Guide · Immigration & Legal Status
Free and Low-Cost Immigration Lawyers in NYC
Real free legal help exists across the city. So does a scam that specifically targets Latino immigrants — know the difference before you pay anyone.
New York City has more legitimate free and low-cost immigration legal resources than most places in the country, funded by the city, CUNY, and nonprofit legal aid organizations. The challenge is knowing where to start — and avoiding the people who advertise as immigration help but are not legally allowed to give you any advice at all.
📞 ActionNYC: the city's own free legal screening program
ActionNYC, run by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, provides free, safe immigration legal help through trusted community organizations, public health facilities, and schools across all five boroughs, in over 40 languages. Call 1-800-354-0365, or dial 311 and say "ActionNYC," to book a free screening — it costs nothing to find out where you stand and what your options are.
🎓 CUNY Citizenship Now and law school clinics
CUNY Citizenship Now has provided free citizenship and immigration services to New Yorkers since 1997 and is one of the largest university-based programs of its kind in the country — call (646) 664-9400. Several NYC law schools, including CUNY School of Law's Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic, also run supervised student clinics that represent low-income clients on immigration matters at no cost. For anyone detained and facing deportation, the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) provides free legal representation to eligible low-income New Yorkers, run jointly by The Bronx Defenders, The Legal Aid Society, and Brooklyn Defender Services.
📋 The official DOJ list, if you want to search yourself
The Department of Justice keeps an official roster of DOJ-recognized nonprofit organizations and their accredited representatives, who are legally authorized to provide immigration legal help even though they aren't attorneys — many offer free or sliding-scale fees. There's also a separate, quarterly-updated list of pro bono legal service providers organized by immigration court location. Both are published at justice.gov/eoir.
Warning: "notarios" are not lawyers, and it's illegal for them to give you legal advice. In many Latin American countries, "notario público" refers to a powerful, credentialed attorney. In the United States, a notary public is authorized only to witness signatures on documents — nothing more. Notarios, immigration "consultants," and document preparers who tell you what to file, whether you qualify, or fill out your forms based on their own judgment are breaking the law, and their mistakes can permanently damage your case. If you suspect fraud, you can report it to the Federal Trade Commission or your state consumer protection office.
Official source: NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (nyc.gov/immigrants) and Executive Office for Immigration Review, US Department of Justice (justice.gov/eoir).
Sources
1. NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, ActionNYC and Rapid Response Legal Collaborative, nyc.gov/immigrants, accessed August 2026. 2. Executive Office for Immigration Review, "List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers" and "Can Someone Represent You Before EOIR?," justice.gov/eoir, accessed August 2026. 3. USCIS, "Common Scams" and "Protect Yourself From Immigration Scams," uscis.gov/scams-fraud-and-misconduct, accessed August 2026.
Criollo News guides are practical explainers, not immigration advice — every case is different, and immigration rules change often. Confirm your situation with USCIS directly, an accredited immigration attorney, or a DOJ-recognized nonprofit legal service.