Volunteer guide to vaap

  • Thank you for your interest! VAAP accepts legal volunteers and language access volunteers at this time.

    Legal Volunteering: Lawyers, paralegals, and legal workers with substantial experience can volunteer to help orient community members to their rights; complete intake screenings; provide limited assistance at single-day help clinics; or to fully represent humanitarian status seekers with VAAP's ongoing support. VAAP curates an attorney resource library and welcomes legal volunteers regardless of their experience level or background.

    Language Access volunteering: VAAP also welcomes language access volunteers to interpret during attorney-client meetings and/or to translate written documents, as well as legal and paralegal interns. Visit our interns page or email us to express interest and learn more.

  • By volunteering with VAAP, you directly contribute to providing free legal support that promotes the rights of Vermont's immigrant communities. Having legal representation significantly increases an asylum seeker's chances of being granted asylum. 

    Volunteering with us offers you with

    • Hands-on experience in human rights and immigration work. 

    • Development of valuable skills like cross-cultural communication.

    • Networking opportunities with professionals in the field, including regional and national stakeholders.

    This experience can be incredibly rewarding, and speaks volumes on personal resumes, firm websites, education applications.

  • Thank you for your interest! No matter your experience level or background, VAAP can meet you where you are at to help you volunteer at a level of involvement that feels right for you. First step is to subscribe to our public newsletter to stay updated on on the latest news, events, trainings, and program needs.

    Next, contact us at info@vaapvt.org with “Volunteer” in the subject line to join our pro bono list serv, where we advertise volunteer opportunities to work with asylum seekers directly, ranging from individual cases in need of full representation to attorney-for-the-day pro se assistance clinics in need of limited engagement.

    We use this website to orient volunteers to the law, policy, and practice of asylum and humanitarian immigration law, to complement advocate case rounds and live trainings we offer ad hoc throughout the state. You can begin to self-study our recommended resources so you are ready to volunteer when you see an opportunity advertised that you would like to undertake.

  • VAAP is resourced to assist asylum seekers with their asylum legal claims, their removal proceedings in Immigration Court, their applications for ancillary benefits like work authorization, and limited other forms of humanitarian immigration relief such as Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and special pathways available to people from Afghanistan.

    Volunteers assist asylum seekers in pursuing their asylum cases, which may include legal representation, mentoring, or other support services. Additionally, we have paralegal and clerical volunteers who assist and support our organization with essential administrative tasks including writing blog posts, welcoming clients, and inputting data.  

    We schedule attorney-for-the-day clinics to provide individuals with pro se assistance. We also work to connect individuals with full representation.

    No matter the level of service, VAAP makes available too all advocates a full suite of training, supervision, and support to those who volunteer. We ask volunteers to formally engage VAAP for mentorship through a template Memorandum of Understanding which is available for review.

  • Time commitments vary depending on the type of volunteer work and the specific needs of the clients requesting our help. VAAP works with volunteers to find a suitable level of involvement based on their availability, ranging from volunteering at a clinic for a few hours one time or ongoing, to undertaking an asylum case for full representation through to the merits hearing.

  • None! We expect that our pro bono attorneys will have little to no immigration law experience when first starting out. We ensure you have access to the training and resources necessary to capably represent an asylum seeker, including by directly mentoring you in-house or pairing you with an experienced asylum practitioner from the field who will serve as a mentor on your work. Read our newsletters, follow our website and social media, and read the pro bono list emails where we advertise upcoming trainings, case rounds, and events.

  •  Yes, VAAP provides training, mentoring, and ongoing support to all volunteers. The organization is staffed by Spanish-speaking legal professionals who can assist you throughout your volunteer experience in the following ways: 

    We offer regular training, including through partner organizations like the Vermont Bar Association and Vermont Law and Graduate School, which we advertise through our public newsletter and on our pro bono email list. We also curate and make available to pro bono volunteers asynchronous, self-guided training videos, materials, and practice advisories. We facilitate regular humanitarian immigration case rounds and other practice spaces, advertised through our newsletter and email list, and offer on-demand consultations and document review.

    Think of us as your friendly law clinic professor and reach out for help! We will also pay for and connect VAAP advocates with translation and interpretation services, as needed, and reimburse ministerial costs associated with representing an asylum seeker, including travel, printing, copying, and postage. We also have Burlington coworking office space available for VAAP client meetings that should occur in-person. Email info@vaapvt.org to access any of these resources!

  • VAAP offers comprehensive training and mentoring programs to ensure that all volunteers are well-prepared to assist asylum seekers. Supervising advocates oversee all legal help activities to ensure a high quality of service.

  • Yes! Once you have engaged VAAP for mentorship by signing our Memorandum of Understanding, then you are fully insured for all of your VAAP-supported work free of charge.

