How to Get STarted With Immigration Evaluations
Conducting immigration evaluations can be a great side hustle for mental health practitioners. It can diversify what you do without having to compromise your compensation. The problem though is with how to get started. I see many people selling trainings, consent forms, sample reports and other things to therapists looking to do immigration evaluations. When I was figuring out how to do these evaluations, I found the information heavily guarded. However, after having broken through and successfully completing these evaluations, I have learned that these course are not always needed. In this article I want to share with you how I was able to begin doing immigration evaluations without paying for unnecessary trainings. Let’s get started!
Oh yes, I also have a webinar about this that will be live in my consultation group on 9/28/2023. This is an online community where you can interact with me directly. Sign up today!
What are Immigration Evaluations?
To put it simply, an immigration evaluation is a type of mental health assessment a provider conducts with an individual to help them or their family with the immigration process. There are two components to an evaluation: the interview and the written report. Additionally, there are several types of evaluations:
Extreme hardship waiver & cancellation of removal
Asylum, VAWA, U & T visas
Naturalization waivers or N-648
You can read more about the nuances of these evaluations here.
For the most part, a mental health worker conducts a hardship waiver. In essence, this report is a mental health evaluation of a U.S. Citizen with a focus on the issues one would experience if their family member was removed from the U.S. We will talk more about this down below.
Who can do Immigration Evaluations?
Most immigration evaluations can be conducted by a masters level, licensed clinician. However, some require a Ph.D. The hardship evaluation, which is the most common, can be done by a masters level clinician. This may vary from state to state, so just double check with your attorney and/or licensing board.
Do You Need to Get Training?
Do you need to pay for extra trainings and consent forms to get started with these evaluation? Most likely NOT! If you are a relatively seasoned clinician who has conducted intake assessments, you will be able to do a hardship evaluation. You just need to learn what questions to ask in order to build the written report. The good news is you don’t need to pay to figure this out. You can learn this by reading a few sample reports and getting a feel for what the report entails. I connected with a local immigration attorney via cold email, explained that I was interested in learning more about evaluations, and they provided me with some sample reports. There was no charge for this! After reading through these reports, I realized it was possible. In fact, it was not too different from the work I had been doing all along.
Steps to Get Started Doing Immigration Evaluations?
It’s important to know that there is no formal training required to conduct immigration evaluations. You already have the credentials if you are a licensed mental health professional. That being said, below is the process I followed to conduct immigration evaluations without paying for unnecessary trainings.
Connecting with an attorney
Most referrals for an immigration evaluation are from an immigration attorney. This is who you need to connect with. I simply went on Google and searched for immigration attorneys in my area, and began cold emailing them.
Many of these attorneys may already have a relationship with a provider who is conducting evaluations for them. With this in mind, you need to figure out what will make you stand out. Is it a lower price, quicker turn around times, bi-lingual, etc. This will be the attribute you speak to in your email.
I sent out tons of cold emails and received about 2-3 responses. However, those few responses became my entryway into conducting evaluations. One of the attorneys I connected with sent me samples and was willing to answer some of my questions. From there, I got started with the evaluations.
Forms
You do need specialized consent forms for these evaluations, but your attorney (the one you consult with for regular clinical matters) can provide these to you. I contacted my own attorney, shared with him I was doing an immigration evaluation, and he provided me all the consent forms. This was all done through a brief phone call and follow up email.
Samples
As I mentioned above, you want to get your hands on some sample reports. This is really going to be how you learn. Many attorneys will have sample reports they are willing to share. Just ask! Even if they are not going to be a referral source, they may be willing to answer some of your questions and/or provide you sample reports. Even that is well worth it.
Go For It
After you complete the above steps you will be ready to do your first evaluation. Remember, it is a learning experience. You already know the foundations, but it requires practice to excel. Also, if you forget to ask something, you can always connect with the client again. Finally, you will go back and forth with the attorney until the report is ready to go. There is a lot of grace throughout the process. Take a deep breathe and go for it.
Some final thoughts (how much can you make, how long Do they take to complete, etc.)
Although some people have turned this into a career, I have learned that the need for immigration evaluations is dwindling. It may be best to think about this as just a side hustle.
You are able to charge whatever fee you would like for an evaluation. In my experience the interview may take 2-3 hours (if not more) and the subsequent write up can be 3-6 hours (if not more) depending on your proficiency. It is not quick. Check how much other clinicians in your area are charging for evaluations and determine what a fair price for you would be. In NY, you see prices ranging from $1000 to $3500 depending on the credentials (this includes the report and the interviews).
Do you want to go deeper
If you found this article helpful and want to go deeper into side hustles and all things private practice. Consider joining my consultation group. It is a place where you can interact with me directly. Sign up down below. I hope to see you there.
