Already one of only two campus law offices in the state to provide students with legal representation, NC State’s Student Legal Services has recently become the only university office in the state with a full-time immigration attorney.
Hoang Lam, immigration attorney at Student Legal Services, said he saw 499 students last year regarding green cards, asylum, J-1 visa waivers and other immigration cases.
Lam said going to a private immigration attorney can cost thousands of dollars, with a green card case being around $3,000 to $5,000 per person and asylum anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000. Pamarah Gerace, director of Student Legal Services, said that they provide this same service at no cost to the student.
“We specifically put in for a student fee to be able to add a fourth attorney,” Gerace said. “We did that in 2014, and Hoang started working with us in the very beginning of 2015 … We were seeing [students] coming in our office, and we were very frustrated because we didn’t have anybody to refer them to; they couldn’t afford it … We got tired of saying no to the students.”
Gerace said Student Legal Services at NC State is one of about 50-100 universities across the nation in the National Legal Aid & Defender Association. Of these universities, she estimates very few have immigration attorneys.
“Hoang has been able to help with some of our other colleges and universities that are part of Student Legal Services nationally,” Gerace said. “That is probably what we see with our national association, more than anything else; everybody wants to add an immigration attorney.”
Lam said he spends easily over 100 hours preparing for one assignment, with additional time spent preparing students for interviews and even attending interview sessions alongside clients.
“Besides the cost, there are other reasons why having an immigration service at the university level is very important,” Lam said. “Mostly, those types of cases are for vulnerable populations … Those students tend not to have the funding to pay for a private immigration attorney.”
According to the Office of Global Engagement, over 3,300 international students study at NC State each year, representing more than 130 countries.
“We help not only international students, but also students who are U.S. citizens or green card holders [who] want to bring their relatives or help their relatives get the green card,” Lam said. “It is really the entire student population that receives help.”
In North Carolina, Gerace said that NC State and UNC Chapel Hill are the only campus law offices that represent students, with an attorney at Appalachian State doing part-time legal advice.
“It’s one of those things where the need is very great and there’s just not that many people or that many organizations that can take on that workload,” Gerace said. “Everybody wants a free attorney, but attorneys have to pay bills too, so there’s only so many free resources. We were very fortunate to have Hoang who, before he came here, has always worked for nonprofits. He understood where the students were coming from and what their need was.”
Students can contact Student Legal Services through their confidential email (studentlegal@ncsu.edu), by phone (919.515.7091), or in person at 1107 Pullen Hall. More information can be found on the Student Legal Services website.
