We recognize that in the global economy, many businesses require and attract the talent of individuals from foreign countries. In today’s world, the immigration landscape can be daunting. At Porter Wright, our immigration team is well-versed in navigating our clients through this terrain.

The partners in our immigration group have over 50 years of combined experience representing clients ranging from small start-up businesses to corporations with global presence. This includes representation of clients in a wide variety of industries, from manufacturing and financial services to technology and health care. We partner with our clients and provide a team-oriented approach to our service and advice on strategy, mobility and compliance in today’s continually evolving immigration setting.

Our representation extends to both inbound and outbound mobility and to all non-immigrant and immigrant matters, and our attorneys have extensive experience appearing before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) within the country, and at embassies and consulates worldwide. We provide additional representation in administrative agency hearings and federal court, as needed.

Inbound Immigration:

  • Non-immigrant visas (E, H, J, L, O, P, R, TN)
    Our team provides strategy and advice to companies seeking employment-based visas for foreign nationals with varying levels of experience and in a variety of occupations.
    • E-1/E-2 Treaty Traders and Treaty Investors
    • E-3 Certain Specialty Occupation Professionals from Australia
    • H-1B Specialty Occupation
    • J-1 Exchange Visitors
      • J -1 Waivers in fields of the Arts, Academia and Medicine
    • L-1A/L-1B Blanket petitions and Intracompany Transfers
    • TN NAFTA Professionals (Canada and Mexico)
    • P-1 Artists, Athletes, and Entertainers
    • O-1 Extraordinary Ability
  • Immigrant visas
    We are experienced in each step of the process of securing immigrant visas for our clients. This includes PERM/labor applications and recruitment, immigrant petitions, adjustment of status filings, national interest waivers, petitions for multinational managers and executives, extraordinary ability and outstanding researchers visas, and family-based applications.
  • Citizenship and naturalization
    We assist our clients with citizenship issues and in the naturalization process.
  • Compliance
    We offer services in I-9 verification, counsel during audit and investigation by government agencies, and due diligence.

Outbound immigration
We recognize our clients’ needs are not limited to employment within the United States. For many of our clients, it is necessary to arrange for the outbound travel and immigration of employees. In order to meet these needs, our team stays ahead of local policies in foreign countries. Once we have determined whether a visa or work permit is necessary, we assist our clients in the application process of securing the appropriate documentation for travel. Our goal is to ensure compliance in each destination.

Approach to client service
We take pride in our responsiveness and are committed to effective and efficient communication with management and human resources professionals to offer a streamlined experience from the initiation stages of a case through final adjudication.

We are mindful of the constant changes to immigration policies, and in order to best serve our clients, our attorneys are active participants in the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Practice Chair Rob Cohen has served as chapter chair and is a past chair of both the USCIS Benefits Committee and the Nebraska Service Center Liaison Committee.

As part of our team-oriented approach, we offer our clients direct access to our immigration case management portal so we can work together to track the status of all applications, as well as any post-approval issues and expiration dates, to avoid potential delays. To access our portal, please login.