This six-week training will explore the process of gaining permanent residence through a family relationship. We will cover which individuals are eligible based on family relationships, and how each step of the process works. Throughout the course, participants will review both the law and procedure for immigrating through a family relationship, including examination and critique of sample application forms. Topics covered will include: immediate relatives and the preference system, the definition of a "child" in immigration law, derivative beneficiaries, automatic conversion of petitions, retention of priority dates, the Child Status Protection Act, immigrating through marriage, conditional residence, fiancée petitions, the affidavit of support, adjustment of status and consular processing. The course starts on March 5th with access to the e-learning course website and week one assignment. Once you receive your user name and password, you may participate in a variety of activities for self-directed learning, including reading assignments, exercises, and a question forum. The course will be interactive, with opportunities for online discussion among students, and between the students and the instructors. The course also includes six webinars conducted on consecutive Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. EST starting on Wednesday, March 12th. Each webinar lasts approximately 90 minutes, and is recorded and posted on the course website after the webinar is conducted. Although we encourage participants to attend the live webinars each week, you will be able to listen to and view a recording of any webinar you are unable to attend whenever you choose to do so. The instructors for this course will be CLINIC attorneys Kristina Karpinski and Debbie Smith. For questions about the course content, please contact Kristina Karpinski at kkarpinski@cliniclegal.org. This is an introduction to family-based immigration for the practitioner who already has some exposure to immigration law fundamentals. Basic familiarity with (a) immigration law vocabulary; (b) the ways in which an immigrant may gain legal status; and (c) the concepts of inadmissibility and deportability, is assumed.

Course Completion Requirements:
Course participants will receive a course completion certificate if they (a) attend or view recordings of the weekly course webinar and (b) complete each weekly course quiz. You have up to two weeks after the last live webinar in the course to meet these requirements. For a detailed course outline, including the dates and times of the live webinars, click here. Course participants are required to attend or view recordings of the course webinars in order to receive a course completion certificate at the end of the course.

Cost:

• $270 per person for CLINIC affiliate agencies
• $295 per person for other nonprofit agency staff
• $425 per person for private attorneys and staff

Registration:
Register by clicking here. The training is for the staff of Catholic Charities and other community-based organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status, and attorneys and legal staff of private law offices. If you are registering as staff of a community-based organization, you must fax a copy of your IRS 501(c)(3) letter designating your agency as a nonprofit entity to CLINIC at (301) 565-4824 to the attention of Jon Braswell. Your registration will be confirmed upon receipt of this letter. If you are an attorney, please include your state bar number. Payment is by credit card only. Please be sure to register under the correct category and for the correct training. All registration changes or cancellations are subject to an administrative charge of $70.00. Please note that CLINIC can only issue refunds for an e-learning course until one week prior to the first day of the training. Please provide the full name and a working email address for each individual taking this course. We will communicate with each registrant via email only, so it is very important that we have the correct name and email address for each registrant listed on the registration form. Space is limited. The deadline for registration is March 12th or sooner if registration is filled. For registration information contact jcbraswell@cliniclegal.org.