Help others in your community become citizens by volunteering at one of our citizenship clinics
To sign up to volunteer for citizenship clinics, please click here!
Citizenship Days and smaller Citizenship Clinics are events where Legal Permanent Residents (“green card” holders) can get free assistance filling out their application for U.S. citizenship. Citizenship Days are larger walk in clinics where we see anywhere from 40-70 clients and take place twice a year in three different cities each time. Roving Clinics take place four to five times a year around Washington State and we typically serve between 20-30 clients.
Clinics are completely staffed by volunteers, and we are always looking for new volunteers.
If you are interested in:
- volunteering with a larger group of volunteers
- have questions about other ways to get involved with WNA
- have specific questions about volunteer roles
please contact Ashlen Olmsted, Program Associate, Washington New Americans Program
phone: 206-452-8400 E-Mail: ashlen@weareoneamerica.org
Here are all of our volunteer roles at Citizenship Days and Clinics:
Attorney: Meet one on one with clients to determine eligibility for naturalization, answer questions, review applications for accuracy, and provide further instructions for follow up or filing. Attorneys may also review the work of other attorneys during client checkout. You must be a licensed immigration attorney or accredited Department of Justice Representative to fulfill this role.
We are a WSBA Qualified Legal Service provider, which means that attorney volunteers are eligible to receive up to 24 hours of credit per year for volunteer hours at our Citizenship Days and Clinics.
AILA attorney requirements:
- have been in practice for at least 2 years; and
- have completed at least five (5) Naturalization applications; and
- have malpractice insurance.
If you would like to volunteer as an attorney with us, but do not fulfill the minimum requirements, contact us and we will provide other options!
DOJ Accredited Representative: Meet one on one with clients to determine eligibility for naturalization, answer questions, review applications for accuracy, provide further instructions for follow up or filing.
Form Completer: Meet one on one with clients to help complete naturalization forms. Paralegals may NOT provide legal advice. This is a great role for certified paralegals as well as attorneys and law students seeking to gain experience in immigration law, though anyone willing to complete the online video training may serve in the paralegal role.
Interpreter: Interpret verbatim between clients and paralegals or attorneys and other volunteer staff. Insure clients and paralegals/attorneys understand each other and the contents of all forms and documents needed for naturalization. Interpreters may NOT provide legal advice except as direct translation of advice given by attorney. Interpreters of all languages are welcome, particularly those with Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Somali, and Vietnamese skills, among other languages.
General Support: As directed by Site Coordinators, help with set up/take down at facility, signage, client intake, routing of clients through the facility, copying and assembling documents, answering non-legal questions, passing out information documents, and helping with food and drinks for volunteers. These volunteers perform the tasks needed to make Citizenship Days successful!