Immigration

Overview

Diversity in the workforce helps businesses thrive by empowering innovative problem solvers. Diversity in the community strengthens family relationships that bridge international boundaries. Turner Padget’s Immigration Practice supports these goals by guiding clients through complex immigration laws that permit U.S. businesses to employ skilled foreign nationals and bolster multinational investment, as well as to unite families living in the states.

We are not an ”immigration shop” that deals solely in paperwork and high volume. Our attorneys provide a personalized level of service, working one-on-one with our clients to establish long-term strategies for foreign nationals. Our approach designs a forward-looking path for people from other nations to gain and retain eligibility to live and work in the U.S. and to naturalize as the last step in the benefit’s process.

Foreign Workers

Facing severe shortages of workers with specialized skills, many American businesses bring in foreign nationals to fill critical positions, often at substantial expense. We help businesses protect their intellectual capital and investments in highly skilled employees, such as computer programmers and engineers, by seeking authorization for them to live and work in the U.S. We also work with employers to comply with federal regulations, including paying a “prevailing wage” as defined by the Department of Labor.

Working with multinational businesses operating in the Southeast, we seek intra-company transfers, known as L-category visas. This allows foreign companies to bring in trusted, company-trained foreign workers and executives to manage their branches and new business ventures in the U.S.

Our attorneys have successfully represented applicants in nonimmigrant and immigrant business-based visa categories, including:

• Employment-based green cards (EB)
• Investors (E)
• Skilled workers (H-1B)
• Intra-company transfers (L)
• Clergymen (R)
• Witness protection (U)

Family Immigration

Individuals maintaining their immigration status may often apply for permanent residence in the U.S., commonly known as green cards. Immigration regulations are highly complex, and our attorneys help individuals avoid unanticipated traps that could result in separation from spouses, parents, children or siblings. The three- and 10-year bar rule sets hard limits for time that must pass before individuals can re-enter the U.S. under certain circumstances. Our attorneys help clients navigate this rule, especially considering it often conflicts with a client’s need to travel abroad to visit or care for family members.

The journey to become a permanent U.S. resident is often lengthy. We assist family members in all types of green card applications, including marriage petitions, and petitions for parents and children of U.S. citizens and then guide them through the rewarding process of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.

We have extensive experience working with federal departments and agencies involved in various aspects of immigration and naturalization, including:

• Department of Homeland Security
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• Department of Justice
• Executive Office to Immigration Review (EOIR)
• Department of State
• National Visa Center