request legal services

In addition to our education, advocacy, and technical assistance work, VAAP provides these direct legal services to immigrants living in Vermont who cannot afford an attorney seeking:

• Representation for unaccompanied children in removal proceedings.

• Representation and advice for Afghans securing and preserving legal status.

• Limited help for anyone filing initial humanitarian immigration applications.

• Advice for self-represented immigrants on how to navigate their processes.

As of December 2024, we have temporarily closed intake. This will allow us to catch up on the waitlist for services and revise our service model to adapt to increased demands entering 2025.

Individuals who want to be notified of upcoming legal services we can offer should contact an affinity group or immigrant support service provider in your are and express your need for legal help. Find those groups here.

We will be coordinating virtual and onsite legal help clinics with affinity groups and immigrant support service providers in the new year. Partner organizations can contact us to request a virtual or in person visit from VAAP and our volunteers to offer immigration legal assistance to your clients and members.

While you wait to hear back from us, we recommend that noncitizens do not miss any immigration court dates or government appointments and let officials know you are looking for legal help. You can continue trying to find other legal help and, if you are comfortable, start working on your case yourself.

Be aware that asylum applications must be submitted before the one-year anniversary of your most recent entry to the United States OR the expiration of your Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or parole.

We also recommend you review these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), review our growing resource library, follow recent updates to law and policy, subscribe to our newsletter to learn about new service offerings, attend community education events advertised on our calendar, and follow us on social media.

Probably not, regrettably. We are a small and new organization trying to help as many people as possible to start their asylum cases.

This means we are unable to accompany most people to immigration court, except for “unaccompanied children” who we have dedicated funding to serve.

Most people who request our help will be offered only limited assistance and/or advice on filing their initial asylum or related humanitarian immigration applications. This can look like help filing an asylum application on Form I-589, help drafting motions for the Immigration Court, or other types of immigration application assistance.

Our ability to provide extended legal representation is growing but remains limited, and individuals should follow our website to be the first to learn about additional service offerings as our fundraising allows.

We are working to add community-facing resources to our website to help self-represented immigrants to navigate their court processes after receiving VAAP services.

Again, whether or not you have a lawyer, we recommend you do not miss any court dates or government appointments and let officials know you are looking for legal help. You can continue trying to find other legal help and, if you are comfortable, continue working on your case yourself.

We also recommend you review these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), review our growing resource library, follow recent updates to law and policy, subscribe to our newsletter to learn about new service offerings, attend community education events advertised on our calendar, and follow us on social media.

See below for a complete list of our legal services and private practice referral partners!