ERICKSON IMMIGRATION GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior International Practice Project Manager at Erickson Immigration Group 's Dublin
Adrian is a Senior International Practice Project Manager at Erickson Immigration Group's Dublin office in Ireland. He has over nine years of immigration experience in the EMEA and APAC regions. His expertise includes obtaining visas and work permits for employees (new hires/transferees/assignees), advising clients on right to work and immigration compliance, and supporting global mobility & HR teams with management of the company's global mobility programs.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Shareholder
- Partner With
- Partner, Named a "Lawyer of Distinction"
Alejandra Zapatero is a Partner with Erickson Immigration Group. Alejandra has been practicing immigration law for 10+ years in Virginia, Washington D.C., and California. Her practice focuses on corporate immigration, working with large, medium, small, and startup companies in filing employment-based petitions for foreign workers seeking temporary and permanent employment in the U.S. Her experience includes immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions. Alejandra advises employers from startups to Fortune 500 companies on establishing and refining immigration programs, including strategies for hiring, compliance, and complex immigration matters resulting from corporate restructuring, including mergers, acquisitions, and reductions-in-force.
She has counseled clients on workforce compliance, including I-9 issues and public access file audits. Alejandra is proficient in preparing and filing nonimmigrant visas such as E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN. She is also adept in immigrant visa processes, including preparing and filing PERM, I-140 petitions, and I-485 Adjustment of Status applications. She is also well-versed in family immigration law and has represented individuals seeking family-based green cards, deferred action of childhood arrival (DACA) work authorization, and naturalization applications.
Alejandra is a frequent speaker on immigration issues and has presented at various conferences and events, including SHRM, Worldwide ERC, Bay Area Mobility Management, British American Business Council, sf.citi, Global HR Business News, and the Council for Global Immigration.
Education:
University of Richmond, Juris Doctor
College of William & Mary, Bachelor's Degree
Languages:
English, Spanish
Alexandra is a senior attorney at Erickson Immigration Group, with a focus on complex US visa matters, including O-1 nonimmigrant visas for individuals of extraordinary ability, L-1 nonimmigrant visas for intracompany transferees (managers, executives, and specialized knowledge individuals), and the related green card paths for individuals of extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers, and multinational managers/executives (EB-1A, EB-1B, and EB-1C).
Alexandra has over ten years of experience as an immigration attorney, and she enjoys being a trusted advisor to clients seeking guidance on immigration compliance and strategy. Throughout her legal career, she has helped businesses of all sizes and industries, including some of the country's leading technology, manufacturing, and entertainment organizations, secure work authorization for their US-bound international employees. She has experience in a wide range of employment-based visas, including H-1B, TN, E-2, E-3, J-1, L-1, and O-1 nonimmigrant petitions, and PERM, EB-1, and EB-2 National Interest Waiver immigrant petitions. Her experience also includes family-based immigration, waivers of inadmissibility, adjustment of status, and naturalization.
Education:
The George Washington University Law School, Juris Doctor
Florida International University, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Philosophy
Languages:
English, Italian, Spanish
Job Titles:
- International Practice Project Manager With
Alexis Sanchez Rangel is an International Practice Project Manager with Erickson Immigration Group. She has 7+ years of experience in global immigration and global mobility. She focuses on immigration procedures for LATAM and AMER zones. During her professional career before joining EIG, Alexis gained experience coordinating and implementing new business processes. Alexis is an authorized attorney by the Mexican Law, she received her Law Degree from the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Education:
Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, Mexico
Languages:
Spanish, English
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Attorney
- Associate Attorney With Erickson Immigration Group 's San
- Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Member of the California State Bar
Ananth Srinivasan is an Associate Attorney with Erickson Immigration Group's San Francisco Office. Ananth specializes in employment-based non-immigrant and immigrant visas, H-1B, L-1A/B, TN, E-3, J-1, O-1, I-130/I-140, AOS, green card interview appearances, and appellate responses to initial petition filings. Ananth collaborates with his clients' hiring teams and recruiters to offer immigration training, candidate assessments, and strategies to maintain work authorization and visa status.
Education:
University of California at Davis - King Hall, Juris Doctorate
Duke University, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science
Languages:
Proficiency with Italian, French, Spanish, and Malayalam.
Andrew Snow is an associate attorney at Erickson Immigration Group, based in Boston, MA. He has over three years of experience in nonimmigrant visas (H-1Bs, L-1s, E-3s, etc.) and permanent residency cases (PERMs, I-140s, I-485s, etc.). He has assisted clients from various industries, including pharmaceutical companies, software companies, and cybersecurity companies, with their immigration needs. Andrew earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College and Juris Doctor degree from Boston College Law School.
