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The differences between immigration paralegals and executive legal assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both an immigration paralegal and an executive legal assistant. Additionally, an immigration paralegal has an average salary of $67,056, which is higher than the $53,442 average annual salary of an executive legal assistant.
The top three skills for an immigration paralegal include management system, government agencies and USCIS. The most important skills for an executive legal assistant are powerpoint, expense reports, and litigation.
| Immigration Paralegal | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $67,056 | $53,442 |
| Hourly rate | $32.24 | $25.69 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 4,279 | 72,148 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Working alongside immigration lawyers, an immigration paralegal is in charge of liaising and assisting clients through the progress of their visa petitions or other cases. Their responsibilities revolve around gathering and securing foreign documents, coordinating with immigration managers, managing and filing documentation, preparing applications, and handling case systems and other databases. Furthermore, as an immigration paralegal, it is essential to update clients with the progress of their cases, answering their inquiries and helping them navigate through the procedures as needed.
An Executive Legal Assistant provides comprehensive support to lawyers and legal offices. They start as entry-level assistants before specializing in a field after a few years with experience; litigation, criminal law, family law, international law. Their duties include performing legal research by gathering case information for presentation, writing legal reports based on research and interviews, scheduling meetings, organizing travel arrangements, and organizing documentation for easy accessibility. An Executive Legal Assistant must be well organized, analytical research skills, and experience in case management. They typically spend long work hours spent in libraries and offices, requiring occasional travel.
Immigration paralegals and executive legal assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Immigration Paralegal | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Average salary | $67,056 | $53,442 |
| Salary range | Between $45,000 And $97,000 | Between $37,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | American Express | PayPal |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between an immigration paralegal and an executive legal assistant in terms of educational background:
| Immigration Paralegal | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Legal Support Services | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between immigration paralegals' and executive legal assistants' demographics:
| Immigration Paralegal | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 26.3% Female, 73.7% | Male, 8.7% Female, 91.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 22.1% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 5.4% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |