The immigration law practice at Ward and Smith, P.A. began in 1996 when an employer client requested assistance in bringing a foreign national from overseas to fill a specialty occupation. Ward and Smith successfully brought that person to the United States, and since then its immigration law practice has continued to grow. The Immigration Practice Group works closely with local, regional, national, and international corporations and businesses. We provide advice and counsel to clients on issues associated with seeking the appropriate temporary and permanent employee visas for professionals, executives, and other skilled foreign workers and permanent residence for foreign nationals.
The Immigration Practice Group serves not only employers but also individuals. Services to employers include providing information regarding verifying employment eligibility of employees (U.S. citizens or not) using Form I-9; advising employers on citizenship and national origin discrimination and document abuse under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986; handling applications for all temporary and permanent employment-based visas and for labor certification; assisting employers seeking visa extensions for foreign nationals or change of status for foreign nationals moving from one employer to another; assisting foreign nationals desiring to be self-employed or to form their own professional associations; and guiding lawful permanent residents through naturalization.
Services to individuals and families include counseling sponsors of visas for spouses, siblings, parents, children, stepchildren, and adopted children (international adoptions) who are seeking entry into the country, whether they be relatives of permanent residents or of U.S. citizens; adjusting status for foreign nationals already in the United States; assisting those whose fiancés and fiancées are seeking to enter the country; and guiding foreign nationals through the lengthy naturalization process.
Clients of the Immigration Practice Group include not only individuals and families but also businesses such as banks, boatbuilders, construction companies, crop farmers, poultry and swine operations, and seafood processors-any businesses that need seasonal workers, highly skilled specialists for long periods of time, or managers from U.S. subsidiaries in other countries. A full-service law firm, our resources reach beyond immigration issues to meet all of a client's requirements.
We handle a variety of cases such as petitioning for and obtaining reentry permits for permanent residents who have been out of the United States and obtaining permanent residency for highly skilled foreign nationals such as farm managers, computer engineers, and managers of international companies. The process of petitioning for reentry permits is uncomplicated, but the consequences of not doing so are severe: permanent residents may jeopardize their status. Obtaining permanent residency for specialized employees is a more difficult process, requiring labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor (to justify hiring a non-U.S. citizen, rather than a U.S. citizen, for a particular job) and petitioning for permanent residency for foreign nationals and their family members. We also prepare foreign nationals and their family members for interviews with government officials and a test on American government and history.
The Immigration Practice Group deals with immigration laws, and federal and state criminal laws, which may affect foreign nationals' petitions for permanent residency: the Immigration and Nationality Act, Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments, Immigration Reform and Control Act, Immigration Act of 1990, Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments, Violence Against Women Act, Division C of the Omnibus Appropriation Act of 1996, Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act, Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act, American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, and Legal Immigration Family Equity Act.
We not only interact with the agencies administering those laws, such as the U.S. Customs Services, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. State Department, and all other law enforcement agencies, but also represent clients before the Immigration Courts, U.S. District Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Some of the many cases handled successfully by the Immigration Practice Group include bringing managers of international companies from overseas to work in new companies in Eastern North Carolina and bringing in construction crews from overseas for large construction companies in the United States.
In addition to its usual services, the Immigration Practice Group offers seminars to chambers of commerce, employers' groups, trade organizations, and refugee relief organizations, to name a few. Seminars cover topics such as what the law requires, what changes are forthcoming, what enforcement activities are occurring, and how to handle audits. The immigration law attorney at Ward and Smith is one of very few immigration attorneys in eastern North Carolina, and she disseminates immigration law information to attorneys who lack that concentration. The Immigration Practice Group handles referrals from other attorneys and works with other attorneys whose clients face immigration law issues while protecting their attorney-client relationships.
The Immigration Practice Group not only draws on the expertise of attorneys in other groups—such as Labor and Employment, Litigation, and Business—but also handles referrals from other groups of the firm, such as foreign nationals facing charges of traffic violations. The Immigration Practice Group also deals with issues of citizenship, national origin discrimination, and Title VII claims.
