The White House is defending its new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, as she faces scrutiny over her legal credentials.

President Donald Trump described Zacharia as an attorney when announcing her appointment last week. She has referred to herself as a lawyer.

But when she was asked on Tuesday by a reporter in which state she had passed the bar exam required to be an attorney in the US, she said standing alongside the president: “When I moved to China.”

She does not appear to be registered to the bar in any state where she has lived. White House communications director Steven Cheung said Zacharia is “uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people”.

Responding to questions about her credentials, Zacharia said in a statement this week: “I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials.”

On Wednesday, a watchdog group, Campaign for Accountability, filed a complaint with the California State Bar Association.

It is seeking an investigation into whether Zacharia “repeatedly held herself out to the public as entitled to practise law without a licence to do so, conduct California law treats as a crime”.

The 42-year-old political strategist graduated from law school at Pepperdine University in California in 2011, the university confirmed.

A law degree is not a licence to practise law in the US.

The new White House press secretary told the New York Times on Wednesday that when she first began appearing on cable news, she had asked Pepperdine how she should identify herself.

She said she was advised by the university president that she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney.

The new press secretary also told the paper that when she answered China to a question about her bar exam, it was a misunderstanding. She had mistakenly thought, above the din of Marine One, the reporter had asked: “Where were you after law school?”

Zacharia took the bar exam in California after graduating from law school but did not pass, according to the Wall Street Journal. California’s bar exam is widely regarded as one of the hardest in the US to pass.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter told the outlet that Zacharia took the exam around the same time that she was planning a wedding and preparing to move to China with her husband-to-be.

She moved to Beijing because of her husband’s job at an American private equity firm. Zacharia has said she worked on “international transaction law” there.

Her LinkedIn profile states that she worked as an associate at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from 2011-13.

In China, only Chinese citizens are eligible to obtain a licence to practise law. Foreign employees may work at law firms in other roles.

In February last year, Zacharia said on conservative radio programme The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show that she had worked as outside counsel for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank during her time in China.

The BBC has contacted the World Bank and IFC for comment, as well as Zhong Lun Law Firm.

It is understood the World Bank Group sometimes retains outside law firms, and that those firms decide which of their lawyers are assigned to which parts of any work.

Zacharia has also served as general counsel for Fix California, a conservative non-profit started by Trump ally Ric Grenell, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.