Education:
Boston College Law School, Juris Doctorate
Middlebury College, Bachelor of Arts, Psychology
Languages:
English, Japanese
Andy Finkle has advised companies and their employees on the full range of US immigration options since 2007. His clients range from some of the world's largest and oldest multinational enterprises to brand new start-ups and include nearly everything in between. Andy prides himself on finding immigration solutions that cater to each specific business and ensuring every employee understands their options to work and live in the US.
Andy's practice at Erickson Immigration Group focuses on nonimmigrant (temporary) visas and the corresponding business planning to support a globally-sourced workforce in the US. It isn't a matter of "whether" every company in the US needs an immigration solution, but "when." Andy helps clients in the tech, manufacturing, medical, finance, construction, agriculture, sports, entertainment, shipping, and logistics industries understand and plan for this inevitability.
A routine speaker at the District of Columbia Bar and American Immigration Lawyers Association, Andy enjoys helping other attorneys and professionals better understand the labyrinthian US immigration system.
Education:
University of Nebraska, Juris Doctorate
Emory University, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Political Science
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Attorney
- Associate Attorney With
Ashley Scoville is an Associate Attorney with Erickson Immigration Group. Before joining EIG, she gained experience working with other multi-national business immigration law firms and the Connecticut Superior Court.
Education:
Suffolk University Law School (Boston, MA), Juris Doctor (2018)
Saint Anselm College (Manchester, NH), Bachelor of Arts in History (2015)
Languages:
English, Spanish
Azizi Jones is a senior attorney at Erickson Immigration Group, focusing on nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions. She specializes in extraordinary ability nonimmigrant visa petitions (O-1), intracompany transfers of managers/executives and employees possessing specialized knowledge (L-1A/L-1B), and outstanding researcher and extraordinary ability visa petitions (EB-1A/EB-1B). She also has experience preparing H-1B petitions and I-485 adjustment of status applications. She continues to stay abreast of the ever-changing immigration landscape, including COVID-19 travel restrictions, U.S. embassy closures, and national interest exception (NIE) processes for obtaining visas during COVID-19.
Prior to joining Erickson Immigration Group, she was a solo practitioner filing family-based immigrant visa petitions and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications.
Azizi understands the challenges and complexities of the U.S. immigration system and prides herself on working closely with clients on the best strategies and options in their particular matters. She is a fourth-generation attorney.
Education:
American University Washington College of Law, Juris Doctor
Stanford University, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science
Job Titles:
- International Practice Senior Project Manager
- Senior International Practice Project Manager With
Beata Firosz is a Senior International Practice Project Manager with Erickson Immigration Group in Poland. She has worked in US and Global Immigration teams and has experience with start-ups, large corporate entities, multinational corporations, mergers & acquisitions, reductions in force, compliance programs, and government audits. Beata has represented numerous clients in many different industries, including semi-conductor, telecommunications, software, information technology, manufacturing, management consulting, banking, oil & gas, and consulting.
Her expertise includes all aspects of business immigration and employment-based immigration training for in-house professionals. She is well-skilled in identifying corporate needs for immigration and mobility services and delivering industry-best solutions to meet those needs. Beata has extensive experience defining and implementing worldwide global immigration programs that comply with the immigration laws and regulations of jurisdictions worldwide.
Education:
Borough of Manhattan Community College, Marketing and Business Management
LaGuardia Community College, Paralegal Studies
Languages:
English, Polish
Caline Shamiyeh is an associate attorney with Erickson Immigration Group with experience representing foreign nationals and employers in employment-based immigration matters. Caline's primary focus is working on U.S. nonimmigrant and immigrant employment-based visas, including L-1 petitions and EB-1C petitions. She also has experience with other nonimmigrant and immigrant-based matters, including H-1B, O-1, PERM, and adjustment of status.
Education:
University of Virginia School of Law, Juris Doctor
The University of Virginia, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology
Languages:
English, Arabic
Cassandra Jeffers manages one of Erickson Immigration Group's nonimmigrant visa teams which specialize in all nonimmigrant visa types, such as H-1B, H-1B1, E-3, TN, and F-1 visas. Cassandra counsels clients on special visa issues, matters of compliance, and requests from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Cassandra also co-chairs the firm's compliance department which is responsible for ensuring clients remain compliant on existing requirements as well as keeping clients abreast of new and developing areas in business immigration.
Before relocating to the Northern Virginia area, Cassandra developed a passion for business immigration law while working for a Fortune 500 company in their in-house immigration department in Durham, North Carolina. In this position, Cassandra was able to develop and expand her knowledge of nonimmigrant visa types, such as H-1B, E-3, and TN visas.
