Immigration Practice Group

Given the complexities of U.S. immigration law, many businesses and individuals have found it necessary to turn to legal advisers for assistance with immigration issues of all types. Whether you are a business looking to quickly and efficiently transfer an executive, manager or knowledge worker to the United States, a foreign investor seeking to come to the United States to invest capital, or an individual or family interested in immigrating to the United States and acquiring a work permit, Perkins Thompson's Immigration Practice Group can help you achieve your goals.

The attorneys in the Group are Bill Sheils, Hope Jacobsen, Chris Dargie, Stephanie Williams and Keith Dunlap.

No immigration client is too big or too small for us. We represent both multinational and domestic businesses of all sizes and types, and individuals and families. We handle:

• Acquisition of permanent resident status (Green Card);
• Immigration issues involving Canadian citizens under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA);
• Non-immigrant work visas generally;
• Employment-based and family-sponsored immigration;
• Practice before the Asylum Office;
• Litigation before the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Board of Immigration Appeals; and
• Adjustment of Status (L-1A, L-1B, H-1B).

Should the need for an appeal arise, we are also experienced in federal court practice.

We are often called upon to design and implement sophisticated custom-fit solutions for our clients that span the boundaries of traditional practice areas. In addition to our extensive immigration experience, we and other attorneys at Perkins Thompson are well-versed in business and employment matters, backgrounds that allow us to collaborate efficiently on legal issues requiring a cross-disciplinary approach.

Recognizing that many of those most in need of our services are often of modest economic means, we also represent a substantial number of pro bono and low fee clients in asylum and cancellation of removal cases through our close relationship with the Maine Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project. In 2004, Maine ILAP recognized the firm with an award "for excellence in providing pro bono representation to asylum seekers and other noncitizens".