Duane Morris LLP

Duane Morris' Immigration Practice Group serves a diverse group of clients including multinational and Fortune 500 publicly-traded corporations, medium-sized privately-held companies, and smaller sized start-up ventures. Our attorneys have experience in a wide range of industries, including: information technology, biotechnology, security, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, market research, banking, shipping, healthcare, entertainment and food and beverage. In addition, we represent numerous universities, embassies, religious organizations, and other non-profit entities, as well as individuals, with immigration needs. We also handle immigration-related litigation and government compliance matters.

On the U.S. side, our attorneys provide clients with a full range of immigration and naturalization legal services which are carefully crafted to reflect each client's goals and objectives.

Our practice has grown to include representation of our multinational clients in global visa, work and residence permit applications, as well as compliance audits in countries on a worldwide basis. This is a rapidly expanding and changing area of law, as countries struggle to protect domestic work forces while addressing the needs of international business. At Duane Morris, we provide a seamless home-host model that involves an in-house team working in conjunction with local expert counsel.

Through a comprehensive knowledge of the legal, political and business context in which immigration and naturalization concerns arise, the Immigration Practice Group assists clients to operate successfully in a world in which capital and business opportunities have no borders. Our team's thorough understanding of the bureaucratic intricacies and our frequent interaction with decision makers at the Departments of Homeland Security, Labor and State in the United States as well as these agencies counterparts around the world, provide a solid foundation upon which we provide effective representation to our clients. Our immigration attorneys also work with members of the firm's trade, customs, international, tax, corporate, business reorganization, healthcare and litigation groups when issues arise which require the skills of lawyers practicing in a variety of disciplines to provide clients with a full range of legal services.

Range of Immigration Services
Technology - EDGE
Immigration Web Resources
J-1 Physicians - What You Need to Know

About Our Unique Experience

Immigration law has become an even more exciting and dynamic field as a result of the opening of world markets, and expanding trade. Our worldwide immigration practice has attorneys throughout the U.S. ,including our California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. offices, as well as local resources in our Singapore and London offices, and comprises lawyers and paralegals with long and varied experience that uniquely positions us to address our clients' immigration needs globally.

Our partners' diverse backgrounds include serving as advisor to presidential administrations and participating in delegations to foreign countries involving immigration and human rights issues. Several of our lawyers have been national and state bar association liaisons to various Department of Homeland Security agencies, as well as the Departments of State and Labor, and are frequently asked to present authoritative programs on immigration issues across the United States and globally.

Our immigration partners are experienced in handling large volume employment-based transactions, and possess unique knowledge and experience with global visa work — e.g., requirements for U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents or non-immigrants to secure work and residence permits and visas for countries across the globe.

Range of Immigration Services

As many employers know, immigration and naturalization laws globally are enforced by government agencies that often provide restrictive responses to immigration and the legitimate needs of businesses to employ the best workers regardless of nationality. Our Immigration Practice Group assists employers in meeting their needs efficiently and effectively, while endeavoring to minimize the inconvenience, delay, expense and potential liability related to immigration issues. We offer advisory services to help navigate the complex areas of work authorization and immigrant and non-immigrant visa services. We also develop foreign national workforce policies, training programs, and corporate compliance strategies, such as I-9 Compliance and other countries' right to work programs to respond to workplace needs. Further, we conduct on-site preventive training programs designed to meet clients' specific needs.

U.S. Non-Immigrant Visas

There are several types of non-immigrant visas which allow a foreign national to work in the United States. They include H-1B (professionals), L (intracompany transferees), E (treaty traders/investors), F (students with practical training) and J (exchange visitor). We have assisted numerous clients in negotiating the complex maze of regulations, policies and operational instructions that must be navigated to obtain these visas. Issues of current concern include the impact of H-1B quota cap restrictions, portability for H-1B workers, acceptable wage surveys, the interplay between practical training for foreign students and H-1B petitions, changing visa procedures at U.S. embassies worldwide, corporate restructurings, layoffs and terminations, and work authorizations for spouses of L and E visa holders.

Duane Morris lawyers offer clients substantial experience in the analysis and representation of all other types of non-immigrant visas, including issues involving:

• North American Free Trade visas for Canadians and Mexicans
• Free Trade Agreement visas for Chileans and Singaporeans
• tourist visas
• extraordinary ability in science, education, arts, business or athletics visas
• entertainer visas
• foreign media visas
• exchange visitor visas
• foreign medical worker visas
• international organization visas
• student visas
• international cultural exchange visas
• religious worker visas

U.S. Immigrant Visas

Duane Morris lawyers possess extensive knowledge and in-depth experience in obtaining immigrant visas on behalf of clients. We fully understand the most recent changes in immigration laws regarding portability of labor certifications and immigrant visa petitions, tandem filing of immigrant visa petitions and adjustment of status applications, labor certifications and procedures and processing times for applications in the United States, as well as immigrant visa processing and procedures for U.S. embassies around the world. We also counsel employers regarding hiring foreign personnel who have pending applications and work authorization issues. Our attorneys have extensive experience in all facets of immigrant visas, including:

