Practice Areas & Industries: Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Practice/Industry Group Overview

In today's global economy and politically-charged climate, the need for immigration counsel has never been so critical. Nearly every international relationship today has an immigration component. Business executives handling international commercial transactions, U.S. citizens with family members who are foreign nationals, foreign nationals contemplating either business or personal relocation to the United States, and employers seeking to hire foreign national workers must take immigration into account.

This already complex area of the law has been further complicated, however, by concerns over homeland security coupled with the nationwide debate over immigration and jobs outsourcing. The greater enforcement of existing legislation along with the emergence of new, more restrictive legislation has had wide ranging and often unexpected consequences for individuals and businesses alike.

The attorneys in Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Immigration Practice Group apply their years of wide-ranging experience to analyze and resolve these immigration-related issues, while remaining attuned to emerging developments that can affect a client's interests.

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Our Immigration attorneys represent institutional clients and multinational corporations operating in diverse industries and countries. Common areas where immigration issues arise include audits of employer compliance with immigration and labor regulations; employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions; investment and professional visas; and review of corporate structure and documents of foreign and/or U.S. companies for compliance with regulations.

Buchanan's Immigration attorneys also assist individuals and families in resolving employment, investment, residency and other immigration issues. These include preservation of permanent residence status; eligibility for U.S. citizenship; naturalization proceedings; the filing of immigrant visa petitions on behalf of foreign national family members; and the use of business investment in the U.S. as an individual immigration strategy. The group also can assist with the incorporation and establishment of U.S. subsidiaries and affiliate companies, as well as the development of immigration policies and reimbursement agreements for corporate clients.

With the assistance of the firm's other practice groups, including our tax, corporate, labor and employment attorneys and government relations professionals, our Immigration Practice Group regularly assists clients with such diverse issues as:

• Reviewing the tax consequences of relocating operations to the United States or a foreign country.
• Determining the immigration impact of mergers and acquisitions on company employees.
• Identifying investment opportunities in the United States and abroad for business expansion.
• Processing E-1, E-2, E-3, J-1, H-1B, H-3, L-1A/L-1B (blanket and non-blanket), O, P, and TN visa petitions.
• Establishing enterprises that provide the best immigration platform possible for the transfer of key employees between companies.

In particular, our attorneys possess significant experience in handling visas for "specialty occupations," a term generally used to refer to the employment of professional employees in a position requiring a baccalaureate degree as a minimum qualification. Recently, we have represented several major corporations and organizations that sought to temporarily employ foreign nationals in these specialty occupations. For example:

• In the nanotechnology field, we successfully achieved lawful permanent residence for the Director of Applied Science of a well-known nanotechnology firm, based on his outstanding and unique achievements in the field.
• In economics, we successfully achieved lawful permanent residence status for the former Finance Minister of a South American country, based upon the policies he formulated and implemented that saved his country from economic collapse during his tenure. Similarly, we processed permanent residency for a world-renowned economist whose accomplishments have been documented by such notables as a former U.S. Treasury Secretary.

In addition to our U.S. immigration practice, our Immigration Practice Group places particular emphasis on consular practice on behalf of both corporate and individual clients. This work includes visa reinstatement and waivers of inadmissibility. We have been successful in several cases that involve the restoration of the nonimmigrant visas of foreign nationals who were previously deemed inadmissible to the United States. We also provide counsel to U.S. corporations concerning outbound transfers of key employees to foreign countries, and can assist with obtaining the necessary work and residence permits for U.S. citizen employees to live and work in other countries.

Inherently, immigration issues must withstand the scrutiny of various government agencies. Our Immigration attorneys have successfully represented clients before the Department of Labor, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Immigration Board of Appeals and the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review. When necessary, we have litigated deportation proceedings in immigration courts throughout multiple states, most recently in New York, Florida and Massachusetts.

Our Immigration attorneys are leaders in their field, with a member of the group recently selected as a 2005 and 2006 "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer" and for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2007. They are also active in professional organizations that focus on immigration, such as the American Immigration Lawyers' Association, and frequently write and speak on immigration issues. Backed by the full resources of the firm, they practice from offices located in strategic parts of the country that are home to a large number of firms and individuals with foreign interests.

Recent representative matters handled by the Immigration Practice Group:

• On behalf of a large European manufacturer, petitioned for E-2 treaty investor nonimmigrant visas, enabling it to transfer business personnel to the U.S. for extended periods of time to oversee or work in a related U.S. enterprise.
• Represent major corporations by petitioning for H-3 nonimmigrant trainee visas to be used by foreign nationals who come to the U.S. for a temporary period to engage in an established company training program.
• Represent health care organizations, universities, colleges, and corporations seeking "national interest waivers," in order to permanently employ foreign nationals in the U.S. as nurses, physicians, researchers, and scientists.
• Represent international organizations that wish to bring foreign nationals to the U.S. to participate in U.S.-government-approved exchange-visitor programs allowing the foreign national to engage in studies, research and training in certain fields.
• Draft federal immigration-related legislation intended to bridge the existing impasse between opposing camps in the ongoing debate concerning immigration reform.
• Representing professional sports teams seeking to employ foreign national athletes.

Immigration has always played an important role in our country's history. Similarly, over the years it has also been a contentious subject. However, now more than ever, it raises a host of new challenges for businesses and individuals alike. Our Immigration Practice Group is prepared with the knowledge, experience and resources to assist clients with all their immigration needs, both now and in the future. The attorneys in our Immigration Practice Group assist our clients with their immigration-related needs and we pride ourselves on our quick turnaround, quality product and stellar efficiency.