Immigration Legal Services

We can help with immigration applications.

We offer many services ourselves and can direct you to resources for others.

We work closely with the MIRA Coalition and other service providers. Please see below for helpful hints on Know Your Rights, Family Preparedness and other key resources.

We offer direct assistance with:

  • Family Immigration –
    For Family of US Citizens or People with a Green Card, Inside and Outside the United States
  • Green Card Applications –
    For Renewal, Asylum Granted for 1 year, Refugees, and Other Qualifying Applicants
  • Humanitarian Applications – TPS, VAWA, DACA Renewals.
    • TPS (Temporary Protected Status) is currently available to people from: Burma  (Myanmar), El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.
  • Employment Authorization – For Qualifying Statuses
  • Travel Documents – For Statuses Requiring Special Permission to Re-Enter the United States
  • Fee Waivers– For Government Application Fees
  • USCIS Change of Address
  • other services determined by intake review

Process for Immigration Support

1.

Call or email Center for New Americans (CNA).

2.

Get scheduled for an intake.

3.

Immigration attorney reviews the intake.

4.

We contact you to schedule a consultation phone call with the attorney.

5.

The attorney answers your questions during the consultation and lets you know if CNA can help you with services.

6.

If we can help, a paralegal will contact you to start your case.

If you need services we cannot provide, we help connect you to a provider.

Massachusetts-based Immigration Resources

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition promotes the rights of immigrants and refugees. Here is a link to their Know Your Rights Materials.

American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) assists individuals in finding specific immigration lawyers in your area that speak your language

Central West Justice Center, (800) 649-3718, partners with Community Legal Aid to provide free legal help to low-income and elderly residents of central and western Massachusetts. Central West Justice Center advocates focus on cases involving humanitarian-based immigration law, employment rights, housing and homelessness issues, and access to public benefits

Community Legal Aid, (855) 252-5342, provides free civil legal services to low-income and elderly residents of Central and Western Massachusetts

Immigrant Family Services Institute, (617) 322-1348, provides legal aid, housing, education, children’s programs, health insurance, and more to immigrants and their children

Lawyers for Civil Rights, (617) 482-1145, offers immigrants access to legal advice and allows community members to report raids. immigrant defense hotline: (617) 988-0606 

New England Justice for Our Neighbors, (855) 635-8781, provides expert legal aid to Massachusetts immigrants seeking humanitarian-based visas. Their clients include unaccompanied minors, asylum applicants, and victims of violence. Advice and advocacy legal clinics in Western MA can be reached at: (413) 386-9951

Pioneer Valley Workers Center, (413) 570-3060, assists individuals in applying for a driver’s license

The Amherst and Northampton Police Departments will not share information with ICE. Please see their statements:

List of Referrals in Massachusetts

ACLU of Massachusetts has up-to-date information on issues important to immigrants and refugees. Below are videos on Knowing Your Rights:

We Have Rights: When ICE is Outside Your Door: English | Spanish | Arabic | Haitian Creole | Russian | Mandarin | French

We Have Rights: Inside Our Homes: English | Spanish | Arabic | Haitian Creole | Russian | Mandarin | French

We Have Rights: In Our Communities, In Our Streets: English | Spanish | Arabic | Haitian Creole | Russian | Mandarin | French

We Have Rights: If ICE Arrests Us : English | Spanish | Arabic | Haitian Creole | Russian | Mandarin | French

413 Staying Connected is a local advocacy group

Free Immigration Clinic in Cambridge 

Family Preparedness

Immigrant Family Services Institute Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Geralde V. Gabeau, speaks here on how to keep your family safe during the current political climate and reiterates the importance of knowing your rights.

National Immigration Resources

​The Immigration Advocates Network maintains a national directory of more than 950 free or low-cost nonprofit immigration legal services providers in all 50 states (Center for New Americans has a partial list of immigration professionals in our area.)

Informed Immigrant is a continuously updated resource site for immigrants and allies across the United States

Be aware of scams by service providers. Use competent immigration help, such as mentioned above.

People should know their rights when in contact with an immigration agency.