Immigration & Citizenship

The International Institute of the Bay Area provides legal services for immigration and naturalization at our offices in San Francisco, Oakland, and Redwood City.

Legal Immigration Services

The Institute helps families that have been separated by the migration experience to reunify through family visa petitions, helps legal residents gain citizenship, assists undocumented battered immigrant women and children gain legal status, helps with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), with Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) applications, and provides advice and counsel on immigration legal matters.

Citizenship

Newcomers are encouraged to advance towards attaining U.S. Citizenship. We offer Citizenship Classes in our Redwood City and San Francisco offices to help clients learn civics and improve English skills, in order to pass their naturalization interview. Our naturalization services include educating the community regarding the benefits of attaining citizenship, consultations to determine eligibility, support in filing the necessary forms, and preparation for the interview and exam. For more information about our citizenship application workshops choose English, Tagalog or Spanish/Español. For more information about our Citizenship classes in Redwood City choose English or Spanish/Español.

Civic Engagement

IIBA seeks to strengthen newcomer civic engagement with the broader community. We are uniquely positioned to help bridge the gap between immigrant and non-immigrant communities, thus reducing the misconceptions that may exist and creating more positive conditions essential to a well-functioning society.

Community Education and Outreach

We strive to empower the local immigrant community with the information they need to improve conditions for their families and strengthen local leadership, through our community education and outreach activities. Our staff offers presentations to community organizations, schools, service providers, and the public on a variety of topics, including: immigration and citizenship options; immigrant rights and public benefits; immigration law and the undocumented; voter education and civic participation, and public policy initiatives affecting immigrant families. Accredited representatives conduct free information sessions in Spanish on a weekly basis at our Redwood City office. Our Oakland office sponsors Himawari-kai, a community-based program offering support to immigrant Japanese women and their families.

Serving Survivors of Domestic Violence

The Institute is a leading provider of assisting immigrant women who are survivors of domestic violence with their immigration issues. It assists immigrant women with VAWA petitions, U-visa applications, and limited gender asylum and VAWA cancellation of removal cases in order to help battered women regularize their immigration status. Find additional service providers at Resources for Battered Immigrant Women .

New! Deportation Education and Defense Program

The Institute's Deportation Defense & Prevention Program assists low-income immigrants who are facing deportation. We offer legal consultations at Deportation Defense Clinics in Oakland and Redwood City. We are building a pro-bono and low-cost attorney panel in the community in order to increase the availability of free and low cost services for low-income immigrants. The Program also works to educate immigrants about how to avoid detentions and deportations, and will launch an advocacy campaign to reform unfair and unjust immigration laws and policies that have resulted in widespread deportations and created a crisis within the immigrant community. Consultations are by appointment. Call (510) 451-2846 in Oakland or (650) 780-7530 in Redwood City to make an appointment or for more information.

The Deportation Defense Program is a community based program and cannot be fully implemented without your support. Choose the links to donate or volunteer.

Contact IIBA Immigration Programs!

Our caseworkers do not provide legal advice over the phone, fax, or e-mail.

San Francisco Immigration and Citizenship Program

Our San Francisco office provides family-based immigration procedures. We also offer citizenship preparation classes for elderly residents of San Francisco. Immigration services and consultations are provided by qualified trained representatives, who are accredited to practice immigration law by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Our San Francisco Office is located at:

657 Mission Street Ste 500
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: (415) 538-8100
Fax: (415) 538-8111
Directions and map for the IIBA San Francisco office.

New clients are seen at drop-in consultation hours on Thursdays only, from 1pm-4pm.

To make an appointment please contact Carlota Garcia, legal clerk, at (415) 538-8100 ext. 206. Initial consultations are $30.
Additional services are based on a sliding-scale fee schedule.
Contact information for the entire SF Immigration staff can be found at this link.

Oakland Immigration and Citizenship Program

Our East Bay office aids survivors of violence in submitting U-visa and VAWA applications, and provides family-based immigration procedures. Immigration services and consultations are provided by lawyers and by qualified trained law students.

Our Oakland Office is located at:

449 15th Street Suite 303
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 451-2846
Fax: (510) 465-3392
Directions and map for the IIBA Oakland office.

Office Closed April 28 to May 3.

Non-clients may be seen during the following clinics. Clients are only seen by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please call (510) 451-2846.

U Visa and VAWA Clinic, Mondays from 10 am to 3:30 pm, for victims of domestic violence and other serious crimes. Copy of police report is required for U Visa, and requested for VAWA if you reported the domestic violence to the police. Free. Closed Monday May 3rd. 

Immigration Clinic, Thursdays 4-6 pm, 5-10 minute consultation for immigration questions except for U Visa, VAWA, and deportation related matters. Cost is $10.

Deportation Defense Clinic, 5-7 pm, first and third Thursdays of each month. You must add your name to the list in advance, by calling 510-451-2846 ext. 301. This is not a drop-in clinic.

Additional services are based on a sliding-scale fee schedule.
Contact information for the entire Oakland Immigration staff can be found at this link.

Redwood City Immigration and Citizenship Program

Our Redwood City office provides family-based immigration procedures. Immigration services and consultations are provided by qualified trained representatives, who are accredited to practice immigration law by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Our San Mateo County Office is located at:

2600 Middlefield Road
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: (650) 780-7530
Fax: (650) 556-1645
Directions and map for the IIBA Redwood City office.

New clients are seen at drop-in consultation hours on Mondays only from 9am to noon and 1pm-4pm. Please note that consultations will be CLOSED during the month of August 2010.

Initial consultations are $20. Additional services are based on a sliding-scale fee schedule. 
Contact information for the entire RC Immigration staff can be found at this link.

Information for Newcomers on the Path to Citizenship

If you want to make an appointment to go to your local US CIS office please click on the link.

If you have the receipt number of your petition or application pending with US CIS and want to check its status or processing date, please click on the link.

To check the current priority dates from visa bulletin please click on the link.