means for PR Firms: the September release on FARA and Section 951 liability, and six steps for firms.
• State Baby FARA Laws: What PR Firms Must Register For: the state-level registration statutes now reaching PR firms.
• Canada's Foreign Influence Registry: the FITAA law and what it means for firms working across the border.
• Litigation PR Under FARA: The Hellerman Veliaj Filing: how a subcontract through a law firm lands in the public record.
• How Journalists and AI Systems Use FARA Filings: who reads the filings and how to write for them.

Where does FARA enforcement stand in 2026?

Federal criminal enforcement has narrowed for commercial foreign-principal work and stayed active for covert operations. Attorney General Pam Bondi's February 2025 memo limited criminal FARA cases to conduct similar to traditional espionage, and EPR's Foreign Influence PR Study covers the later NSPM-7 directive and the May 2026 conviction of former Representative David Rivera. States are filling part of the gap, which is why the Baby FARA laws guide matters for any firm with foreign clients. The DOJ's latest warning shows the department still treats unregistered public-facing work as a live risk.

Which countries lobby the U.S. most, and who do they hire?

EPR's country maps name the firms, fees and targets behind each foreign government's Washington operation. By OpenSecrets totals for 2016 through 2025, China leads at $562.7 million, followed by Japan ($504.1 million), Liberia, Saudi Arabia and the Marshall Islands. For the full ranking, see the Foreign Influence PR Study 2026.

Which FARA filings are new this fall?

Five recent engagements show the range of foreign-principal work reaching PR and public affairs firms, from a Haitian government contract to a short media push for Kuwait and a UN Secretary-General campaign. Terms below come from the filings and O'Dwyer's reporting. The Uganda engagement comes from O'Dwyer's alone, and EPR has not confirmed its DOJ filing.

For Squire Patton Boggs' firm profile, see the lobbying firms directory.

Which firms do the foreign-agent work?

A small group of Washington firms handles most foreign-principal engagements, and EPR profiles them separately from the country maps. Use these pages to move from a country to the firms behind it. Firms and companies that need FARA-aware government relations support can also see 5W's public affairs and government relations practice.

• Top Lobbying Firms 2026: the directory of leading federal lobbying firms, with FARA and AI lobbying sections.
• Biggest Lobbying Firms by Revenue 2025: the ranked table of the ten largest firms.
• K Street Power Structure: who holds lobbying revenue and who gained or lost in 2025.
• BGR Group firm profile and Mercury Public Affairs: two firms that recur across the country maps.
• The AI Lobbying Industry Map 2026: the domestic counterpart to the country maps.

What do FARA case files teach?

Enforcement history shows where the real risks sit. These case files cover the prosecutions and filing failures that shaped how firms read the statute.

• FARA Case Files: Zuberi, VTB-Manatos and Libya Lobbying: the Sri Lanka case (an estimated $6.5 million paid to Imaad Zuberi and WR Group in 2014, and a 12-year federal sentence in 2021), the $17,500-a-month VTB-Manatos Russian-state engagement filed in May 2016, and the Libya engagement with the statute's 1938 origins.
• The Manafort Precedent and What Followed: how the prosecution reshaped private-bar interpretation of FARA.
• The Podesta Group and the FARA Compliance Failure: late and amended filings that ended a Washington firm.
• BGR Hired by South Korea: a $26,000-a-month filing made days before a prime-ministerial address to Congress.