Immigration

Details

“Immigration law has never been for the faint of heart. Anyone even passingly familiar with this formerly backwater, now front-burner subject knows that it is routinely frustrating, confusing, illogical and dispiriting. Its complexity and obscurity have been assailed by the courts, Congressional researchers and even government officials charged with granting immigration benefits.”

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services spokesperson, Karen Kraushaar.

HunterMaclean’s immigration practice group has over twenty years of experience in a wide range of complex immigration issues and has represented foreign nationals and companies from all over the world.

Our representation includes:

• Hospitals who wish to hire foreign physicians
• Businesses who wish to hire foreign nationals or transfer existing employees to the United States
• Companies subject to Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) I-9 recordkeeping audits and investigations for knowingly, unknowingly, or negligently hiring illegal aliens
• U.S. citizens who marry foreign nationals
• Families who wish to bring loved ones to the United States

We represent our clients in front of the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, the U.S. Department of State, the National Visa Center, various U.S. consulates overseas, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

We work closely with our clients at the earliest possible stage to help them develop strategies to ensure that they maintain lawful status in the United States, do not violate the immigration laws, and are always authorized to work and travel.

When the government investigates, our immigration attorneys have represented employers in a variety of industries regarding form I-9 audits and have worked closely with defense counsel where the government claims criminal intent. We regularly conduct internal immigration audits for clients and advise clients with respect to compliance with form I-9 requirements, E-Verify, state immigration law, and federal contractor immigration obligations. Our immigration practice group has been given top-tier designation by the US. News & World Report/Best Lawyers ranking. Our immigration attorneys are also members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Experience

One of our specialties is working with foreign physicians, and we understand the challenges such physicians face when working in the United States. If a foreign physician enters the United States with a J-1 visa to complete a medical residency and then wishes to stay and work, he or she must obtain a waiver of a “two-year home residency” requirement. We work directly with state Departments of Community Health, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services to ensure that the physicians obtain waivers of the home residency requirement and obtain H-1B visas so they can work in the United States. Many of these physicians go on to obtain green cards and become U.S. citizens, and we have expertise in that area as well.

We specialize in temporary work visas including: (i) H-1B visas for foreign nationals in “specialty occupations” where the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher is required; (ii) L-1A and L-1B intra-company visas for international companies needing to bring foreign employees to the United States; (iii) E visas for business owners, managers, and employees who are engaged in trade or investment in the United States; and (iv) O visas for aliens of extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business, or athletics. We also specialize in permanent residency (a/k/a “green card”) applications, which confer on foreign nationals the right to live and work in the United States without time limitations. The two most common ways of becoming a permanent resident are through close family ties to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or through employment in the United States, usually based on a job offer from a U.S. employer.

“Mills Fleming helped me obtain an O-1 extraordinary ability visa as a physician clinical geneticist in 2006. In 2011 he assisted me with an H-1B work visa as a professor and teaching physician at the James H. Quillen Medical School in Tennessee, and a green card based on my marriage to a U.S. citizen. Mr. Fleming and his staff have always been there for me and my family during the complex immigration application process. He is thoughtful, informed and always willing to help when unforeseen circumstances arise. Mr. Fleming is the immigration attorney I highly recommend.” 

Apostolos Psychogios, M.D. (citizen of Greece)

Additional Expertise

• B visas for business and pleasure travelers
• E treaty trader and treaty investor visas
• F student visas
• H-1B work visas for professionals
• H-3 training visas
• J exchange visitor visas
• J-1 visa waivers and work visas for foreign physicians
• K visas for fiancés and spouses of U.S. citizens
• L intra-company transferee visas
• extraordinary ability visas in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics
• P visas for entertainers and athletes
• R religious worker visas
• TN work visas for Canadian and Mexican foreign nationals
• Family-sponsored permanent residence petitions
• Employment-based permanent residence petitions 
• National Interest Waivers
• Permanent labor certification (PERM)
• Naturalization / U.S. citizenship
• I-9 audits

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