  • Yes! VAAP will gladly mentor newly admitted attorneys in their completion of the First Year Requirements pursuant Rule 12. Here are a list of common VAAP activities that satisfy each of the requirements:

    Category 1: Bar Functions.

    VAAP regularly presents CLEs at VBA conferences during which VBA hosts its regular business meetings.

    Category 2: Litigation in VT Superior Court.

    VAAP is seeking volunteers to co-counsel with us in bringing Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases in the Family and Probate Divisions.

    VAAP also regularly litigates administrative hearings before immigration agencies, conducts initial client intake interviews, prepares written and verbal testimony from lay and expert witnesses, and other litigation-related activity qualifying under this category.

    Category 3: Transactional activities

    VAAP relies on volunteer assistance to produce and maintain our corporate documents, and we warmly welcome and appreciate your review and suggestions!

    Category 4: Access to Justice (A2J)

    By volunteering with VAAP and taking advantage of the programming we advertise through our newsletter, you will find ample opportunities to attend CLEs on A2J issues, to accept pro bono appointments, and to participate in a free legal clinic.

    Our client communities rely on volunteers like you for legal services and VAAP would be happy to express our gratitude by facilitating your smooth completion of the Rule 12 Mentorship Requirement!

  • Multilingual language skills are helpful but not required for all volunteer positions. VAAP can work with you to find a suitable role based on your skills and language abilities. Moreover, VAAP works with various language access organizations to provide interpretation and translation services to ensure meaningful language access to our services.  

     

  • VAAP advertises newly screened cases needing full representation via our pro bono email list. To express your no-obligation interest in a particular case, respond to the pro bono email with the case you are interested in and share any relevant skills or parameters (e.g. I have conversational French; I can only meet with the client virtually; I will only feel comfortable working on this case with a partner). VAAP will help you decide whether to move forward with an initial, VAAP-facilitated meeting between you and your potential client—including by sharing our template Memorandum of Understanding outlining the scope of legal service you would be agreeing to provide and the scope of mentorship and resources we will offer to support you. If you would like to gain some experience providing attorney-for-the-day pro se assistance before taking on a case for fuller representation, monitor our newsletters and pro bono emails for our recurring pro se assistance clinics!

  • Up to you! You get to decide the scope of representation pursuant to the professional rules and your scheduling needs.

    Our primarily limited representation service model allows volunteers to assist with specific aspects of an asylum case without taking on full legal responsibility. This approach enables volunteers to contribute meaningfully while managing their time commitment. 

    Skeletal asylum applications can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on how quickly you can develop rapport with your client, develop a case theory, and articulate the legal claims.

    Once the case is filed, we will then welcome the pro se applicant to return to VAAP in the future to request additional legal services once an interview or hearing date has been scheduled to adjudicate the merits of their claim.

    For advocates looking for a deeper volunteer experience, VAAP can support you to offer additional help with some or all of the applicant’s supporting evidentiary packet, witness prep, briefing, motions practice, and/or attending the merits hearing or interview.

    Note that asylum cases are languishing in the immigration system for several years so there is often no legal urgency to competing and submitting an evidence packet—although doing so while the information is fresh in the applicant’s mind has its advantages.

  • We screen cases and refer noncitizens who have nonfrivolous claims for relief that we have resources to advise on. We are working toward a more “universal representation” model wherein every noncitizen in Vermont in removal proceedings has access to legal services. Note that with the very low asylum grant rates in the United States, we cannot guarantee that even those clients with a meritorious case will be granted. Every noncitizen applying for immigration relief affirmatively and facing deportation in Immigration Court deserves access to counsel!

  • We are in the process of building a public-facing resources page as well as a Resource SharePoint available to subscribed pro bono volunteers. Monitor our newsletter and subscribe to our pro bono email list to learn more!

  • Community advocates play an important role in building a supportive community for humanitarian status seekers in Vermont by helping them meet their immediate basic needs such as housing, food, employment, transportation, and trauma support services. Community advocates and organizations often refer humanitarian status seekers to VAAP who are in need of legal representation. While VAAP legal volunteers will work exclusively with the noncitizen on their legal claim, meanwhile community advocates may directly contact VAAP with other questions or assistance for the noncitizen to facilitate their safe and sustainable resettlement into our community.

    Volunteers can also assist VAAP in administrative roles like essential computer-based data entry, event operations, and other clerical support. Email us to express your no-obligation interest and learn more.

    Finally, with supervision from an attorney or accredited representative, a community advocate may also help a noncitizen with preliminarily preparing their own immigration legal application. Email us to learn more.

    We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds, especially undergraduate students, high school students, and those who are passionate about helping the immigrant community. We assure you that no legal experience is needed. Many crucial tasks don't require legal expertise, such as translation, research, and client support.

  • Please reach out to us at info@vaapvt.org with any additional questions. Thank you for your interest!