Aside from "Good First Calls," providers are listed alphabetically.
JDC’s Immigration “Attorney of the Day” program offers free phone consultations and some limited services for immigrants in the removal proceedings in SF Immigration Court (services include helping clients to lodge asylum applications (I-589s) and fill out applications for employment authorization). Staff will also screen for any possible referrals to other immigration legal providers for full-scope representation.
Centro Legal’s immigration program provides consultations and representation on many immigration topics, with a focus on clients in removal proceedings.
Dolores Street provides free deportation defense to SF residents, but given the demand, they can only accept a portion of the deportation cases that come to them.
Pangea offers a wide range of immigration legal services on a sliding scale. Many cases they will do for free (pro bono), but some carry low fees. The focus of Pangea’s work is deportation defense.
SIREN provides legal services for naturalization, DACA, Green Card Renewals, Family Immigration, Work Permits, Citizenship Background checks, FBI background checks, and other areas.
Social Justice Collaborative (SJC) is an immigration non-profit that focuses on removal/deportation defense, and especially on complicated cases (ex: those with criminal records or federal immigration litigation).
The AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) is able to serve some clients with its own in-house lawyers, and for issues it cannot help with, it will help clients find a private attorney from its panels of attorneys. If you are eligible for their services, it is a good place to try.
AROC provides free and low cost immigration legal services, with a priority on serving Arab and Muslim clients.
Asian Law Caucus (ALC) provides brief advice and counsel to anyone at their clinics (immigration, workers’ rights, housing) and representation for some.
The JDC primarily provides pro bono assistance in the following areas: family law, housing law, taxpayer disputes with the IRS, and limited immigration.
This is the Bar Association of San Francisco’s legal intake line that connects callers to private lawyers. Private attorney referrals are usually most appropriate when there is no non-profit help available, or for cases where there might be funds recovered to pay an attorney (personal injury, a lawsuit against someone to recover funds for some kind of damage, SSI/SSDI, insurance cases, etc.).
Note that this same line screens clients for help through the Bar Association’s Justice & Diversity Center (pro bono services).
Central American Resource Center (Carecen) provides a wide range of free or low cost immigration services. Carecen’s capacity to provide full representation can be limited, and they typically provide more in-depth assistance on green card renewals, family petitions, DACA, consular processing, obtaining Temporary Protected Status, and relief for undocumented youth.
California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) provides referrals to attorneys.
Jubilee provides many immigration services: U-Visa, VAWA, Asylum, SIJS, deportation defense, family based immigration, citizenship and DACA. Jubilee also has expertise in non-citizens’ eligibility for public benefits.
Jubilee provides free consultations to DACA recipients and their family members; and individuals who receive government benefits such as Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKs, GA, CAPI or SSI.
LegalMatch California helps people find private attorneys. Private attorney referrals are usually most appropriate when there is no non-profit help available, or for cases where there might be funds recovered to pay an attorney (personal injury, a lawsuit against someone to recover funds for some kind of damage, SSI/SSDI, insurance cases, etc.).
Legal Services for Children (LSC) primarily handles the following matters on behalf of young people: guardianship, foster care, emancipation, school cases, immigration, and tickets.
Tahirih provides free legal and social services to immigrant women and girls in California who are fleeing violence.
Tahirih will help women and girls who have a legitimate claim to legal status under gender-based asylum, The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), T-Visas, U-Visas, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)
Volunteer attorneys hold open office hours at The Women’s Building and provide consults, advice and referrals.
