Coursera

Nuts and Bolts of U.S. Immigration Law (Coursera)

Offered by University of Pennsylvania,

This course begins by exploring short term entry and long term entry into the United States. We will cover the various means of short term entry and long term entry, as well as the general application processes. We will also examine exclusion and deportation in the United States. In particular, we will discuss how and why individuals may not be admitted into the United States and possible reasons for deportation or removal. Lastly, we will cover the process of how to become a United States citizen and the various requirements for naturalization.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Introduction to Nuts and Bolts of U.S. Immigration Law
Welcome to this course on U.S. Immigration Law! In this introductory module, we will discuss short term entry in the United States. This will include a discussion about the various means of short term entry and the general application process. We will also cover the fundamentals of student visas, work visas, and humanitarian visas.

WEEK 2
Long Term Entry
This module explores entering the United States as a lawful permanent resident. We will start by discussing the difference between short term entry and long term entry. Then, we will discuss the various ways to obtain lawful permanent resident status. This includes family petitions, self petitions, employer based petitions, asylum petitions, special immigrant juvenile status, and the diversity visa program.

WEEK 3
Exclusion and Deportation
This module covers exclusion and deportation in the United States. First, we will explore how and why individuals may be excluded or not admitted into the United States. Then, we will discuss possible reasons for deportation or removal.

WEEK 4
Citizenship
In this module, we will discuss how to become a United States citizen. We will start by discussing how to gain U.S. citizenship. We will then cover the various requirements for naturalization. Finally, we will explore the naturalization process.

Go to Class

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Coursera

University of California, Irvine

Chemerinsky on Constitutional Law - Individual Rights and Liberties (Coursera)

Law Social Sciences

Chemerinsky on Constitutional Law: Individual Rights and Liberties will highlight the construction and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution through the centuries with an emphasis on protections of individual liberties and the evolution of equal protection. You'll learn the history behind the Constitution, cases that formed important precedent, and how changes in interpretation have been dependent on shifts in cultural and political climate as well as the composition of the Supreme Court.

Sep 7th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Law Constitutional Law Constitution

Coursera

Wesleyan University

Designing and Building Institutional Anti-Racist Spaces (Coursera)

Personal and Professional Development

Designing and Building Institutional Antiracist Spaces (D-BIAS) is a course whose mission is to teach and apply tenets of equity, anti-racism, and cultural justice to students from Institutions to achieve social change. The course is aimed at educators and administrators in educational spaces, lawyers and advocates in spaces that touch civil rights, equity, and whose Institutional mission it is to achieve greater cultural equity.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

Law Justice Personal Development

Coursera

University of Geneva

Children's Human Rights - An Interdisciplinary Introduction (Coursera)

Law Social Sciences

Drawing on the contributions of several academic disciplines including law, psychology, sociology, history, educational and health sciences, economy and anthropology, an interdisciplinary approach guides the student into a selection of critical issues concerning children’s rights. Participants will gain insight relative to the development of this specific human rights category, as well as to the evolution of the challenges faced by children over time and society’s efforts to respond.

Sep 7th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Psychology Law Justice

Coursera

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Genomics for Law (Coursera)

Law Social Sciences

Genomics for Law provides a unique framework to review the history and basics of genomics research as well as explore how genomics has, and will continue to, interact with the law.

Sep 14th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Biotechnology Law Genomics

Coursera

University of Pennsylvania

Benjamin Franklin and His World (Coursera)

History

Welcome to Benjamin Franklin and His World! In this course, we explore the life of one of the United States’ most important historical figures. We examine Franklin’s early life growing up in the American colonies, his professional career as a printer and scientist, and his role in the American Revolution and the founding the United States as a new nation on the world stage.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

History United States US History

Coursera

University of Copenhagen

Constitutional Struggles in the Muslim World (Coursera)

Law Social Sciences

Learn what motivates the restive Muslim youth from Tunis to Tehran, what political positions Islamists from Mali to Chechnya are fighting for, where the seeming obsession with Islamic law comes from, where the secularists have vanished to, and whether it makes sense to speak of an Islamic state. This course is a survey of the constitutional ideas and institutions that have developed since the mid 19th century throughout predominantly Muslim countries, but its focus will lie on the actors that have dominated this discourse and shaped its outcomes. We will look at the large body of classical writings on the Islamic state only in so far as it is necessary to understand the contemporary debate, but concentrate on the legal and political developments of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Sep 14th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Law Indonesia Malaysia

Coursera

Johns Hopkins University

Let's talk about it: A Health and Immigration Teach Out (Coursera)

Health & Society

As the United States grapples with both the short-term and long-term impacts and considers how different groups and individuals are affected, it can easily become overwhelming to keep up with conversations about health and immigration. Most people can generally agree that health and immigration policy affect ALL communities, families, and individuals in one way or another.

Sep 21st 2026

2 Weeks

Health Immigration Health Policy

Coursera

Universidad Austral

Legal Tech and the Digital Transformation of Law (Coursera)

Management & Leadership Business

The digital revolution changed the way we communicate and trade. Now, it is coming into the world of law. This program will give you a broad overview of the main trends that are affecting the legal industry: the birth of the legal tech market and the application of technology in law; the role of artificial intelligence in the automation of the work of lawyers; blockchain technology and its impact on the way we sign and execute contracts; initiatives to ensure access to justice through virtual courts and robot judges.

Sep 7th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Artificial Intelligence Law Justice

Coursera

University of Michigan

Community Awareness: Police Brutality in the U.S. (Coursera)

Social Sciences

The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked a wave of renewed protests against police brutality across the United States. These nationwide uprisings have transformed into an intense interest from the public around understanding systemic racism and abuse of power. Millions of Americans and people around the world are watching incidents of police violence and excessive force captured on video, but are looking to learn about the inequalities at the root of these incidents. While the calls of Black Lives Matter protesters to #DefundThePolice are being heard for the first time by many Americans, they are part of a longstanding effort by communities and activists to reinvest in communities rather than policing and prisons.

Sep 21st 2026

5-12 Weeks

Social Sciences United States Violence

Coursera

Princeton University

Paradoxes of War (Coursera)

Social Sciences

The Paradoxes of War teaches us to understand that war is not only a normal part of human existence, but is arguably one of the most important factors in making us who we are. Through this course, I hope that you will come to appreciate that war is both a natural expression of common human emotions and interactions and a constitutive part of how we cohere as groups. That is, war is paradoxically an expression of our basest animal nature and the exemplar of our most vaunted and valued civilized virtues.

Sep 21st 2026

13-24 Weeks

History Sociology Democracy

Coursera

Johns Hopkins University

ERPO: A Civil Approach to Gun Violence Prevention Teach-Out (Coursera)

Health & Society

Evidence shows that 1 life is saved for every 10-20 Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) issued. ERPOs are legally issued civil orders that allow people on the front lines to ask a court to prevent a person at imminent risk of harm to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing firearms during a critical period of risk. As of October 2020, ERPO laws have been enacted by nineteen states and the District of Columbia and while some aspects differ by state, the general process for applying and issuing ERPOs are quite similar.

Sep 21st 2026

2 Weeks

Law Prevention Gun Violence

Coursera

University of North Texas

Pathways to Civic Engagement (Coursera)

Personal and Professional Development

This course will examine the various ways that individuals engage in a democratic society during the 21st century. Students reflect on their involvement, and sense of responsibility to something beyond individual pursuits, and how they can make a difference within the various contexts of neighborhoods, communities, nationally and globally.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

Poverty Immigration Disability