Know Your Rights information for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
● ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights
● Legal Services NYC: Has basic information about immigrants’ rights, including guidance
about if ICE shows up to their home (Know Your Rights handouts); available in multiple
languages: Arabic, Bengali,Chinese, Dari, Farsi, French, Haitian Creole, Korean,
Russian, Spanish, Urdu, English
● If detained by ICE, let your family and friends know how to find you: Family and friends
can call ICE at 212-264-5085 or search online at www.ice.gov/locator

General Find an Immigration Lawyer by Topic Area
AILA Find an Immigration Lawyer: https://www.ailalawyer.com/

The search filter allows you to filter by type of immigration law, language, city, state/province, country, and last name. While not all of lawyers offer pro bono services, can ask to see if they do and if they offer a sliding scale. Website has some FAQs, including that some offers may offer a sliding scale for payment based on need.

Refugees

If you are a refugee in the United States and want your family members who are abroad to join you, you may file Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, for your spouse and unmarried children under 21. You must file within two years of your arrival to the United States unless there are humanitarian reasons to excuse this deadline.

Alternatively you may be eligible to file an Affidavit of Relationship for your spouse, child (unmarried, under 21), or parents to have them admitted to the United States as refugees through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The Affidavit of Relationship is the form used to reunite refugees and asylees with close relatives who are determined to be refugees but are outside the United States. For information on the current nationalities eligible to file, see U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees & Migration.

Asylum Seekers

If you are an asylum seeker, you must wait until you are granted asylum before you can apply for a family member to join you in the United States. Once you are granted asylum, you may fill out USCIS Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition to apply for a spouse or unmarried child under the age of 21 to join you. You must file the petition within 2 years of being granted asylum unless there are humanitarian reasons to excuse this deadline. There is no fee to file this petition. See USCIS’s webpage on 1-730 for more information about how to fill out I-730: https://www.uscis.gov/i-730.

Source(s):

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/refugees https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-of-refugees-and-asylees

Refugee
If you are a refugee, you have work authorization to work in the United States immediately upon arrival. When you are admitted to the United States you will receive a Form I-94 (Arrival-Departure Record) containing a refugee admission stamp. Additionally, a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, will be filed for you in order for you to receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

While you are waiting for your EAD, you can present your Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record, to your employer as proof of your permission to work in the United States. USCIS has an additional resource on how to demonstrate to your employer that you have work authorization: How Do I Show My Employer That I Am Authorized to Work in the United States? (PDF, 686.31 KB).

Asylum seeker – Process to apply
If you are an asylum seeker, you must apply for an employment authorization with USCIS to legally work in the United states. You are likely eligible to apply for an employment authorization document (EAD) to legally work in the United States if:

1. You were recently paroled into the United States and that parole remains valid; or
2. You have applied for asylum and that application has been pending for at least 150 days.

To apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) based on your pending asylum application under the (c)(8) category, you may file a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, 150 days after you file your asylum application.
Please see the instructions on USCIS’ website for filling out Form-I-765. You will have to create an account with USCIS online to file this form. USCIS will mail your work permit to the address you provided in your application if your application is approved. If necessary, you can file a paper application for Form I-765 instead.

Timeline for Processing: You are not eligible to receive an EAD until your asylum application has been pending for at least another 30 days, for a total of 180 days, commonly referred to as the 180-Day Asylum EAD Clock. If USCIS grants you an EAD based on your pending asylum application, your EAD will be valid for up to 2 years.

After adjudication of case:

• If you are granted asylum, you are immediately authorized to work. (Some asylees choose to obtain EADs for convenience or identification purposes, but an EAD is not necessary to work if you are an asylee.)
• If you are denied asylum, your employment authorization will terminate when your EAD expires or 60 days after your asylum application was denied, whichever is later.
  • If you are not in lawful immigration status (or do not have parole), and an asylum officer “refers” your asylum application to an immigration judge for further consideration, your EAD remains valid through the date of expiration, unless you renew it. If an immigration judge denies your asylum application, your employment authorization will terminate on the expiration date printed on your EAD, unless you appeal the immigration judge’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) or, after BIA review, you appeal the BIA’s decision to a federal circuit court.
  • You may be otherwise eligible for employment authorization if you are a valid immigrant or nonimmigrant or have parole or temporary protected status.

Sources:
https://www.uscis.gov/i-765
https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/refugees

• Legal Services NYC: Legal Assistance Hotline is open Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 4pm. Call 917-661-4500 to speak to an intake officer in any language.
• The U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review, has a resource compendium of pro-bono legal service providers in each state for immigrants, and also provides lists based on type of immigration status.
  •  DOJ: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/list-pro-bono-legal-service-providers
  • Full Website for All Pro Bono Legal Service Providers: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/list-pro-bono-legal-service-providers
    • For a copy of the full List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers, please click here.
    • For a copy of the List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers for Noncitizens in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody, please click here.
    • For a copy of the List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers (Asylum Officer Rule), please click here.
    • For a copy of the List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers for Noncitizens in the Family Expedited Removal Management (FERM) Process, please click here.
    • The full List is divided into separate sections that correspond to the individual immigration courts around the country. For a list of providers that appear at a specific immigration court, please click the relevant state/territory on the map or list below. Please note that if a particular state/territory is not an active link in either the map or listing below, then there is currently no immigration court or hearing location in that state. If you live in one of these states/territories, please click on the state where you have your court case hearing to find a local provider.

●  Justia Lawyers: New York Immigration Legal Aid & Pro Bono Services