• labor certifications
• immigrant visa petitions
• multinational executives and managers
• outstanding professors and researchers
• exceptional ability visas
• nurses, doctors, physical therapists and other healthcare professionals
• special immigrants, including religious workers, returning permanent residents and broadcasters/journalists
• employment creation/investor
• employment-related family immigrant visas (spouses/children/brothers/sisters)
• adoption
• divorce and widows

Global Visas

There are numerous immigration regimes across the globe. We assist our clients in understanding the options and constraints in each destination country so that the best strategy can be selected, ensuring that both the client and its employees are fully compliant with local regulations. Understanding the current global climate where both local labor market protection and the race for talent define the playing field, we work side by side with our clients to secure appropriate permits and visas.

Duane Morris’ Global Immigration professionals have extensive experience in the full spectrum of global immigration filings, including:

• Employment, investor and family based work and residence permit applications
• Permanent residency and citizenship filings
• Business and Entry visas
• Acquisition of vital records and personal documents
• Program policy development and best practices for global compliance
• Immigration project and/or program strategy
• Immigration and compliance audit assistance
• Client legal, HR, mobility, recruiter, and manager training
• Benchmarking and reporting

Duane Morris attorneys forge relationships with clients to build comprehensive, effective and sustainable immigration programs tailored to fit the needs of our clients the world over. Through longstanding relationships with local counsel on six continents, Duane Morris takes the care to develop intelligent global immigration programs and practices that suit clients' needs ranging from the individual to the program level.

Immigration and Training and Workshops

Duane Morris' attorneys develop and conduct training programs for human resource managers, general counsel and supervisory level employees. The training programs and workshops are designed to meet a client's specific needs in a wide variety of workplace issues, such as:

• I-9 compliance
• public inspection files for H-1B petitions
• portability of H-1B visa petitions, labor certifications and immigrant visa petitions
• new immigration laws, policies and procedures globally
• general foreign assignment considerations
• destination country specific considerations
• project planning
• PERM labor certification applications
• creative alternatives to H-1Bs
• travel and security concerns in the post 9/11 world

Corporate Transactions

Our lawyers are sensitive to the immigration issues related to other transactional matters. When appropriate, we interface with our corporate, real estate, bankruptcy and tax attorneys to provide a complete range of legal services with respect to client needs. The following are representative issues on which we assist in business transactions:

• immigration ramifications of corporate restructuring such as mergers, acquisitions, asset transfers on employees' U.S. Non-Immigrant, U.S. Immigrant, and Global Visa status
• immigration issues for non-immigrants purchasing/financing real estate
• effect of bankruptcy on naturalization application
• international and domestic tax ramifications for foreign corporations and foreign personnel
• tax ramifications of immigration status

Removal (Deportation) Counsel, Hearings, Waivers and Litigation

Our immigration attorneys have handled deportation (currently referred to as "removal") hearings, waivers, material witness warrants and federal court litigation. In the post-9/11 immigration climate, more people are being placed in removal proceedings. Many of those have minor or hyper-technical immigration violations. Further, corporate executives who had youthful indiscretions are also finding themselves in removal proceedings. Our attorneys are frequently called upon to assist in providing representation for the following types clients:

• individuals who have problems at the port of entry
• foreign personnel who are out of status because they worked for a second employer without permission or failed to file appropriate documents with the CIS
• returning permanent residents with old criminal convictions which, at the time of the conviction, would not have been sufficient cause for removal
• corporate executives with old or expunged criminal convictions
• individuals seeking political asylum or relief from deportation under the United Nations Convention Against Torture
• individuals subject to waivers for misrepresentations, fraud, convictions, exclusion at entry, failure to possess appropriate documents

Special Immigration Services

Duane Morris' attorneys also provide specialized immigration-related services to address the business needs of our clients. These services include:

• strategic advice and advocacy on specific client needs
• electronic alerts and other communications
• seminars and workshops on significant developments
• customized training programs

Technology

In order to provide our clients with the most effective and transparent immigration services, Duane Morris has invested in a state-of-the-art immigration solution known as EDGE. EDGE is a case management database system designed with security, usability, flexibility and scalability in mind. EDGE allows clients to securely upload data and access detailed case information status updates and reports online. Client employees are also able to upload information and monitor case progress subject to any client specifications. Moreover, EDGE provides encryption of client and client employee data and communications as well as constant monitoring and intrusion detection systems to keep sensitive information secure. Both company representatives and foreign national employees have access to this system through https://ww8.welcomeclient.com/

"In my discussions with Duane Morris leaders, they frequently speak about how diversity within their firm has enabled them to better serve their diverse clients. They understand that investing in diversity is a wise business decision that positions them for the marketplace of the future."

