Immigration Law 1

What you will learn

• Identify the main agencies and sources of the immigration system: DHS, USCIS, ICE, CBP, EOIR and the Department of State.
• Distinguish visa, petition, admission, status and permanent residence.
• Recognize the basic temporary and permanent immigration categories.
• Identify the main forms and documents in a case file, and prepare them in simulated exercises.
• Organize the evidence, translations and checklists for a case.
• Recognize possible inadmissibility and removal issues.
• Analyze simulated family, employment and humanitarian cases.
• Track deadlines, notices and requests for evidence.
• Apply confidentiality, truthfulness and professional responsibility.
• Distinguish permitted document preparation from legal advice and representation.

Before you start

No immigration experience or professional license is needed. It helps to read and write Spanish comfortably, to be willing to work with legal terminology in English, to handle email, PDF documents and the basics of the virtual classroom (Moodle), and to know how to organize forms and checklists.

Syllabus

Tap each week to see its topics.

1. Week 1The U.S. immigration system

   The immigration agencies and the types of cases.

2. Week 2Nonimmigrant visas

   Tourism and study, the basic work visas and their documentation.

3. Week 3Family-based immigration

   Categories and requirements; adjustment of status versus consular processing.

4. Week 4Forms and case files

   Forms I-130, I-485, I-765 and I-131; evidence, translations and organizing the file.

5. Week 5Inadmissibility

   How to identify the risks; an introduction to waivers and their documentation.

6. Week 6Asylum and humanitarian protection

   TPS, DACA, U visas and VAWA protections. Midterm assessment.

7. Week 7Removal proceedings

   Immigration detention and bonds.

8. Week 8Filings with USCIS

   Requests for evidence (RFE) and notices of intent to deny (NOID).

9. Week 9Consular processing

   Interviews and preparing the applicant, with a simulation.

10. Week 10Ethics and professional limits

    The unauthorized practice of law and the role of the legal assistant or document preparer.

11. Week 11Case management

    Legal technology, deadline tracking and compliance.

12. Week 12Final project

    Workshop, final presentations and closing.

Materials

• Official USCIS forms and instructions, and the USCIS Policy Manual.
• Excerpts from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
• Official materials from the Department of State, EOIR and CBP (I-94 records).
• USCIS's guide to avoiding immigration scams.
• In the virtual classroom: presentations, checklists, templates, fictitious case files, quizzes and workshops.
• Supplementary readings assigned by the professor.

How you are assessed

The course is graded pass/fail. What counts: attendance and participation, the weekly workshops and activities, a midterm assessment and a final project: an entirely fictitious immigration case file that you prepare and present to the class. At the start of the course you receive the syllabus, with what you need to pass.

When you pass the course, you receive a NAFA certificate of completion.