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Immigration Project
Get HelpSince our founding in 1975, API Legal Outreach has been committed to the needs of the Bay Area’s immigrant communities. We provide a wide variety of immigration services, as well as educational workshops covering updates to public charge, fee waivers, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). If you are in need of immigration assistance, please see our services below.
On January 27, 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump Administration’s expansion of the definition of Public Charge could be enforced. Our partner, the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo, has made a private and safe guide to assist you in figuring out if and how you may be impacted. To use the guide, click the buttons below.
For additional immigration assistance, please contact one of our offices.
Collaboration
API Legal Outreach works with community partners through a number of local collaboratives in order to best serve the Bay Area’s diverse immigrant populations.
Naturalization
API Legal Outreach helps individuals with citizenship issues, from filing fee waivers to more complex cases. We hold free naturalization workshops and also take one on one citizenship cases for free.
Immigration
Through the asylum system, VAWA, DACA, and the TVPA, there are a number of potential remedies for asylum seekers, youth, and survivors of crime.
“On the day of my oath ceremony to become a U.S. citizen, I remember being so happy that I cried.”
“Even though I was born in Vietnam, I feel that my life is in America. I want to live the rest of my days here with my children.”
– Client
Our Collaborative Approach to Immigration
With recent increases in anti-immigrant rhetoric API Legal Outreach has recognized a need for collaboration among service providers in order to effectively reach our immigrant communities. API Legal Outreach is an active member of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN), San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC), and the Collaborative Resources for Immigration Services on the Peninsula (CRISP). API Legal Outreach also works closely with the Asian American Bar Association (AABA) and Alameda County Health Consortium to host and staff regular immigration clinics.
“Now, I can breathe. I am excited to work and help my mom.”
“Even with a college degree, I have never been able to work at a real full time job because I had no work permit.”
– Client
Naturalization
With approximately 190,000 people who are eligible to naturalize in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties, API Legal Outreach continues to offer free legal services and educational outreach to encourage community members who are eligible to apply for citizenship to come forward.
We offer free consultation, fee waiver assistance, and form filling in both office locations. We hold naturalization clinic in the evening, every other month, with Asian American Bar Association (AABA). In addition, we work with our community partner, Monument Crisis Center, to hold an immigration clinic once a month in their Concord location.
In partnership with agencies such as Self Help for the Elderly and Asian Health Services, API Legal Outreach attorneys work on dozens of naturalization cases that involve the disability waiver, which allows people with disabilities obtain US citizenship without taking the English or civics exam. API Legal Outreach is part of San Francisco Pathways to Citizenship Initiative (SFPCI), a collaborative to organize group assistance workshops offering free, multilingual assistance for anyone interested and eligible to apply for citizenship.
“I can’t believe it is over and I have a green card.”
“This was the last thing he could control in my life. My children and I can move on. Thank you for helping us for all this time.”
– Client
Immigration
Our immigration project seeks to assist those seeking asylum, as well as survivors of human trafficking and other crimes. We assist immigrants in navigating the legal system by providing consultation, representation, and referrals for the following legal areas:
- Adjustment of Status
- Asylum
- DACA Renewal
- Naturalization
- Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
- T Visas and U Visas
- VAWA Self Petitions
- Removal Defense
Founded in 1975, the mission of API Legal Outreach is to provide culturally competent and linguistically appropriate legal representation, social services, and advocacy for the most marginalized segments of the community including low-income women, seniors, recent immigrants, and youth.
If you want to learn more about your Youth Advisory Council, please visit
www.thatsnotlove.org
