BY PHYLLIS FURMAN

It’s a Catch-22: Immigrants need loans to help them retrain for better jobs in New York.

But because they’re new to this country and possibly stuck in low paying positions, their access to affordable loans is limited.

Enter the Immigrant Bridge Loan Fund, a first-of-its-kind pilot loan program aimed at boosting the earning potential of the city’s immigrant population.

Launched on Tuesday by Amalgamated Bank in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC), qualified immigrant borrowers will now have access to loans ranging in size from $1,000 to $10,000 with an interest rate of 9.99%.

The small loans are meant to help pay for expenses incurred in gaining the training and certification necessary to trade up to better paying jobs.

“Say they need to take a class at night or they need a certification. We will provide them with a loan on what we think are very good terms,” Andrew Weltman, first vice president of strategic development at Amalgamated Bank, told the Daily News.

Borrowers have the option of paying only interest for 12 months and have up to four years after to complete repayment. There are no penalties if they pay off the loan before it is due.

The loans, which will go to about 200 qualified immigrants, mark the second phase of the Immigrant Bridge Program, a city effort launched late last year to steer foreign-born New Yorkers to jobs in high-growth sectors, like technology, accounting and healthcare.

NYCEDC has partnered with four local organizations to train 400 immigrants who had skilled jobs in their country of birth, but who are earning low wages here because their degrees are not recognized.

“The potential here is to help upwards of 400 low-income New Yorkers connect to better job opportunities in the city’s knowledge economy,” NYCEDC president Kyle Kimball told the News.

The city has invested $1.5 million in the program, some of which will be used to provide partial loan guarantees.

One must go through the program to be eligible for a loan. Participants also have to be legal to work in the U.S., have at least a Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent and earn less than $30,000.

To learn more about training and jobs provided by the Immigrant Bridge Program, go to nycedc.com/program/immigrant-bridge.

pfurman@nydailynews.com