This toolkit provides information and resources for attorneys and accredited representatives who will be mentoring persons aiming to be accredited representatives, as well as resources for those seeking mentorship.

This frequently asked questions document presents general considerations for starting an immigration legal services program and offers a non-exhaustive checklist for those deciding whether this is the right move for their organization.

This manual describes best practices used by many of the country's most experienced nonprofit immigration programs and managers.

This toolkit contains helpful information on how best to use volunteers in your program, how to recruit and retain volunteers, and how to incorporate them into your program’s plan for the passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Trust between newcomers and the receiving community is instrumental to integration work. Nonprofit immigration legal service providers are key partners in effective integration and inclusion work.

Immigrant integration results, in large part, from local partnerships between newcomers and the receiving community. Faith-based organizations are key partners in integration work.

Points on program management on the impending decision from SCOTUS on DACA.

The one-page flyer provides information about the upcoming fee increase and changes to fee waiver for the N-400 naturalization application. This resource is intended to assist you as you counsel naturalization applicants and suggest best time to file their applications with USCIS.

Be advised that this resource is relevant only if the USCIS final fee rule goes into effect on Oct. 2, 2020 as proposed. Currently, this final fee rule is in litigation, and a preliminary injunction temporarily halted the implementation of this fee rule as of Sept. 29, 2020. Please check for new developments here.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released its final rule regarding fee schedule and fee waiver changes, published in the Federal Register on Aug. 3, 2020.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, has created a budget crisis and its employees may soon face furlough, unless Congress provides emergency funding. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen USCIS mishandling budget issues, increasing filing fees, struggling with long processing times and implementing policies that suppress the number of applications that can be filed, resulting in a decline in application fee revenue.

In mid-May 2020, news broke that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would request a $1.2 billion bailout from Congress or else face massive lay-offs and disruption to operations. While the agency’s acting director cited the COVID-19 pandemic as the cause of the funding crisis, immigration experts have long raised alarms that extreme mismanagement would lead to financial instability.

This resource is for you and your team and is intended to help raise awareness of the fee changes. It includes CLINIC’s Top 10 Tips for Practitioners as well as an easy-to-print, one-page chart of the top fee increases.

Sample plans from CLINIC affiliates to continue offering immigration legal services during the COVID-19 pandemic available for download.

The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures to combat the spread of the virus may be here for longer than we first anticipated. As we search for the “new normal” in providing legal services remotely, this resource provides some extra program management tips that may help you.

Practice management tips following the Presidential Proclamation issued on April 22, 2020 suspending entry for certain immigrants applying for immigrant visas

Modern-day public libraries are no longer solely story keepers, they are community and culture centers. They are where people, young and old, go to learn something new and get ordinary things done, which could include a variety of immigration legal services such as applying for naturalization. A library’s decision to become recognized by the Department of Justice to provide these services builds upon the institution’s long legacy as a knowledge provider, while offering hope to a community in great need.

This resource provides recommendations for immigration programs on how to continue providing immigration legal service in the event of office closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This orientation guide provides essential information and resources for recently hired staff members who are new to the field of immigration law and charitable organizations that provide immigration legal services to low-income and vulnerable populations. The guide is intended to assist supervisors of new hires in the on-boarding process and ultimately make new staff more effective advocates for immigrants. CLINIC hopes this guide will help staff members transition into their new roles more seamlessly and efficiently.

This interactive map shows participants of the Mexican screening project.

CLINIC is providing screening tools and recommends you use them for this project. One tool is in English and the other is bilingual in Spanish and English. The tool will assist you in identifying if any benefit is possible and which, thereby making it easier to complete the monthly reporting form in Excel, particularly the drop-down options for different benefits. The tool has check boxes on Page 13 in the English only version and 16 in the English/Spanish to indicate which benefit, if any, are possible thereby making it easier to update the report form.

The administration is expected to rollout a series of announcements terminating Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for up to 10 countries, affecting more than 300,000 individuals. The earliest announcement is expected on Nov. 6 for Hondurans (estimated at 57,000) and Nicaraguans (2,500), followed by a Nov. 23 decision date for Haitians (50,000). For Salvadorans (195,000), an announcement is expected by Jan. 8, 2018, at the latest. More announcements for additional nationalities with smaller populations of TPS holders, but equally of concern to CLINIC, are expected from January to July.

This tool will help immigrant legal service providers and community-based organizations plan to effectively and efficiently respond to DACA termination.

This one-page flyer helps raise awareness of the various fee changes that will impact families seeking to reunite through immigration. The flyer provides helpful examples of family-based residency applications and highlights total costs.

This one-page flyer is intended to raise community awareness of the fee changes. It can be printed and posted in your local parishes, schools, community spaces, etc. It can also be used for social media posting. The flyer recommends individuals contact their legal representative to learn more about how the fees apply to them and includes a link to CLINIC’s affiliate directory.

This one-page flyer raises awareness about the staggering, 95 percent ($580) increase for the N-600 that will go into place. The flyer provides information about what a Certificate of Citizenship is and practical uses, who is eligible and how to apply. Note that this flyer also provides information about alternatives for proving citizenship. When counseling clients, it is important to advise on whether the passport will be accepted as documentation for the intended purpose and if the passport requirements are able to be satisfied (particularly for minors).

An immigration case management database (software or web-based) is essential for all charitable immigration programs to cope with ever-increasing caseloads, particularly if comprehensive immigration reform should pass into law. It is wise to plan, purchase, and use a system that meets your case management needs sooner than later, and especially before immigration reform passes.

Partnerships are a valuable tool for any organization looking to expand or strengthen services in the community. In a well-functioning partnership, all members contribute ideas to the group, coordinate dates and events so that all can participate, and mutually benefit from the partnership. There are several ways to establish a partnership and many tools to use that can help organize and manage the operations. This toolkit includes sample materials for managing a partnership, guidelines for working within a partnership, and tips on what to look for in a potential partner.

Current capacity does not meet current demands for low-cost legal representation in immigration matters. For instance, immigrants eligible and soon-to-be eligible to naturalize as U.S. citizens have less income, education, and English language ability than immigrants who naturalized in previous decades.

When you are thinking of developing or changing your case management system, solicit your immigration staff to get their feedback, or even better is if they participate in the development or revision of that process.    The system works only if it makes sense to those who have to adhere to, carry out, and manage it.  Once you determined your case management system, document it in a policies and procedures manual.   The rationale behind having a case management policies and procedures manual is the same as having an operating and human resources manual in your agency.  You want to document t

CLINIC has identified seven areas which, when developed fully, are strong indicators of a successful, charitable legal immigration program.