Education:
North Carolina Central University School of Law, Juris Doctor
East Carolina University, Bachelors of Science in Sociology, Concentration in Law & Society
Christina Haines is a Senior Managing Attorney at Erickson Immigration Group. She manages one of the firm's Labs teams, which focuses on intricate US work visas, including O-1 nonimmigrant visas for individuals of extraordinary ability, L-1 nonimmigrant visas for intracompany transfers of managers/executives and employees possessing specialized knowledge, as well as the related immigrant visas (green cards) for individuals of extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers, and multinational managers/executives (EB-1A, EB-1B, and EB-1C).
Christina's legal career began at a multinational law firm in Washington, DC, where she helped businesses of all sizes and industries secure talent, including some of the country's leading think tanks and non-profit research organizations. She is well-versed in the preparation and filing of a wide range of immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions such as H-1B, L-1, and O-1 petitions. She specializes in visas for individuals of extraordinary ability in diverse fields of endeavor, from world-class ice dancers to nuclear policy experts, engineers, artists, and entertainment industry professionals. Her experience also includes family-based immigration and asylum, applications to adjust status, citizenship, and complex appeals and motions to reopen.
Christina has guest lectured on immigration law topics at George Washington University School of Law. In addition, she taught constitutional law to a Philadelphia high school class as a Fellow for the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. During law school, Christina was the Managing Editor of the Drexel Law Review and Founding Member & VP of the Drexel Women's Law Society.
Christina has drafted federal judicial opinions, having served as a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Dolores K. Sloviter of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and as a Legal Intern for the Immigration Judges of the Arlington Immigration Court.
Additionally, Christina has authored articles for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and The Green Card, the Federal Bar Association's immigration law newsletter. Christina also co-authored a chapter of the book Immigration Detention: The Migration of a Policy and Its Human Impact.
Education:
Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Juris Doctor
Washington University in St. Louis, Bachelor of Arts
Languages:
English, Intermediate French
Christina is the granddaughter of Greek immigrants. Outside of the office, Christina enjoys spending time with her husband, two young children and exploring new areas around the nation's capital.
Job Titles:
- Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Senior Managing Attorney
Christine guides employers from startups to Fortune 500 companies on establishing corporate immigration programs and strategies for hiring, compliance, and corporate restructuring. In her practice, she works with all types of employment-based visas and green card cases, with a particular focus on non-immigrant visa petitions including H-1Bs, TNs, E-3s, and H-1B1s.
Christine provides regular immigration training to recruiters, employees, and other stakeholders. Christine is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 2011. In that time, she has served on the DC chapter committees for educational programming and congressional advocacy.
Education:
Georgetown University, Juris Doctorate
Boston College, Bachelor of Arts
Dan is an associate attorney at Erickson Immigration Group, specializing in employment-based non-immigrant petitions. As an immigrant himself, Dan recognizes how complex and challenging the U.S. immigration system can be. As such, he takes a comprehensive approach to handling every client's unique immigration situation.
Dan has extensive experience providing legal advice to clients on different immigration matters, including securing non-immigrant visas on behalf of a client's workforce and obtaining green cards for clients through the EB-1 process. He also has experience crafting successful responses to complex Request for Evidence notices and helping clients innovate their immigration programs. Dan has worked with a variety of corporate clients, ranging from large, multinational corporations to smaller startups. As an associate attorney at Erickson Immigration Group, Dan focuses on securing various non-immigrant visas for clients and helping them navigate through the U.S. immigration regulations.
Education:
University of Georgia School of Law, Juris Doctorate
Emory University, Bachelor of Arts
Languages:
English and Vietnamese
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Job Titles:
- Senior Attorney, International Practice
Job Titles:
- Senior Managing Attorney, Consular Affairs
Job Titles:
- Managing Attorney
- Managing Attorney With
Divya Patel is a managing attorney with Erickson Immigration Group. She specializes in nonimmigrant visa services, immigration compliance, consulate adjudication, immigrant visa services, and naturalization matters. She works closely with her client's hiring teams to offer guidance and strategy for onboarding and visa status maintenance.
Divya's experience allows her to plan a path of employment longevity for her client's employees. She has worked hand in hand with her client's Immigration and Global Mobility teams to help establish corporate immigration programs while strategizing best practices for immigration compliance and hiring trends. Divya provides immigration training to recruiters, employees, and other stakeholders. She has also led and reported company-wide I-9 audits and delivered current and projected immigration program trends and costs to her clients.
