An immigration psychologist provides its services at the recommendation of an immigration attorney. The immigration attorney provides legal advice and representation to help immigrants and refugees navigate the complex immigration system and protect their rights.
The immigration psychologist provides independent and comprehensive evaluations that are then utilized by the immigration attorney. The immigration psychologist can also serve as an expert witness. The immigration psychologist provides valuable psychological insights and the immigration attorneys use that information to answer psycho-legal issues relevant to the case. It is important for the immigration attorney and the immigration psychologist to maintain a professional and ethical relationship in order to ensure that the evaluation and testimony provided is objective and unbiased.
The immigration psychologist conducts an evaluation when the immigration attorney requires it for a particular case. Every case has particular needs and not all cases require the participation of an immigration psychologist. The immigration psychologist can assess the emotional and psychological needs of the immigrant and his family, while the immigration attorney handles the legal issues. The immigration psychologist is not a legal expert and must work only within his area of expertise, without interfering with the legal process. However, the immigration psychologist must have a working knowledge of legal procedures, legal standards, rules of admissibility, and testimony. The immigration psychologist must know legal standards governing the case in order to understand the psycho-legal questions that must be answered during the psychological assessment. The immigration psychologist must understand rules of admissibility to determine whether the testing and procedures used are valid and reliable enough to stand the scrutiny of the court and other experts. The immigration psychologist must understand how to provide testimony as required by the case.
Overall, immigration psychologist are retained at the request of an immigration attorney. Not all cases require the expertise of an immigration psychologist. An immigration psychologist serves as an independent medical examiner who has expertise in the psycho-legal issues that are relevant to a particular case. The psychologist and attorney have a working relationship that must protect the independence of opinion and the objectivity of each professional.