Grant Sovern

Building efficient, effective business immigration programs for employers

Grant Sovern practices immigration law, focusing on business-based immigration. Addressing the needs of both employers and employees in the pharmaceutical, biotech, high tech and other industries, Grant advises on:

• Global mobility programs
• Immigration compliance (I-9) programs
• International transferee programs to the U.S.

Grant and his team examine the full range of their clients’ human resources needs and develop and manage immigration programs to enable employers to move employees where they need them, on the timetable they need them. Grant works to create programs that human resources teams can administer simply and efficiently, making their lives easier and enabling their foreign national employees to trust that their immigration goals are being achieved fully and effectively.

Committed to pro bono legal service and meeting the legal needs of immigrants who cannot afford counsel, Grant serves as president of the board of the Community Immigration Law Center, one of the first organizations in the country to develop a publicly funded public defender program for immigrants threatened with deportation. Grant helped develop a statewide network of pro bono attorneys to prepare and file asylum and special immigrant visa applications for Afghan refugees.

• Representing employers and employees in petitions for work visas such as the H-1B, L-1, O-1, and TN and related work permits.
• Advising employers and employees on petitions for immigrant visas (permanent residence or green cards) through employment means such as outstanding researcher, extraordinary ability and labor certification.
• Assisting employers and employees with PERM Labor Certification filings to obtain permanent residence.
• Developing, maintaining and defending I-9 compliance and enforcement programs for employers.
• Representing scientists and others in pursuing J-1 waivers through the no-objection process and interested U.S. government agencies.
• Representing pharmaceutical, biotech and high-tech companies to implement overall immigration policies and procedures.
• Counseling health care systems, hospitals and physicians to navigate the immigration regulations related to waivers of the J-1 home residency requirement through the Conrad state programs, H-1B visas, O-1 visas and permanent resident (green card) options.