Volunteer Guide
Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles - Interfaith Refugee & Immigration Service
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Interfaith Refugee & Immigration Service (IRIS) is a program of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and is the Los Angeles affiliate of three National Voluntary agencies: Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) and Church World Service (CWS). IRIS provides refugee reception and placement services, low-cost immigration legal assistance (family based, DACA, Citizenship, etc.), and is a Los Angeles County Refugee Employment Provider. IRIS has an on-staff immigration attorney and is a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Recognized Agency with DOJ accredited staff. IRIS specializes in citizenship, adjustment of status, refugee and asylee petitioners, and all forms of family-based immigration.
| Counties served: | Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura |
Services Provided
| Are immigration legal services provided? | Yes |
| Areas of immigration legal assistance: | Adjustment of Status, Asylum applications, Consular Processing, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Employment authorization, Family-based petitions, Naturalization/Citizenship, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) |
| Types of immigration legal services provided: | Help completing forms, Filings with USCIS |
| Non-legal services: | Citizenship / Civics classes, Employment services, ESL, Referrals to other services |
| Populations served: | Individuals who are not in legal immigration status |
| Languages spoken: | Arabic, Armenian, Bosnian, Croatian, Dari, English, Farsi, German, Iraqi, Kurdish, Persian, Russian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish |
| Access to a commercial interpreting service or language bank: | Yes |
| Nominal fee charged? | Yes |
| Other information: | Extensive refugee resettlement services including extended case management, community orientation, ESL for Refugee & Asylee seniors, and petitions for family members. Additionally, free English as a Second Language (ESL) and Civics classes for Legal Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) interested in becoming US Citizens. |
Staffing Information
| Number of attorneys on staff: | 1 |
| Is organization BIA recognized? | Yes |
| Number of fully accredited BIA representatives on staff: | 0 |
| Number of partially accredited BIA representatives on staff: | 3 |
| Number of paralegals/legal workers on staff: | 3 |
Additional Details
| Pro Bono opportunities? | Yes |
| Network affiliations: | American Immigration Lawyers Association, Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministies, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Immigration Advocates Network, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), New Americans Collaborative, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Citizenship Taskforce |
Volunteering
| Volunteer Coordinator |