Immigration Paralegal Belfast 2024

Are you ready to kick-start your career in law and immigration? We are thrilled to announce that our Immigration department is offering graduate and experienced Paralegal roles! We're on the lookout for motivated individuals who are eager to make a difference in the field of immigration law. While a law degree or legal experience is a plus, it's not essential. We value diversity and welcome candidates from all backgrounds.

The role

As a Paralegal in our Belfast office, you'll have the chance to work closely with our legal teams based in the US, gaining hands-on experience and supporting our mission to represent a diverse range of clients, including many Fortune 50 companies in the U.S. Do you want to be part of a dynamic, inclusive, and growth-oriented team, helping individuals and corporations navigate the complex landscape of immigration law?

Essential functions

Client

• Strives to provide superior client service at all times, in line with our client pledge.
• Consistent delivery of high quality drafts, contributing to our culture of ‘first-time right’ levels of accuracy.
• Understands and applies all client-specific procedures relevant to own client team, ensuring updates are acknowledged and complied with.
• Demonstrates client focus, showing an understanding of client business needs and expectations, always acting with the client in mind, delivering value and quality for them and the firm.

Service delivery

• Assists attorneys and case managers with various immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications, and with any other projects and tasks which may be required from time-to-time.
• Works independently to manage own case load under supervision; prioritizes own cases within agreed deadlines, escalating issues in a timely manner and providing status updates when requested.
• Analyzes and identifies potential legal and procedural issues and escalates to team lead, case manager or attorney as appropriate
• Keeps accurate time records of time spent on client, other work and training.

Knowledge

• Understands and complies with firm, client and Belfast office processes.
• Understands own role and importance of delivering on responsibilities; drives own technical and skills development.
• Understanding of the requirements for various types of immigrant and non-immigrant visa types and of the role and function of the various government departments involved, keeping abreast of changing requirements as appropriate.
• Demonstrates proficiency in drafting applications for various immigrant and non-immigrant visa types:
• Gather and analyze case documents
• Draft required forms in Visatrax
• Draft specialized support letters detailing eligibility for visa classification and other immigration benefits
• Compile draft petition, to include relevant forms, support letters and supporting documentation

Communication

• Contributes to an atmosphere of openness, honesty and respect, where team members support and encourage each other in delivering the best possible outcomes for our clients.
• Appropriately raises issues and concerns to mentor, team lead, site lead or US attorneys/case managers in a timely manner.
• Communicates in a clear and concise manner, ensuring communications are accurate and direct.
• Contributes in meetings, offering own opinions and listening to other views.

Collaboration

• Collaborates with and actively supports others in meeting team objectives, willingly offering assistance unprompted, creating a positive and collegiate working environment.
• Shares best practice with others, making suggestions for improvements where appropriate; shows commitment to a culture of continuous service improvement.
• Shows commitment to 360 degree feedback, asking for and responding constructively to feedback from others, giving timely and balanced feedback to colleagues, team leads, site lead and US teams as appropriate.
• Shows commitment to building the Belfast office culture, actively contributing to our success story and future expansion.

Requirements

• 2.1 Bachelor’s degree in law or other relevant discipline
• Effective client service skills; awareness of the commercial, legal and political landscape in which the immigration practice and our clients operate
• Excellent attention to detail, with the ability to produce accurate drafts and other high quality work, under supervision
• Able to work independently in a busy, deadline driven environment, under supervision
• Excellent planning and organizational skills, with the ability to manage conflicting deadlines, escalating issues as appropriate
• Demonstrates initiative and decision-making skills in solving problems and making recommendations, under supervision as appropriate
• Effective communicator, both verbally and in writing; ability to tailor communication style to meet requirements of the recipient
• Demonstrable interpersonal and collaborative skills, with the ability to act as an engaged, enthusiastic and effective team member

Firm overview

Ogletree Deakins has one of the largest Business Immigration practices in the United States and provides a wide range of legal services for employers seeking temporary business visas and permanent residence on behalf of foreign national employees. We provide comprehensive immigration services to clients of all sizes, including numerous Fortune 500 companies. Our practice is designed to provide superior client service at competitive fixed fee rates. Our attorneys are proactive in handling client matters, from case initiation to case strategy/planning to the successful completion of the case, always remaining accessible to all of our clients.

We are fully committed to the importance of diversity within the legal profession, as well as all workplace environments and strongly encourage the interest of diverse candidates in the firm.