Citizenship Resources

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Immigration Legal Services & Support at JFS of Greenwich


Jewish Family Services of Greenwich offers affordable, high-quality immigration legal services for individuals and families navigating the complexities of the U.S. immigration system. Their legal team, led by experienced immigration attorneys, provides direct assistance with:

  • Green card renewals (I‑90)
  • DACA applications and renewals
  • Citizenship and naturalization
  • Asylum and refugee petitions
  • Family-based petitions
  • U Visas, VAWA, TPS, and SIJS
  • Advance parole, waivers, and work permits (EAD)

They also offer legal support for complex cases, including guardianship/custody petitions for minors. Services are available in English and Spanish, with flexible scheduling and a client-centered approach.

To schedule a consultation, call 203-622-1881 or visit their Legal Services page.

Refugee Resettlement & Immigration Support Services


JFS of Greenwich is proud to be a HIAS-affiliated refugee resettlement agency, providing a full range of support services to help individuals and families start fresh in a safe, welcoming environment.

Resettlement and integration services include:

  • Housing placement and household setup
  • Food assistance and gift cards
  • Transportation to interviews and appointments
  • ESL classes and tutoring
  • School enrollment support
  • Medical and Social Security application assistance
  • Job readiness and employment placement
  • Free laptops and digital literacy support
  • Trauma-informed mental health services and youth mentorship programs

They work closely with each client to ensure a smooth transition and lasting stability.

Learn more about their support services at their Refugee Resettlement page.

 


 

Know Your Rights

Immigration Legal Resource Center (ILRC): Your Rights and Safety Information

Be prepared for possible encounters with Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE)

https://www.ilrc.org

ILRC material is available only for internal use and not for commercial use or mass distribution.

Study Online for Citizenship Exam

Citizenship on the Go (COG)

This is a self-paced citizenship preparation course created at the Hartford Public Library and courteously offered to the Ferguson Library patrons.

Preparing for The Oath U.S. History and Civics for Citizenship

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Citizenship Study Guide

Interactive U.S. Citizenship Course

USA Learns Citizenship

This free online course helps immigrants prepare for all parts of the naturalization interview.

Pronunciator: The World’s Largest Language Learning Service

Prepare for Naturalization Test with Pronunciator

  • Comprehensive language learning software supports learning of 80 languages in 50 different interfaces
  • Largest ESL curriculum with courses in 50 non-English languages
  • Apps are available for iPad, iPhone, Android, and Kindle
  • Includes up to 22 months of guided instructions per language, and 6-8 weeks of travel, citizenship, and healthcare courses.

 


 

Citizenship Interview Training

To schedule an individual appointment for Mock Interview for American history, civics and N400 call 203-351-8228.

If you had failed English part of the exam, please click here to check our ESL and Literacy resources.  

 


 

 Immigration Stories and Citizenship Resources

Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

The movement of people--what Americans call 'immigration' and the rest of the world calls 'migration'--is among the defining issues of our time. Technology and information crosses countries and continents at blistering speed. Corporations thrive on being multinational and polyglot. Yet the world's estimated 244 million total migrant population, particularly those deemed 'illegal' by countries and societies, are locked in a chaotic and circular debate about borders and documents, assimilation and identity. An issue about movement seems immovable: politically, culturally and personally. Dear America: Notes Of An Undocumented Citizen is an urgent, provocative and deeply personal account from Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who happens to be the most well-known undocumented immigrant in the United States. Born in the Philippines and brought to the U.S. illegally as a 12-year-old, Vargas hid in plain-sight for years, writing for some of the most prestigious news organizations in the country (The Washington Post, The New Yorker) while lying about where he came from and how he got here. After publicly admitting his undocumented status--risking his career and personal safety--Vargas has challenged the definition of what it means to be an American, and has advocated for the human rights of immigrants and migrants during the largest global movement of people in modern history. Both a letter to America and a window into Vargas's America, this book is a transformative argument about migration and citizenship, and an intimate, searing exploration on what it means to be home when the country you call your home doesn't consider you one of its own.

American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship

American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship

In his infamous opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Chief Justice Taney had denied that any American descended from Africans, whether free or slave, could claim citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment's citizenship clause repudiated this principle. The Fourteenth Amendment's connection to birthright citizenship, however, is not built exclusively through the lives and fortunes of black citizens. It requires an understanding of the Chinese experience of migration to the United States, and Wong Kim Ark v. United States (1898) lies at the center of this story. Wong Kim Ark, a man in his mid-twenties who had been born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, was refused entry into the United States upon returning from a visit to China. By 1898, the strict policy forbidding most Chinese from entering the United States was well established, and Wong Kim Ark did not claim to fall into one of the narrow exceptional categories like merchant, diplomat, or student. Rather, he claimed that his birth in San Francisco rendered him a citizen. By a vote of six to two, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed. The landmark case established the principle that jus soli (geographically defined birthright citizenship) extended even to the children of US residents who were themselves barred from naturalization on racial grounds. In recent years, birthright citizenship in the United States has provoked renewed controversy. In a political moment when Americans are deeply divided over immigration, there is a special need to understand anew the history behind the longstanding principle that even the children of undocumented immigrants are citizens when they are born in the United States.

 


 

 


 

Citizenship & Immigration Community Resources

Immigration Help

Immigration Help

Legal-aid nonprofit organization helping low-income immigrants prepare their immigration forms online for free.
Provides pro bono help with work permits, DACA, and citizenship applications.

AILA - American Immigration Lawyers Association

American Immigration Lawyers Association logo

AILA Member attorneys represent U.S. families seeking permanent residence for close family members, as well as U.S. businesses seeking talent from the global marketplace. AILA Members also represent foreign students, entertainers, athletes, and asylum seekers, often on a pro bono basis. Services include naturalization clinics, programs for immigrants, service providers, and immigration lawyers.

Jewish Family Service of Greenwich

JFS Greenwich logo

A non-profit, non discriminatory social service agency which provides quality, affordable social services. Accredited representatives.

Address

One Holly Hill Lane
Greenwich, CT 06830
United States

Phone
203-622-1881

Building One Community

Building One Community: The Center for Immigrant Opportunity logo

A non-profit with the mission to advance the successful integration of immigrants and their families. Services include English language classes and tutoring, preparation for Citizenship exams, Workforce Development classes (healthcare, culinary, construction, landscaping, entrepreneurship, IT literacy), access to job opportunities, case management, academic enrichment for elementary school children and Immigration Legal Services support.

Address

417 Shippan Ave. Stamford, CT 06902
75 Selleck St. Stamford , CT 06901
United States

Phone
203-674-8585

Adult Continuing Education

Stamford Public Schools: Excellence is the point logo

Programs and enrichment courses for residents of Stamford and surrounding communities.

Address

175 Atlantic St.
Stamford, CT 06901
United States

Phone
203-977-4209