Legal Resources
ILAP (Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project)
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project helps low-income immigrants improve their legal status and works for more just and humane laws and policies affecting immigrants.
Checking Case Status
Defensive seekers and affirmative seekers who had an interview and were then referred to court
Online
Defensive seekers and affirmative seekers who had an interview and were then referred to court go here and enter their “A number.”
Phone
Call the immigration hotline at 1-800-898-7180. ILAP has a guide for calling this hotline, available in multiple languages.
Affirmative seekers who have not yet had interview
Online
Affirmative seekers who have not yet had interview check status here and do NOT enter A number, rather enter the receipt number for asylum application (properly called 797, commonly known as “A number paper”).
Phone
Call 1-800-375-5283 (USCIS)
After the initial message, press 1 for instructions in English or just wait to hear the instructions in Spanish.
Press 1 for case status.
Enter the receipt number for asylum application (properly called 797, commonly known as “A number paper”).
Certificate of Translation
Your asylum application and all accompanying documents must be submitted in English. However, it is acceptable to have your Declaration and supporting documents translated from your native language into English. If you need your documents translated, download this certificate which explains what you need to do.
Canada/US Border Issues
The Canadian UN Refugee Agency continues to update their factsheets for asylum seekers on a regular basis – English & French
Regarding the new temporary U.S.-Canada border agreement, while the Canadian government has given assurances that asylum seekers turned back to the U.S. will not be refouled by the U.S. authorities while they wait to be called back to the Canadian border, the terms of the agreement have not yet been finalized.
Download September, 2020 Press Release (English, French, Lingala and Portuguese)
Court Contact Information
To find information about a case in immigration court
Call EOIR at 1-800-898-7180
Self-help guide from ILAP on finding information about immigration court case
Boston Immigration Court
U.S. Department of Justice
Immigration Court
JFK Federal Building
15 New Sudbury Street, Room 320
Boston, MA 02203
Phone: 617-565-3080
Lowell Immigration Court
U.S. Department of Justice
Immigration Court
150 Apollo Drive, Suite 100
Chelmsford, MA 01824
Phone: 978-497-9000
Contact Information for other courts
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Boston Office of Chief Counsel
JFK Federal Building
15 New Sudbury Street, Room 425
Boston, MA 02203
617-565-3140
Boston Asylum Office
Boston Asylum Sub-Office
JFK Federal Building
15 New Sudbury Street, Room 600
Boston, MA 02203
617-565-9500
Phone Scams
Please remind your mentee, NEVER to give out any personal information over the phone unless they’ve initiated the call. Unfortunately there are frequent cases of people calling and saying they’re with the Social Security Administration or DHHS or whatever. The real folks will never call.
Employment-Related Legal
Southern Maine Workers’ Center (SMWC) Hotline
207-358-9211
The hotline often forwards legal questions to appropriate law firms that represent employees, depending on the issues raised. Also, the SMWC is working to establish a once a week, free employment law clinic at their offices on Washington Ave. in Portland. Once it is underway, the plan is for the clinic to be staffed by 2 attorneys, rotating between a number of volunteers, including lawyers from my firm. They expect that this will start in March 2018, but the planning is ongoing and the date is not set.
SMWC’s Know Your Rights manual
Available in English and Spanish.
Legal Clinic For Low-Income Workers
Low-income and homeless Mainers now have access to free legal services thanks to a new weekly clinic brought to Portland by the Southern Maine Workers’ Center and the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Asylum Process
Asylum in the United States
This document from Family Promise provides an excellent overview of the Asylum Process.
This document from ILAP provides excellent an overview of the 180-Day Asylum Clock.
A fact sheet describing what asylum in the US is.
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project helps low-income immigrants improve their legal status and works for more just and humane laws and policies affecting immigrants.
Defensive Asylum
UMaine Law School School Ayslum & The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Asylum: How to apply for asylum in the United States on your own
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) — USCIS Information on Asylum Seekers
2018 Ayslum LIFO Process Changes & General Talking Points for USCIS Processing Rules
American Immigration Council (AIC) Asylum Fact Sheet
Asylum Process – Legal (pdf)
Asylum Process – Services (pdf)