On multiple occasions, Divya has advocated the United States Congress for her clients and been published by the Maryland State Bar and Los Angeles Times for her immigration leadership. Divya is admitted to the Maryland State Bar Association and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law with her Juris Doctor and the University of Minnesota with her Bachelor of Arts. Divya is fluent in Hindi, Gujrati, Urdu, Spanish, Marathi, and English.
Education:
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Juris Doctor
The University of Minnesota, Bachelor of Arts
Languages:
Hindi
Job Titles:
- International Practice Manager With
- International Practice Project Manager
Drew Park is an International Practice Manager with Erickson Immigration Group, based in Barcelona. Before joining EIG, he was in-house in the global mobility department at an Employer of Record based in Barcelona, Spain, and worked for a firm managing client accounts for several years.
As a recent US ex-pat in Spain, Drew brings a thoughtful empathy to his work with clients and foreign nationals, understanding firsthand the uncertainty they may feel in their immigration process, and the important role we have in supporting this moment in their lives.
Job Titles:
- International Practice Project Manager
Ekaterina Fisun is an International Practice Project Manager at Erickson Immigration Group, based in Frankfurt, Germany. With extensive experience in the immigration field, Ekaterina has a strong focus on the EMEA region and has assisted numerous large companies and individual clients with all their immigration-related questions and large-scale projects in the region for several years.
She is committed to staying up-to-date with the latest developments in the field, ensuring that her clients receive the most accurate and comprehensive advice and guidance.
Education:
Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Diploma in Translation Studies
Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Master of Arts in English and American Studies
Languages:
English, German, Russian
Elizabeth is an immigration attorney specializing in U.S. business immigration matters. Her current practice focuses on immigrant matters for a variety of corporate clients. Elizabeth previously worked with boutique and global immigration law firms on a variety of non-immigrant and immigrant matters and represented clients in their removal and asylum cases.
Education:
Loyola Law School, Juris Doctor, May 2019
Occidental College, Bachelor of Arts, May 2015
Languages:
English
Job Titles:
- Senior International Practice Program Manager
Elsy Umanzor is a Senior International Practice Program Manager in Erickson Immigration Group's International Practice.
She assists corporate clients with permanent and temporary assignments around the world (focusing on the APAC and AMER regions), including short- and long-term employment visas/work permits. Elsy coordinates the required work permit and visa applications for the employees until they arrive at the destination of their employment. She also assists companies with various immigration-related matters, such as staying in compliance with immigration authorities, advising on internal immigration policies, and immigration audits. Elsy also has US immigration experience, which includes employment-based immigrant petitions such as PERM, I-140, and AOS; family-based petitions; consular processing; and removal defense matters.
Education:
George Mason University, Master in U.S. Law (Virginia, US)
Central American University "Jose Simeon Canas" (San Salvador, El Salvador), Bachelor of Laws
Languages:
English, Spanish
Job Titles:
- International Practice Project Manager
Job Titles:
- Immigration Manager, APAC
Job Titles:
- University, Master in U.S. Law ( Virginia, US )
Job Titles:
- Shareholder
- Attorney Spotlight
Named one of the top immigration attorneys for start-ups by Business Insider and a Rising List Attorney by the National Association of Women Lawyers, Hiba M. Anver is a Partner with Erickson Immigration Group.
Her practice focus is primarily on the employment-based nonimmigrant visa and green card process and I-9 compliance. She leads an international team that manages clients in various industries, including tech, social media, e-sports, fintech, e-commerce, retail, medicine/oncology, investment, and education. She also advises corporate clients on complex immigration matters resulting from restructuring, including mergers, acquisitions, and reductions-in-force.
Hiba is widely respected within the immigration and mobility field. She has briefed congressional staffers on Capitol Hill and is frequently called upon to provide commentary to television/publication media outlets such as CNBC, Business Insider, PBS Nightly Business Report, The SF Chronicle, Bloomberg Law, and Politico Pro, and is a frequent contributor to the EIG Immigration Nerds podcast, which she co-founded.
In December 2021, she joined The George Washington University College of Law's Adjunct Faculty as Professorial Lecturer in Law. Previously, Hiba has also lectured at American University Washington College of Law, the George Washington University School of Law, and the University of Texas at Arlington, and participated as a panelist for AILA, BAMM, ERC, PLEN, SHRM, and CFGI events. Her experience includes Appeals/Oral Argument before the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, Texas.
In 2022, Hiba received the 2022 Diversity in Business Award by the Washington Business Journal in recognition of her efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Hiba is the founder of EIG's internal Women in the Law group, a regular meeting forum and mentorship platform which provides mentorship for other women attorneys and legal professionals at EIG. The group also serves as a platform to discuss issues of gender, diversity, and bias, as well as an opportunity to celebrate the strides and progress that women are making in all industries around the world.
