Law schools that offer a Juris Doctorate with a focus in Immigration Law deal with both immigration and naturalization laws. Interested students must have a bachelor's degree and pass the LSAT, the law school entry exam. Students take general law classes such as, family law and constitutional law, as well as, immigration law classes like international criminal law, deportation law and permanent resident alien regulations. Immigration Law students must also intern in an immigration clinical training program while they are in law school. Potential immigration law students should check with the law school to see if it offers a concentration in immigration law. Some schools that offer highly ranked immigration law programs are University of Miami, New York University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Virginia.
A Master of Laws degree with a concentration in Immigration Law is an elective based degree program for students who have a Juris Doctorate degree. Students receive an LL.C degree after completing 16 hours of coursework in classes that include International human rights, Constitutional law and Business immigration. The University of Maryland offers an immigration clinical program in which students can take classes pertaining to immigration and international law, as well as, gain experience by practicing mock trials before an immigration court.
An immigration law certificate is popular among lawyers and legal professionals who do not want to spend a year studying for a Master of Laws degree. An immigration of law certificate is also useful for professionals working for Homeland security, Immigration government agencies, and community advocates that help immigrants. Immigration law certificates concentrate on classes that concern citizenship rights, immigration petitions and applications and cover the latest U.S. immigration policies. To obtain a certificate, students must complete five courses pertaining to immigration law such as, family immigration law and naturalization and citizenship laws.
Criminal justice degrees serve multiple purposes and graduates often take entry-level positions as law enforcement for immigration agencies. Students who receive an undergraduate degree in Criminal justice take courses in law enforcement and ethics, as well as, several introductory law classes. Criminal justice students who want to work in the immigration and naturalization field are encouraged to intern in an immigration law firm or immigration organization to gain experience.