Don Liu
Senior VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Xerox Corporation

At Duane Morris, achieving diversity is paradoxical. By supporting and celebrating the differences of our attorneys - and the individual strengths that they bring - our firm culture expands, fostering creative solutions for our clients. But diversity at Duane Morris does not mean that we have a certain number of diverse attorneys; true diversity means that it is no longer noteworthy to see diverse lawyers leading our practice groups or managing client relationships. Ascending to positions of leadership and greater responsibility and providing the highest levels of client service is simply what is expected of all our lawyers. Diversity is another strong asset that adds to our collective abilities to meet the needs of our clients.

Our vision of diversity at Duane Morris is to realize an environment in which our lawyers' outstanding qualities are not just measured by ethnicity, race, gender and sexual orientation, but more importantly, that our lawyers are remarkable as excellent attorneys above all else. Only then can we celebrate our differences while focusing on the common pursuit of legal excellence which everyone shares at Duane Morris.

To reach this goal, Duane Morris understands that the familiar diversity strategies and policies that most law firms have are needed. Without demanding results from such policies, most law firms are bound to fail in even achieving numerical hiring and retention goals. Duane Morris has been proactive and ambitious in its efforts to improve diversity at the firm, and has set deadlines for reaching the milestones which mark our progress. To create a more diverse law firm, Duane Morris is:

• Committed to strategically increasing our diversity levels, which is currently at 10 percent.
• Bringing together our Diversity Committee and our Hiring and Retention Committee to raise diversity as an important factor in our hiring decisions.
• Dedicated to improving retention by building upon our monitoring and mentoring program for all diverse associates.

Combining new initiatives with our longstanding diversity efforts, Duane Morris has seen increasingly positive results. In the Minority Law Journal's annual diversity survey of the nation's largest 260 firms, Duane Morris continued to improve its regional and national ranking, rising to number 136 of all firms surveyed. Our strides in Philadelphia are encouraging; in a city known for both the racial diversity of its population and the lack thereof in its law firms, Duane Morris is one of only two law firms to exceed the national average of minority partners at all law firms. Additionally, Duane Morris leads all national law firms based in Philadelphia in the number of Latino partners. Nearly 30 percent of all of our attorneys are women, and more than 20 percent of our partners are women.

In our approach to diversity, progress in racial, gender and cultural diversity cannot be measured in numbers alone. Duane Morris has focused our diversity initiatives on both increasing the number of diverse associates and addressing the challenges diverse attorneys face in building lasting careers and rising to senior and leadership positions. While several of our key practice groups are led by diverse partners and female partners, Duane Morris endeavors to create a culture which will foster a deep pool of such attorneys who can then develop into the firm's future leaders. Duane Morris understands that simply hiring diverse associates will not change the diversity of the firm; Duane Morris is working to mentor and retain diverse associates so that our progress in racial, gender and cultural diversity is also reflected at the highest levels of leadership within the firm.

Our progress on gender diversity has been profound. We have no glass ceilings: women hold positions of leadership at all levels of management at the firm. Women lead a number of our key practice groups, including our Energy, Immigration and International practices, and serve on the firm's Executive Committee. The success of our female attorneys at Duane Morris has not gone unnoticed. Barbara Adams was chair of the firm's Finance Practice until her appointment by Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell to serve as General Counsel of the Commonwealth. In 2004, our longtime General Counsel, Gene E.K. Pratter, was approved by the United States Senate and is now a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Our efforts to improve diversity extend beyond our firm's walls. The chair of our Diversity Committee, Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., recognized the lack of diversity in Philadelphia's legal community and formed the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group. Nolan now serves as the chair of the organization, a consortium of 25 law firms and corporations that commits to employing at least one diverse first-year law student each as a summer associate. From this program, law students of diverse backgrounds gain access to what was once an exclusive legal community, and now have the opportunity to learn and develop their legal careers with experience at Philadelphia's top law firms.

In addition to our involvement in the Philadelphia area, Duane Morris has increased our presence at national conferences and events focused on diversity. We sponsor the Hispanic National Bar Association and its job fair. Duane Morris is also a longtime supporter and sponsor of the Equality Forum, a national gay and lesbian rights organization. Duane Morris continues to sponsor the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and is active in other associations of diverse attorneys including: the Asian American Bar Association of the Delaware Valley; the Charles Houston Bar Association; Cuban Bar Association; Korean American Lawyers Association; National American Indian Housing Counsel and the National Bar Association.

The challenge of improving gender, ethnic and cultural diversity at Duane Morris is an ongoing effort that has the support of the entire firm. Duane Morris has been at the vanguard in supporting gender diversity throughout the firm beginning a generation ago. Our diversity programs are leading to similar success in improving racial and national origin diversity at Duane Morris. But even as we share these examples of Duane Morris attorneys and our involvement in numerous legal events, associations and programs for diversity, our hope is that such examples will no longer be necessary to mention in the future. We hope that through our efforts, and the efforts of other law firms, these stories become so common that they are no longer the remarkable accomplishments they are today, but simply routine aspects of the legal world tomorrow.