Ms. Pinto is a Senior Attorney practicing in Butzel Long's Detroit office. She concentrates her practice on immigration law.
Over the last ten years, Ms. Pinto has focused her immigration practice on business immigration, and she has gained extensive experience representing local, national and international companies in obtaining authorization for foreign national employees to work temporarily and permanently in the United States, through various work-authorized visa classifications (including H-1B, TN, L-1 and O-1) and employment-based permanent residence processes (including Multinational Manager/Executive, Extraordinary Ability Alien and Outstanding Researcher and PERM Alien Labor Certifications).
In the last five years she has successfully guided clients and their foreign national employees through the U.S. Department of Labor's PERM Alien Labor Certification Process and through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)'s Immigrant Petition and Application for Lawful Permanent Residency Process. Ms. Pinto has also assisted clients in responding to complex Requests for Evidence and in preparing government appeals for client matters. She has assisted new and start-up companies in the United States in the hiring of foreign nationals, including the transfer of their executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge personnel. She has also assisted companies and their employees with business travels or transfers to related entities in other countries, with the applicable outbound visa processes.
Ms. Pinto regularly provides comprehensive guidance to business clients with respect to their foreign national workforce, including short and long-term strategy and planning, immigration compliance (such as I-9s, H-1B Public Access Files and PERM Audit Files), as well as immigration-related issues that arise on a daily basis. She has assisted clients with internal audits and provides useful and practical training on how to conduct self-audits to ensure compliance with ever-evolving and complex immigration laws and policies. Ms. Pinto has also advised on the drafting and establishment of immigration policies and practices for companies, in conjunction with human resources personnel and management input. She regularly provides training that is tailored to company workforce and foreign employment policies and practices, including strategy and best-practice reviews to streamline the immigration process for human resources staff, management, and their foreign national employees.
Ms. Pinto also has substantial experience with the J-1 Intern and Trainee, H-3 Trainee and B-1 Business Visitor visa processes, providing relevant guidance regarding permissible activities in these visa classifications. She has represented individuals eligible for family-based permanent residence in the United States (including I-751 removal of conditions on permanent residency) as well as U.S. Citizenship.
Prior to joining Butzel Long, Ms. Pinto worked as an immigration attorney at other Detroit law firms. Ms. Pinto also worked as a Dean of Students in the Upper School of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where she has served as a member of the Alumnae Board since 2006.
Ms. Pinto is a member of the firm's Recruiting Committee, Women's Initiative Committee, and Foreign Internship Committee. She has presented at Butzel Long's Business Immigration Seminars and its Labor, Employment and Immigration Law Forums.
Ms. Pinto is a graduate of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (B.A. in Political Science, 1998) and Wayne State University Law School (J.D., 2001). During her undergraduate studies, she studied international law and French in Paris, France. While attending law school, Ms. Pinto interned at the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Immigration Court in Detroit, where she assisted three Immigration Judges observed numerous immigration proceedings. She also interned at the Archdiocese of Detroit's Immigration Legal Services. Ms. Pinto was also a member of Wayne State University Law School's Moot Court, and she advanced to the quarter final round of the Arthur Neef Moot Court Competition. She has served at Wayne State Law School's Free Legal Aid Clinic.
Ms. Pinto is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association (International Law Section and Labor and Employment Section), and the State Bar of Michigan (International Law Section and Young Lawyers Section).
She is fluent in Portuguese and also speaks French and Spanish.
Experience
· Prepared J-1 waivers of 2 year foreign residency requirement based on no-objection letters, interested government agencies, hardship and other grounds
· Represented clients at Port of Entry to process admission to US under NAFTA
· Preparation of J-1 Exchange Visitor and H-3 Trainee applications and petitions for employees of foreign companies with U.S. facilities
· Obtained re-entry permits to maintain permanent residence status in the United States for individuals transferred abroad
· Obtained removal of conditions on permanent residency
· Represented employers in investigations conducted by the USDOL concerning H-1B Labor Condition Application public access file including benching and wage and hour issues.
· Represented employers in USCIS administrative site visit
· Represented clients with applications of waiver of inadmissibility due to past legal history or immigration history.
· Represented clients in obtaining visas at various US Embassies and Consulates abroad
· Represented clients seeking LPR status based on Cuban Adjustment Act
· Obtained re-entry permit to maintain permanent residency for individuals transferred overseas
· Assisted employers in obtaining appropriate nonimmigrant classification (TN, H-1B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, O-1, E-1/E-2, P) and immigrant classification (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and EB-5).
· Assisted family members in obtaining appropriate fiancé or family based nonimmigrant classification for eligible family members
· Analyzed eligibility for naturalization through parents or grandparents and prepare necessary documentation
· Advised employers regarding maintenance of employer/employee relationship when foreign national is placed offsite
· Analyzed effect of corporate changes, including mergers and acquisitions, on foreign national's immigration status.
· Consulted with clients regarding special permanent resident card interviews
· Obtained approval of Immigration Petition for Alien of Extraordinary Ability for various professionals including engineers, scientists, corporate executives, professional athletes, entertainers, coaches, and trainers.
· Conducted internal audits of I-9 forms for clients
· Assisted with preservation of residency for naturalization purposes for individuals transferred overseas
· Conducted in-house training regarding preparing and maintaining H-1B public access files and Labor Certification Applications
News
Media Releases
06.04.09, Butzel Long hosts Business Immigration seminar on June 19, 2009 at Detroit Athletic Club
Publications
Client alerts
04.22.10, E-news: Immigration E-news - 04/22/2010
01.06.09, E-news: Immigration Law - January 6, 2009
12.16.08, E-news: Immigration Law - December 16, 2008
08.14.08, Enews: Immigration Law - August 14, 2008
01.25.08, E-news: Immigration Law - January 25, 2008
Memberships
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
American Bar Association - International Law Section
American Bar Association - Labor and Employment Section
Federal Bar Association
French-American Chamber of Commerce
State Bar of Michigan - International Law Section
State Bar of Michigan - Labor and Employment Section