Service List

Resettlement Services

• Pre migration counseling and processing for refugee resettlement
• Affidavits of relationships
• Adjustment of status ("green card") processing for refugees

[TOP OF PAGE]

Immigration Counseling and Representation

• Family reunification including Petitions for Alien Relatives
• Political asylum
• Adjustment of status
• Relief from removal (deportation)
• Replacement of documents
• Travel documents
• Citizenship applicants, with a focus on serving the elderly, homebound and disabled
• Extension or change of immigration status
• Representation in US Immigration court.

[TOP OF PAGE]

Community Education and Outreach

• Updates on immigration law and policy
• Voter education for new citizens
• Advocacy for the rights of the foreign born. Linking refugees and immigrants to comprehensive services and the Jewish and larger community
• Training sessions and technical assistance for advocates and service providers.
• For further information see the Pennslyvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition page.

[TOP OF PAGE]

Specialized Services

• Translation from Russian
• Location of displaced persons
• Reparations claims processing
• Archival research (when resources permit).

HIAS and Council Migration Service's staff of three attorneys, three accredited representative, one paralegal and two caseworkers offers legal and immigration services. As a non-profit agency authorized by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to provide legal immigration assistance, HIAS and Council Migration Service is required to keep service fees at nominal levels. Clients providing evidence of inability to pay even the lowest fees qualify for free service.

While HIAS and Council serves clients from all over the world without regard to gender, race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, physical disability or sexual orientation, the agency has a special interest and expertise in the area of Jewish migration, and in particular, in migration from and human rights in the former Soviet Union.

The HIAS and Council professional staff receives ongoing training in U.S. immigration and nationality law and policy, refugee processing, post-Soviet emigration laws and human rights, etc., and has a good reputation and working relationships with the Philadelphia District Office of the United States immigration and Citizenship services (USCIS formally INS). HIAS and Council coordinates the provision of immigration and migration services with the Jewish Federation's network of resettlement services and services to New Americans which includes Jewish Family and Children's Service of Philadelphia's resettlement program, and the Jewish Employment and Vocational Service's (JEVS) Center for New Americans and Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia.

[TOP OF PAGE]

Special Projects

HIAS and Council Migration Service organizes its services into four special projects:

• Resettlement Servicesincludes pre and post migration counseling and coordination of services with national HIAS, Inc. HIAS works with family members to counsel them on how their relatives can emigrate as refugees. Funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and private donations.
• Citizenship Projects. HIAS and Council assists individuals in their citizenship application, particularly elderly and vulnerable refugees and immigrants. We handle the highest volume of applications in the region of individuals unable to take the citizenship examination. Our efforts are funded by the Pennsylvania Refugee Resettlement Program (link), the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the Tuttleman Family Foundation, the Fels Foundation and the Connelly Foundation.
• The Court Litigation and Representation Project provides representation in complex family sponsored immigration cases, asylum cases and in removal cases. The Independence Foundation, IOLTA, the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, The Philadelphia Foundation, the Goldsmith Foundation and private contributors have supported this effort.
• The Asylee Outreach Project. HIAS and Council coordinates a state-wide Asylee Outreach Project that links those granted asylum to refugee social services. The project assists with documentation issues facing asylees. The AOP is funded by the Pennsylvania Refugee Resettlement Program with pass-through funds from the Office of Refugee Resettlement).

[TOP OF PAGE]