Immigration Services & Resources

Centro CHA has been a long-time advocate of immigrant rights for over 20 years. For the past 17 years, the organization has been committed to providing immigrant integration services to the Greater Long Beach community with application assistance for Naturalization, Request for Fee Waivers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewals and applications to replace green card for lawful permanent residents.

​Centro CHA charged a nominal fee at one point, but as of January, 2016, with the funding from the One California grant, provided by the California Department of Social Services, Centro CHA has offered services for naturalization and DACA free-of-charge. Centro CHA also provides presentations, consultations, and trainings to community members and stakeholders about the naturalization process of becoming and United States citizen. Centro CHA caters to the immigrant working class by providing free assistance with fee waivers. If applicants are approved by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), they do not pay anything for the process. Application assistance services are provided through monthly large-scale workshops, as well as via individual appointments during office hours.

In addition to providing the above-mentioned services, Centro CHA also prepares its naturalization applicants for the interview process with USCIS. The organization holds two separate cohorts of “English as a Second Language and Civics classes” to prepare lawful permanent residents for the interview required by USCIS to naturalize into U.S. citizens. One cohort is taught by professors from Cerritos Community College, and the other is taught by a professor from Long Beach City College. Lastly, Centro CHA also belongs to the Immigrant Integration Task Force—a Los Angeles based network of immigrant-rights organizations—that is spearheaded by the California Community Foundation, and NALEO Educational Fund (National Association of Latino Elected Officials).

LEGAL SERVICES AT CENTRO CHA

  • Naturalization
  • DACA renewal
  • Green Card Renewal
  • Certificate of Citizenship

Naturalization 

Necessary documents:
  • Driver's license/ID
  • Permanent Resident Card
  • Social Security Card
  • Dates and location of travel outside the US in the past 5 years. 
  • Addresses for places of residence, employment and/or school attended in the past 5 years.
  • Name of current spouse, all previous marriages from you and your current spouse.
  • Names of all your children, date/place of birth (include address).
  • Documentation of ALL arrests and/or court dispositions, even if the chargers were dismissed.​​
  • If interested in applying for a fee waiver, please bring a current verification of benefits or recent tax returns.​

COVID-19 NOTICE

In order to protect our staff and community in light of COVID-19, Centro CHA has cancelled all walk-in services until further notice. We continue to provide our immigration services remotely via appointment only. 
​To schedule an appointment, please contact our office (562) 612-4180.

FREE citizenship/civics courses!

Improve your reading and vocabulary skills while you learn about the history, culture, and values of the United States. You will learn about the application process, civics and history and the English language. 

To register for one of our many classes, please contact our office at (562)612-4180

UPDATE: Due to COVID-19, all civics classes are being offered via online only.