Steps to Becoming an Immigration Lawyer
Another consideration to keep in mind as you determine if this specialty is the right fit for you is the time you’ll need to invest in becoming a lawyer. You may ask, “how long does it take to become an immigration lawyer?”
Joining this profession will take at least seven years. But, there are several steps you’ll need to take within these seven years:
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Step One: Obtaining an Undergrad
The minimum admission requirement for law schools is an undergraduate degree from an accredited college. There isn’t a specific major you should pursue to prepare for law school, so choose one you’re interested in. This way, you’re more likely to do well in your program and maintain a high GPA.
While the admissions committee will review your transcript and assess how challenging your undergrad was, they will ultimately factor your GPA the heaviest in their decision.
For undergraduate degrees, tuition typically costs an average of $10,000 to $40,000 annually.
Step Two: Creating an Impressive Resume
You must submit a resume as part of your law school application. This resume should include any work, volunteer, extracurricular experience, and other projects you pursued during your undergrad. Do your best to stay involved in your extracurriculars throughout your undergrad, so there are no large gaps in your resume.
Step Three: Acing the LSAT
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The other score admissions committees will pay close attention to is your LSAT. The LSAT predicts your potential to succeed in law school, so it’s important you receive a competitive score.
The exact score you need will depend on your top choices. As a general rule of thumb, the higher your school’s ranking, the higher your LSAT score will have to be!
The basic costs to write the LSAT and receive your score report are $455.
Step Four: Go to Law School
Once you’ve completed your undergrad and applied to your top choices, you should carefully consider which school to attend. Search for schools that can offer you the most experience and education in immigration law.
You may also want to attend a law school located in a border state or with a high population of immigrants, so you have more internship and clinic opportunities.
Aside from having significant experience on your resume, you must maintain a high GPA throughout your JD program. Your GPA will also influence your job prospects post-graduation.
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Attending law school will be the most expensive part of your legal journey. Tuition at these schools can cost anywhere from $13,000 to $77,000 annually!
Step Five: Passing the MPRE
There are several exams you’ll have to write during the duration of your legal career. One of the easier ones is the MPRE. This exam costs $150 to write and assesses aspiring lawyers’ ability to follow and apply the ethical and professional codes of conduct they’re bound by.
While this exam is typically considered easier than the LSAT or bar exam, you should still create a solid study schedule to prepare for it! Learning all the rules and regulations will be easy, but knowing how to apply them to various scenarios is where the difficulty lies!
Step Six: Consider an LLM in Immigration Law
Your JD is the only educational requirement to join the legal field and start practicing immigration law. However, if you want more training to give yourself a competitive edge, you can complete a one-year LLM degree in Immigration Law. The exact price of these programs will depend on your school.
Step Seven: Pass the Bar Exam
The final exam you’ll have to pass to become an immigration lawyer is the bar exam. This exam will be extensive as it will test your overall knowledge and competencies.
Depending on your state, the bar exam can cost around $600 to well over $1000.
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