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Immigration Clinic

Represent clients while building expertise in immigration law and sharpening your advocacy skills.

Law school text books

Our Immigration Law Program

Willamette School of Law is the only law school in Oregon with an immigration clinic. Because of our hands-on learning opportunities, we’ve earned a reputation for being one of the best schools for immigration law in the Pacific Northwest.

Our Immigration Clinic empowers students to represent clients who are confronting serious immigration challenges. Our students gain hands-on experience with customary international law or treaty law and immigration (in particular, immigration matters associated with asylum claims).

Most Clinic students represent clients seeking asylum for persecution suffered abroad, individuals who have survived domestic violence, or people who have been victims of trafficking. The work includes conducting several interviews with the client, assisting the client with filing an application, preparing an in-depth brief, completing research and analysis, and representing the client at their administrative hearing or before the Immigration Court.

The Immigration Clinic strives to ensure each student will have opportunities to interview and represent clients, engage in factual and legal research in international law, engage in in-depth legal analysis and writing, and learn to work collaboratively in a team setting. Students are also coached to be "reflective" in their choices and in their practice, a habit all successful lawyers engage in throughout their careers.

Immigrant Justice Scholars Program

The Immigrant Justice Scholars program offers partial tuition scholarships to students committed to immigration law and public interest work. Completing the immigration law program creates a path to a paid post-graduate attorney fellowship in Portland, with the option to obtain Oregon licensure through the Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination without taking the bar exam.

If you have an interest in this program, when you apply to Willamette, please include a brief explanation of your interest in immigration law in your personal statement. Proficiency in written and oral Spanish is required, or the ability to achieve proficiency by law school graduation. Finalists may be interviewed remotely by the program director.

A text book with two sets of hands nearby holding markers

Additional Information

Immigration law encompasses the rules and policies about who can enter, stay, and become a citizen of a country. It determines how people from other countries can visit, work, live, or seek protection in a new country.

Immigration laws are complex and constantly changing. Because of the complex nature of these laws, many people seek legal assistance from immigration lawyers with the right legal education.

An immigration lawyer helps clients achieve their goals to live and work in the United States. Sometimes, these clients will need their lawyers to make arguments for them in administrative agencies and in the courts.  Immigration lawyers must stay current in their knowledge of immigration-related policies and legal requirements, which constantly change.

Immigration law practice can extend to other aspects of law. Many immigration attorneys also work in family law, criminal law, business, and tax law. American immigration lawyers work in a variety of settings such as law firms, government agencies, and even non-profit organizations.

Lawyers may represent clients in court, counsel clients about their immigration status, or work with companies to navigate the visa process. Their work includes but may not be limited to:

  • Visa and Green Card Applications
  • Citizenship and Naturalization
  • Deportation Defense
  • Asylum and Refugee Status
  • Employment-Based Immigration
  • Family-Based Immigration
  • Appeals and Waivers
  • DACA

To become an immigration lawyer, you will need a bachelor's degree and a juris doctor (JD) degree. Gaining hands-on immigration experience through clinics, internships, externships, clerkships, and pro bono activities is also beneficial.

You'll also need to pass the bar exam and obtain a license to practice law. However, Oregon is one of the few states that have approved an alternative licensing program. This alternative path to licensure requires 675 hours working under the supervision of an experienced attorney and the bar’s evaluation of a portfolio of legal work. Students can also complete 100 of these hours during law school in the form of legal clinics or externships. 

If you're not in law school yet, consider developing skills in reading, writing, and communication. College students are encouraged to take rigorous courses that improve their ability to think critically and to write clearly.  There are no major requirements for law schools and many programs encourage college students to pursue their learning passions. Willamette offers a pre-law program for undergraduate students to develop these skills. Future lawyers should seek experience with part-time jobs, internships, or volunteer activities related to immigration.

Our immigration clinic provides students with real-world experience handling immigration cases. Law students can gain first-hand exposure to the activities that are vital to practicing immigration law. Students can conduct interviews, manage the application process for asylum seekers, prepare briefs, and even represent the client at a hearing.

It can take several years to become an immigration attorney. A bachelor's degree usually takes 4 years to complete, while law school takes 3 years. Future lawyers can expect around 7-8 years of education and bar exam preparation or experience.

However, people pursue different paths to becoming a lawyer. Some law students come to law school straight from college, but many start law school later.

Other Clinics at Willamette

We offer other clinics that prepare students for a variety of legal careers. Get involved in opportunities like our criminal defense clinic and our trusts and estates clinic to gain experience and boost your resume.

Criminal Defense Clinic  
Trusts and Estates Clinic  

Willamette University

School of Law