Education:
South Texas College of Law, Juris Doctor
University of Texas, Arlington, International Business, Bachelor's Degree
Languages:
English, Urdu
Jerry Erickson founded Erickson Immigration Group with the goal of taking the immigration process, which by all measures is professionally and personally challenging and making it better. He was honored to do this work, to help people achieve their dreams, improve their lives, and support their families. Over 30 years, he grew the firm to represent clients ranging from Fortune 500s to cutting-edge start-ups. He never took for granted the trust that our clients gave and the importance of being a true partner, supporting them to build successful global mobility programs.
Jerry's peers credit him with changing the global mobility and immigration industry through his dedicated commitment to what he termed "Perfect Plus" service. Widely respected within the industry, he served on numerous organization and association boards, including the British-American Business Council and Northern Virginia Technology Council. He was a frequent panelist and keynote speaker on immigration issues and has presented at various conferences and institutions, including Worldwide ERC, Bay Area Mobility Management, Council for Global Immigration, and GMU School of Public Policy.
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Job Titles:
- International Practice Project Manager
Justin D. Parsons is a Partner at Erickson Immigration Group's office in Arlington, VA. Justin has been practicing immigration law for 17+ years - both in New York City and Washington, D.C. While well versed in nonimmigrant visa processing, his current practice focuses on PERM, I-140s, I-485s, and I-9 worksite compliance issues. He has been quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle and lectured on immigration law topics at George Washington University School of Law, George Mason School of Law, and the City University of New York. Justin is a member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Board of Directors. Justin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College and his Juris Doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School.
Education:
Brooklyn Law School, Juris Doctorate (2004), Academic Merit School and Member of the Moot Court Honor Society
Sarah Lawrence Colleges, Political Science and History, Bachelor's Degree (2001)
Languages:
English
Job Titles:
- Associate Attorney, International Practice
Job Titles:
- International Practice Project Manager
Job Titles:
- International Practice Project Manager
Job Titles:
- Salesforce Salesforce Director of Global Mobility
Job Titles:
- Senior Attorney, International Practice
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Australia
Job Titles:
- Senior Managing Attorney, International Practice
Education:
Case Western Reserve University, Bachelor of Science, Management and Concentration in Finance, cum laude
Admitted to:
CFA Charterholder
Member of the CFA Society of Washington, DC
Languages:
English
Rick Heath is the Chief Financial Officer of Erickson Immigration Group. Rick provides direct management and oversight of the firm's entire finance function, including billing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial planning & analysis, banking, insurance, tax, payroll, and benefits.
Rick joined the firm in 2019 after 12 years in the banking and finance space, most recently as a Senior Vice President at Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group. He also held various roles in investment banking and debt capital markets. Rick also has entrepreneurial experience in real estate development, Kickstarter campaigns, and book publishing.
Robert (Rob) Taylor is a Partner at Erickson Immigration Group, providing client leadership across nonimmigrant, immigrant, and global case matters. Since joining EIG in 2006, Rob has handled nearly every type of business immigration matter, including complex work visas, green cards, consular issues, and global work permits. Additionally, Rob has had the privilege of developing EIG's "Global Alliance" to encompass a network of immigration providers in more than 100 countries. Rob loves helping people and understands that is best accomplished by serving each client, one matter at a time, one day at a time.
Education:
Regent University School of Law, Juris Doctor
Wright State University, Political Science, Bachelor's Degree
Languages:
English
Job Titles:
- Senior Director for Global Operations and Business Development
Sanjay Akut joins Erickson Immigration Group with a 25-year track record of aligning cutting-edge technology solutions and strategies with business needs to support organizational growth. Sanjay has direct senior leadership experience in information technology, application development, enterprise-level applications, risk and compliance, security, HR systems, and data management in IaaS and PaaS. Before joining EIG, Sanjay was the Director of Corporate Applications with Duquesne Light Company based in Pittsburgh, PA. He has previous experience leading the operations and technology efforts with companies in Big Law, prepaid and online commerce, insurance, and founding and operating his own software development company for over ten years. Sanjay is an inventor on five separate patents in the prepaid card space during his time as the CTO of GiftCards.com, the world's leading prepaid gift card site.
Education:
Sanjay attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh before leaving early to start his own software company in the 1990s. He completed his BS in Management Information Systems from Post University.
Languages:
English
Job Titles:
- Senior Attorney, International Practice
Job Titles:
- International Practice Project Manager
Job Titles:
- Senior Attorney, International Practice
Job Titles:
- Immigration Manager, International Practice