What Is Certified Welcoming and How Does a Community Earn the Designation?

Certified Welcoming is a designation that Welcoming America awards to communities that meet its Welcoming Standard—a framework for how a place welcomes and includes immigrants and ensures everyone belongs. A community earns it by joining Welcoming America's network, working through the standard's criteria, and being assessed for certification; designations can carry star ratings, and recent examples include Worcester (Welcoming America's 50th Certified Welcoming Community), Durham and Durham County, and Salem (a 3-Star designation). The exact criteria, assessment steps, and fees are not published on the homepage, so a community should confirm current requirements directly with Welcoming America before planning.

What the designation signals

Certification is a public marker that a local government and its partners have made measurable progress toward welcoming immigrants and building belonging for all residents. It is not a one-time award for intent—Welcoming America frames it as part of a movement of "inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs, including immigrants." The star ratings indicate different levels of achievement, as Salem's 3-Star designation shows.

How a community typically earns it

The homepage describes the pathway at a high level rather than as a step-by-step checklist:

1. Join the Welcoming Network. Welcoming America connects a broad network of nonprofits and local governments and supports them in becoming truly welcoming places. Membership is the entry point described under "Ways to Get Involved."
2. Work toward the Welcoming Standard. Welcoming America defines welcoming places "through the Welcoming Standard," which is the reference framework for what a welcoming community looks like.
3. Participate in shared programming. Welcoming Week is the network's public-facing event, and participation is one way communities engage with the movement.
4. Undergo assessment and receive a designation. Certified communities are announced publicly, sometimes with a star rating.

Because the site does not publish the full application process, timeline, or cost, the practical next step is to contact Welcoming America through the network membership route and ask for the current certification requirements.

What it looks like in practice

The designation is tied to real local conditions, not just paperwork. Welcoming America's story on Gunnison, Colorado describes a rural county of about 16,000 residents where local organizations and leaders are building connection and belonging despite a small population and a seasonal-worker economy. That example illustrates the kind of community-level work—coalitions of local government, nonprofits, and residents—that certification is meant to recognize.

Is it the right fit for your community?

If you are exploring involvement rather than certification, the lower-commitment options on the site are joining the Welcoming Network, participating in Welcoming Week, or supporting the mission through a donation. For the certification path specifically, start with network membership and ask Welcoming America for the current standard and assessment details.