Immigration Paralegal II - San Francisco CA

Full-Time Exempt

Hybrid (2-4 days in office)

About Us:

It always seems impossible until its done. - Nelson Mandela

We believe that even the biggest problems can be broken down into small achievable steps. Poverty and access to justice are part of the same problem. And to solve this we just need to discover what the steps are. At Open Door Legal were pioneering the countrys first system of universal access to civil legal representation to dramatically reduce poverty and prove that the law really can belong to all of us. Weve grown 100x since our founding and in the next 3 years we hope to finish scaling across San Francisco and eventually become a model across the country. To achieve this ambitious goal weve created an award-winning and best-in-class legal aid organization full of creative results-oriented people.

We believe that injustice is the heart of poverty and were looking for someone to help us make a systemic impact on how we as a society ensure justice for all.

Overview of Position:

Immigrants are the lifeblood of our city. With almost 40% of San Franciscos residents being foreign-born San Francisco would literally not function without immigrants. Since studies have found that immigrants are more likely to obtain legal status when represented we believe that the only way to create the best-case scenario for our immigrant neighbors is to ensure that everyone who qualifies for immigration relief is able to obtain legal representation. Legal representation has become even more important during these challenging times. It can protect our neighbors and reduce poverty in our city by dramatically improving each immigrants earning potential.

We are hiring an Immigration Paralegal II to help ensure that everyone who lives in Open Door Legals service area who needs immigration legal assistance can access timely competent representation. We are looking for a passionate paralegal to support our growing Immigration Team. Currently we handle only affirmative immigration benefits and in limited cases represent existing clients in removal proceedings. We are looking to expand our removal defense practice and continue helping clients with affirmative immigration benefits.

Because we are a full-service legal aid organization representing clients in nearly every area of civil law we can and do frequently collaborate across teams to provide comprehensive legal assistance to clients in every area of need including Family Law Housing Law and Employment Law.

Overall this position is intended to be a challenging and rewarding experience. Cultural humility is not just conceptual to you; you embody it and commit to growth. Success in this role requires grit dynamism teamwork care and passion (our teams five values). You will report directly to our Managing Immigration Attorney.

Responsibilities:

• Provide support to our low-income clients with sensitivity and awareness to various cultural socio-economic and disability barriers to service and skillfully navigate difficult or tense situations. Deliver a consistently positive client feedback rating for the Immigration Law Department.
• Support your team with administrative and advocacy responsibilities where a law license is not needed including providing clients with individualized case support to increase the efficiency and capacity of your team under the supervision of an attorney.
• Perform paralegal administrative tasks central to the Immigration Teams needs including drafting documents and forms translations and meeting and communicating with clients and guests.
• Support immigration law intakes in-person and virtually across multiple physical Open Door Legal locations.
• Gain competency in basic knowledge of immigration law especially removal defense and direct services legal advocacy including client management and time management.
• Empower immigration law clients to know their rights navigate the immigration system protect themselves and their loved ones and resolve their immigration law issues.
• Mentor junior paralegals and direct reports (e.g. interns and volunteers)
• Efficiently utilize Salesforce our client management system (CMS) to document case activities maintain accurate client records and ensure timely record updates.
• Embrace and embody our values of teamwork grit caring passion and dynamism.

Requirements:

• A minimum of three (3) years of experience in affirmative forms of immigration relief including family-based applications U-nonimmigrant T-nonimmigrant SIJS naturalization VAWA and removal defense.
• Advanced Spanish proficiency (speaking reading and writing)
• At least an associates degree or equivalent work experience. A paralegal certificate or declaration is required for a paralegal designation.
• Strong time-management skills and the ability to organize case tasks manage diverse activities and meet critical deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Must actively demonstrate cultural humility and sensitivity to barriers low-income residents face when attempting to access the justice system.
• Demonstrated understanding of how to effectively provide trauma-informed advocacy for clients in crisis.
• Hybrid position: minimum of three days in-office in one or more of our Open Door Legal office locations.
• Must genuinely enjoy and be motivated by working with low-income clients the vast majority of whom are people of color and be able to work effectively with clients impacted by trauma (emotional mental and physical).
• High level of comfort in learning and using technology and cloud-based case management systems. We use Salesforce Dropbox and the Google Suite.
• Authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
• Must be willing to make a minimum two-year commitment to the organization.

Bonus Points:

• Comfort translating and interpreting legal information from English to Spanish without assistance.
• Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
• Experience working in a high-volume legal aid or similar environment.
• Knowledge of other local non-profit organizations and tools for assisting low-income underserved communities.
• Having lived a significant period of your life in San Francisco proper.

Starting compensation is $76500 - $92500 per year based on experience.

Benefits:

• Loan Repayment Assistance - for staff pursuing 10-year public interest debt forgiveness we will pay the minimum payment on all qualifying loans so that you dont need to worry about student loan debt (this is a conditional benefit).
• Medical/Dental/Vision Plan offerings at 100% coverage
• Generous paid time off (four weeks vacation and two weeks sick/care)
• Flexible work hours
• Generous paid parental leave
• 401K/Retirement Account
• We believe everyone is always learning. We financially invest in individual professional development for each staff member and provide many internal and external mentorships coaching and learning opportunities (conferences workshops etc.).
• We are a fun and hard-working office with best-in-class technology solutions for anyone who is passionate about making a meaningful and measurable difference.

Ideal starting date: June 1 2026

Apply here:

Applications received before April 24 2026 will receive priority consideration.

To apply submit your cover letter and resume. You may type your cover letter into the text box or combine your cover letter and resume into one PDF document for upload.

Open Door Legal is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race religion color national origin sex (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions) sexual orientation gender gender identity gender expression transgender status sexual stereotypes age status as a protected veteran status as an individual with a disability or any other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable federal state and local law including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability please let us know at .