Immigration Evaluation Training for Mental Health Clinicians
Learn how to conduct immigration psychological evaluations ethically, competently, and with confidence, guided by clinical and psycho-legal expertise.
Immigration evaluations are not routine clinical assessments.
They are legal documents that can influence whether an individual or family is allowed to remain in the United States.
This work requires specialized training, careful judgment, and a clear understanding of how psychological findings function in legal contexts.
If you want to do this work, it’s essential to do it right.
You want to help.
But you don’t want to get it wrong.
Many clinicians feel the pull toward immigration evaluation work while also questioning their readiness.
The stakes are high, the legal context is unfamiliar, and the knowledge that a single report can affect someone’s future naturally gives pause.
Wanting to proceed carefully is not hesitation, it is ethical awareness.
This is why training and guidance matter.
PsychEval Coach helps mental health clinicians step into immigration evaluation work with clarity, structure, and ethical confidence.
We provide specialized immigration evaluation training that bridges clinical skill and legal relevance, so you can practice responsibly and competently.
Your clear path to ethical competence…
Immigration evaluation work is not mastered through isolated information or one-off trainings. Ethical, high-quality evaluations require a sequence of skills that build on one another.
This is the path clinicians follow when they become evaluators attorneys trust.
1️⃣
Understand what immigration evaluations actually require
Before writing reports or accepting referrals, clinicians need a clear understanding of how psychological evaluations function in immigration cases. This includes knowing when evaluations are used, what legal questions they are meant to answer, and how this work differs from therapy or standard assessments.
This foundational clarity is where most clinicians begin.
Explore our podcast, Beyond Borders: The Immigration Evaluation Podcast to get started.
2️⃣
Learn what matters (and what doesn’t)
One of the most common sources of harm in immigration evaluations is not lack of clinical skill, but lack of selectivity. Ethical competence requires knowing what to include, how to avoid unnecessary detail, and how to prevent a report from raising questions it was never meant to answer.
Information alone does not teach this judgment. Training does.
Explore our On-Demand Courses for more.
3️⃣
Translate clinical findings into legally usable language
Strong clinical insight does not automatically translate into legal relevance. Evaluators must learn how to communicate diagnoses, severity, credibility, and functional impact in language that attorneys and adjudicators can understand and rely on.
This is where many clinicians with prior training discover gaps in their preparation.
Legal clarity is not about sounding technical - it’s about being precise, disciplined, and consistent.
4️⃣
Integrate skills through structured training and feedback
True competence emerges when understanding, judgment, and communication come together in practice. This requires structure, repetition, expert guidance, and feedback on real-world examples.
This is the difference between knowing information and becoming a reliable evaluator.
Our Expert Training in Immigration Evaluations is designed for clinicians who want to integrate all of these skills into an ethical, defensible practice.
This work is too important to piece together.
There is a responsible way to learn it, and a clear path to doing it well.
PsychEvalCoach is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PsychEvalCoach maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
How clinicians build competence in immigration evaluations
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Foundational Understanding
For clinicians who want to understand what immigration evaluations involve before stepping in.
Read Dr. Shibley’s book, Conducting Immigration Evaluations: A Practical Guide for Mental Health Professionals
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Integrated, Ethical Practice
For clinicians ready to develop full competence through structured training, feedback, and psycho-legal integration.
The 12-week full certificate training program is where understanding, judgment, and report-writing come together in a way attorneys trust. -
Focused Skill-Building
For clinicians who want to strengthen specific areas of practice, such as particular case types or evaluation components.
These trainings address targeted skills, but do not replace comprehensive preparation.
Meet Your Instructor
Dr. Mariela G. Shibley
A licensed psychologist with over 17 years of experience conducting immigration psychological evaluations, Dr. Mariela Shibley has more than a decade training mental health professionals to do this work ethically and competently.
She has worked closely with immigration attorneys and understands how psychological evaluations function as critical, objective evidence in cases where other documentation is often limited. While attorneys can describe hardship or trauma, a well-written evaluation from a trained mental health professional carries a different level of credibility and weight.
For this reason, Dr. Shibley teaches that immigration evaluation work requires more than strong clinical instincts. It demands disciplined judgment, psycho-legal clarity, and the ability to write reports that answer legal questions without raising new ones.
She trains clinicians to develop the judgment, structure, and psycho-legal clarity required to write evaluations attorneys can rely on in high-stakes immigration cases.
What clinicians say after completing the training
“Dr. Shibley's Intensive Certificate Program on Conducting Immigration Evaluations was worth every penny! I highly recommend it to anyone looking to expand their knowledge, skill set, or practice. Dr. Shibley presented effectively, elaborated when necessary, answered questions, and provided case examples, visual aids, and an array of training materials. After completing this training and attending her monthly consultations, I feel better prepared to continue to do what I love with confidence. Thank you!”
- Janet Montanez, LMSW, MHP
“Dr. Shibley was very accomodating in responding to questions. She appeared quite knowledgeable... Very pleasant demeanor and genuinely interested in facilitating a memorable learning experience.”
- Patricia Schneider, PhD
“Being a part of the [Expert Training in Immigration Evaluations] was very exciting, as I have wanted to help my community. The material was a lot; however, it was easy to follow.”
- Veronica Ibarra, LMFT
“This was the most beneficial training I've had in a long time! Dr. Shibley has a wealth of knowledge that she is willing to share and I am so grateful. She anticipates the difficulties that clinicians new to immigration evaluations might encounter and addresses them in a way that provides instant clarification. I have recommended this training to several other clinicians. I can't wait to use this knowledge to give back to the community that I so humbly serve.”
- Niki M. Richard, LPC
If you’re still deciding, start here
These resources are designed to help clinicians understand the role, responsibilities, and ethical considerations of immigration evaluation work before pursuing formal training.
Ongoing conversations about the clinical, legal, and ethical realities of immigration evaluation work.
A concise overview of how mental health professionals contribute to immigration cases, including hardship and asylum evaluations.
In-depth articles expanding on topics discussed in the podcast for clinicians who want a deeper understanding.