How To Become An Immigration Paralegal: What It Is and Career Path

What is an immigration paralegal and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An immigration paralegal is an individual who works with attorneys to help immigrants become citizens.

While a paralegal can't provide legal advice, they work closely with an immigration attorney to assist people with citizenship, business immigration issues, and political asylum, as well as work on student visas. They typically prepare applications for permanent residency for foreign Nationals and organize petition packets.

Immigration paralegals often work alongside immigration attorneys at private law firms, or for a non-profit or government agency. They will also report to the immigration program manager and also collaborate with the regional paralegal manager and immigration attorneys or lawyers.

While many immigration paralegals work to help people become citizens, some assist lawyers who facilitate the deportation process. Immigration paralegals are often bilingual and communicate directly with clients. In many cases, this kind of paralegal is asked to serve as a translator, which makes the ability to speak one or more languages vital to this position.

The education required to be an immigration paralegal is normally a bachelor's degree in an area like legal support services, criminal justice, or political science. Some schools offer degrees in immigration paralegal studies, while others only offer a general paralegal program.

Obtaining a paralegal degree is suitable for this job. However, additional courses that focus on visas, deportation, asylum, and naturalization are ideal.

ScoreImmigration ParalegalUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $67,056

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.40%

Asian 5.42%

Black or African American 8.33%

Hispanic or Latino 22.11%

Unknown 4.73%

White 59.00%

Gender

female 73.75%

male 26.25%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an immigration paralegal

Explore immigration paralegal education requirements

Most common immigration paralegal degrees

Bachelor's

60.1 %

Associate

14.3 %

Master's

12.2 %

Start to develop specific immigration paralegal skills

Skills	Percentages
Management System	7.73%
Government Agencies	7.65%
USCIS	7.10%
Immigration Law	5.65%
HR	5.01%

Complete relevant immigration paralegal training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New immigration paralegals learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an immigration paralegal based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real immigration paralegal resumes.

Research immigration paralegal duties and responsibilities

Manage caseload utilizing INSZoom software.
Manage large volume of documents, enabling attorneys to easily identify key documents that are critical for mediation and arbitration.
Prepare training materials for H-1B visas and permanent labor certification.
Write and prepare all arguments in re: to RFE's.

Prepare your immigration paralegal resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your immigration paralegal resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an immigration paralegal resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable immigration paralegal resume templates

Build a professional immigration paralegal resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your immigration paralegal resume.