Corporate and M&A

Immigration

The world of global mobility and immigration is complex, and a wide variety of businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on foreign-born workers. Well-established multinational companies seek predictability in connection with their efforts to have senior executives and key employees enter the U.S. to support their business operations, client development activities, and employment. As foreign investors and high net-worth individuals explore business opportunities in the United States, they look for skilled legal partners to facilitate their involvement in those transactions.

When Preti Flaherty’s clients face challenging immigration issues, our Immigration Practice group provides them with responsive, practical guidance. From multinational corporations to tech start-ups, our immigration attorneys efficiently, meticulously, and effectively develop immigration solutions, coordinate visa applications, and facilitate global transfers.

Practical Guidance Supporting Client Goals

Our Immigration Practice Group goes beyond visa processing, providing advice and strategic counsel in the development of comprehensive corporate immigration strategies that support client goals. We advise our business clients on the best short- and long-term approaches based on their specific needs, including:

  • Employment-based sponsorships of employees through the H, L, E, O, TN, and J non-immigrant visa programs, along with consideration of those employees for potential immigrant visa (green card) sponsorship
  • Employment and family-based options for permanent residency, including labor certification, EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 employment-based immigrant visas (Form I-140s)
  • Applications for adjustment of status (Form I-485s)

Lead by an attorney with more than 20 years of experience, our Immigration Practice Group prides itself in thinking differently about our client’s challenges. Group members have successfully assisted clients in navigating all aspects of homeland security investigations, worked with foreign investors on compliance guidelines for setting up companies in the United States, and helped various clients identify and implement creative immigration strategies. Group members also work closely with Maine’s immigrant assistance programs, helping newly arrived immigrants improve their legal status and navigate citizenship matters.

Leveraging Connections to Solve Complex Problems

Immigration and naturalization law exists at the complex interchange of several key factors, including personal connections, strong intermediaries, and goal-focused representation. Our attorneys fiercely leverage their connections to find creatives solutions to complex problems. When necessary, we advocate for our clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and at U.S. Consulates.

Working closely with the members of our Business Law group, our immigration attorneys also offer clients guidance and support to facilitate complex deals with potentially significant immigration consequences including, mergers, acquisitions, and corporate spin-offs. We are frequently engaged to analyze purchase and sale agreements, conduct due-diligence assessments in anticipation of potential transactions, and coordinate the process of filing the visa paperwork necessary to protect the status of foreign nationals on behalf of their new corporate employers.

As business relationships become increasingly global in scope, immigration projects are becoming increasingly complex and time sensitive. By leveraging the full-force of Preti Flaherty’s suite of services, our immigration attorneys enable our clients to manage that complexity.