Also called: Immigration Lawyer
Helps people get visas, green cards, citizenship, or asylum, and defends them in immigration court.
An immigration lawyer might prepare a work-visa petition for a software engineer in the morning and represent a family fleeing violence in immigration court in the afternoon. They spend a lot of time gathering documents and translating life stories into legal arguments. Speaking a second language is a huge asset.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 7 years after high school. Bachelor's in any subject, then a 3-year Juris Doctor (JD) and passing the state bar exam.
Ways in: 4-year college, Professional school. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: International Relations, Political Science, Spanish, Latin American Studies, Sociology.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years). BLS projection for all lawyers (2024-34).
Medium risk for 10 years. AI fills visa forms and drafts petitions, shrinking routine filing work; asylum hearings and guiding families through risk stay human.
Classes: Spanish or another world language, AP U.S. Government, AP World History, Speech and debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 23-1011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.