by Andy Farquhar
PRIME ECR (Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees) is a not-for-profit [501(c) (3)] corporation that provides affordable or free services to assist refugees with safe, legal immigration solutions. PRIME was founded in Philadelphia in September 1983. At that time, its goal was the resettlement of refugees who had passed an immigration interview overseas and who were permitted to enter the United States.
Since 1992 the Board of Immigration Appeals (a division of the US DOJ) has recognized PRIME as a provider of immigration counseling and, starting in 1996, PRIME staff members have been accredited to represent before the DOJ’s Immigration Courts. Over the years, as the staff of PRIME gained experience in representing immigration and refugee clients, they found many of their clients are not able to pay typical immigration lawyer fees; as a non-profit, our fee schedules are set to assist as many refugees as possible with our limited resources.
In line with our determination to assist the uprooted and refugees, we have focused, since 2005, on helping clients who would otherwise not be aware of the steps needed to legally immigrate into the USA. We provide help with preparing and submitting all necessary forms and documents (e.g. leading toward Green Card, Naturalization) including travel documents and even overseas processes.
We also can provide legal representation with immigration services and in Immigration Court. We work with immigrants in English, Farsi, Spanish, French, and German – and can provide translators for other languages. We are also familiar with Canadian Immigration Programs. For more information you can contact PRIME – ECR at 610-259-4500