Greenberg Traurig’s Business Immigration & Compliance Practice develops budget-driven, business-focused compliance strategies and customized best practices and procedures to minimize exposure and reduce financial liability for companies large and small.

Our practice group includes national experts on I-9 and E-Verify compliance, former Department of Homeland Security leadership, and practitioners with unparalleled familiarity with government worksite enforcement investigations. We have an exceptional track record of successfully defending businesses involved in large-scale government worksite enforcement actions, high stakes administrative I-9 audits, and Department of Labor wage and hour investigations, and in developing practical solutions to the full array of immigration compliance needs, including identity-theft/no-match counseling, anti-discrimination training and policy, and due diligence for corporate mergers and acquisitions. We have an expert Audit team that can be deployed within hours to a client site anywhere in the U.S. and an electronic auditing system that allows for easy to review I-9 corrections and reports. GT also has an H-1b and LCA Audit response team that focuses on Department of Labor and Fraud Detection issues for our clients. Our efforts on behalf of our clients continue to lead to responsible compliance that is respected by the government and relied upon by the private sector.

About the Authors 

Dawn Lurie, shareholder, specializes in developing immigration compliance strategies and programs. She has successfully defended several companies involved in a variety of government audit types and is considered an expert on the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program. Her expertise further includes performing due diligence in the context of mergers, acquisitions, and sales, and advising on the valuation of target companies based on immigration-related liabilities and compliance. She has also developed high profile model third-party audit procedures for companies with contractor and sub-contractor concerns, and has extensive experience working in the trenches of worksite enforcement crisis management. Most recently has been called upon to develop Eb-5 Regional Center compliance programs. Dawn is frequently brought in to serve as co-counsel for compliance-related strategic planning and often publishes and lectures on I-9 issues, including penalties for failure to act in accordance with government regulations, anti-discrimination laws, and employers' responsibilities upon receiving social security "no-match" letters.

Additional Contributing Authors

Laura Foote Reiff is the chair of GT's Business Immigration Group. She focuses her practice on business immigration laws and regulations affecting U.S. and foreign companies, as well as related employment compliance and legislative issues.

Mahsa Aliaskari, shareholder, leads our Los Angeles immigration group. She provides guidance to domestic and foreign employers regarding U.S. immigration laws, regulations and employment compliance matters. Providing practical and innovative strategies and immigration practices that work for companies, since 1998 she has assisted various companies, professionals and skilled workers in obtaining immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. Mahsa focuses her practice on business professionals across a number of industries, including health care, financial, trade, retail and entertainment. She also assists companies with completing due diligence, as well as conducting I-9 and H-1B audits.

Martha J. Schoonover focuses her practice on business immigration matters and assists employers in obtaining temporary, nonimmigrant visas for business persons, managers and executives, treaty investors and traders, professionals (including physicians, researchers and scientists, nurses, physical therapists, engineers, computer scientists, and business professionals), exchange visitors, students, and crew members working on the Outer Continental Shelf. In addition, Martha assists in obtaining labor certifications and permanent resident status for professionals, researchers, multinational managers and executives and other priority workers and in obtaining and relinquishing U.S. citizenship.

Kate Kalmykov represents clients in a wide-range of employment based immigrant and non-immigrant visa matters including students, trainees, professionals, managers and executives, artists and entertainers, treaty investors and traders, persons of extraordinary ability and immigrant investors. She also has extensive experience working on EB-5 immigrant investor matters, working with developers across a variety of industries and with private equity funds on developing new projects that qualify for EB-5 investments.