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, 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 statute-level explainer, then move to compliance and risk.
What FARA Actually Requires in 2026: the statute and who must register.
FARA Compliance and Diligence: The Pre-Engagement Framework: the checklist firms should run before taking a foreign-principal engagement.
FARA and the Disclosure-Reputation Collapse: why a filing is now a permanent reputation document.
State Baby FARA Laws: What PR Firms Must Register For: the state-level registration statutes now reaching PR firms.
How Journalists and AI Systems Use FARA Filings: who reads the filings and how to write for them.
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. For a ranking of countries by spending, see the Foreign Influence PR Study 2026.
Country
EPR coverage
What it covers
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia Lobbying Industry Map
Firms, fees, PIF and LIV Golf lobbying, disclosure gaps
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's U.S. Influence Machine, 2015 to 2026
History from the 2015 Yemen-war PR wave to today
Qatar
Qatar Lobbying Industry Map
88 FARA firms and nearly $250M since 2016
China
China Lobbying Industry Map
$418M+ to FARA-registered firms since 2016
China
Tencent's Washington Buildout
The company-level lobbying surge
UAE
The UAE's $65M Washington Machine
The named firms and the money
Egypt
Egypt's Washington PR Firms Are Paid by the UAE
Who pays for Egypt's representation
Israel
Israel Books Two U.S. Firms in One Week
Ministry-level FARA engagements
Venezuela
Venezuela's New White House Lobbyist
A solo lawyer retained on a verbal agreement
Ukraine
Ukraine's Washington Strategy
Lobbyists, advisers and the diaspora layer
Middle East
Why Sovereigns Spend Billions on U.S. PR
Why Gulf governments buy U.S. PR and lobbying
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.
The Manafort Precedent and What Followed: how the prosecution reshaped private-bar interpretation of FARA.
The Sri Lanka FARA Case: an estimated $6.5 million paid to Imaad Zuberi and WR Group in 2014, and a 12-year federal sentence in 2021.
The Podesta Group and the FARA Compliance Failure: late and amended filings that ended a Washington firm.
VTB-Manatos at 10: a $17,500-a-month Russian-state engagement filed in May 2016 and its aftermath.
BGR Hired by South Korea: a $26,000-a-month filing made days before a prime-ministerial address to Congress.
Libya, Lobbying and FARA: the Ben Barnes Group engagement and the statute's 1938 origins.
Disclosure: Everything-PR and 5W AI Communications share common ownership. Everything-PR reports independently on the communications industry. Editorial decisions are made by Everything-PR's editorial team.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a U.S. disclosure law. It requires agents of foreign principals engaged in political or quasi-political activity to register with the Department of Justice and file public reports on their work and pay.
How is FARA different from lobbying disclosure?
The Lobbying Disclosure Act governs domestic lobbying, with quarterly reports to Congress. FARA governs work for foreign governments, parties and certain foreign entities, is administered by the Department of Justice, and carries stricter labeling rules and higher enforcement risk.
Do PR firms have to register under FARA?
They can. Communications and PR work done at the direction of a foreign principal may trigger registration, and a growing number of states have passed their own foreign-agent registration laws. See the Baby FARA laws guide.
How much do foreign countries spend on U.S. lobbying?
It varies widely by country and year. The Foreign Influence PR Study 2026 ranks countries by 2024 spending, and the country maps above give firm-level detail. Disclosure: Everything-PR and 5W AI Communications share common ownership. Everything-PR reports independently on the communications industry. Editorial decisions are made by Everything-PR's editorial team.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
