The focus of Masuda Funai’s immigration practice is business immigration oriented, so our clients are assured by the firm’s eight decades of experience, providing comprehensive legal counsel in all aspects of this highly specialized area of practice. We know, from practical experience, that the right talent can significantly impact a company’s business objectives. As a result, our attorneys consistently develop thoughtful and effectual immigration strategies that further each client’s specific agenda through the employment of foreign nationals. Simply, we work with employers to set up and operate businesses in the U.S. and move their most important asset — people — across the border.
Our firm is among the larger immigration practices in the Midwest, annually representing hundreds of corporate employers from diverse global industries. Our clients include publicly traded companies, privately held corporations, educational institutions, not-for-profit organizations and individuals. Our attorneys file approximately 2,500 petitions and applications with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of States (DOS) each year. As proactive legal counsel, we also regularly conduct seminars and tutorials for corporate clients, educational institutions and industry associations on legal issues affecting businesses operating in the U.S., which are particularly of value to foreign-owned companies.
We begin with a multi-dimensional understanding of each client’s industry, operations, culture, country of origin and corporate goals. We are dedicated to remaining at the forefront of immigration protocol. Employers know that immigration rules and regulations are ever-changing and increasingly aggressive audits and investigations by the DOL and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are now common. In response, we work regularly and closely with government agencies, embassies, consulates and immigration offices while seeking to maintain positive working relationships with such agencies and their staff. We respond quickly and with meticulous attention to detail to regulatory requirements in support of our clients’ immigration objectives, as well as make ourselves available through open communication, flexibility and multiple language capabilities across national and international time zones.
Our constant focus is to help our clients to effectively compete domestically and leverage the global market for talent. Whether investing in or starting a business in the U.S., relocating from abroad, transferring within the U.S. from another company, or joining the American workforce via student status, we propose inbound immigration strategies that consistently achieve long- and short-term goals and ably guide clients through the complex maze of U.S. immigration. We also assist our clients with their ongoing obligations in maintaining and documenting their domestic and foreign-based workforce, as well as provide counsel on immigration-related due diligence in mergers, acquisitions and other corporate transactions.
H-1B STATUS: Obtain H-1B status for both traditional and non-traditional professional occupations by thoroughly documenting for the USCIS that the positions qualify as "specialty occupations." Represent private, public and not-for-profit companies which process anywhere from one petition to 500+.
H-2B STATUS: Assist companies to overcome seasonal and peak load worker shortages for various unskilled and non-professional positions through H-2B petitions.
H-3 STATUS: Process H-3 trainee visas in a variety of industries including transportation, production/manufacturing, distribution, financial and freight forwarding.
I-140 PROCESS: Advise companies about structuring their finances in order to satisfactorily document their ability to pay the offered wage as part of the employment-based immigrant visa process.
L-1 BLANKET: Extensive experience qualifying, extending and amending L Blanket classification for both small multinational companies, with as few as five subsidiary/branch offices, as well as for large multinational companies with more than 300 qualifying entities including subsidiary and affiliate companies.
L-1 STATUS: Comprehensive client counseling on avoiding burdensome Requests for Evidence on L-1A and L-1B petitions. Significant success with overcoming Requests for Evidence by USCIS examiners on L-1A and L-1B petitions. Significant experience on “New Office” petition.
PERM: Work with clients to strategize on positions for employees who have extensive waits in the Immigrant Visa Process. Significant liaison with DOL Regional Offices to overcome objections about prevailing wage issues and specific minimum requirements in the PERM process.
O-1/O-2 STATUS: Procure O-1/O-2 visas for individuals with extraordinary ability and aliens accompanying individuals with extraordinary ability in a vast variety of business, athletic and artistic occupations, with a significant focus on ballet and other modern dancers, choreographers, lighting and costume designers; and chefs.
P-3 STATUS: Represent corporations, as well as cultural and governmental organizations, in sponsoring P-3 entertainers for cultural performances and entertainment events.
TN STATUS: Provide comprehensive assistance to clients in processing and overcoming denials in TN classification for high tech occupations, management consultants and other categories, through the drafting of consulting agreements, industry letters and a wide variety of academic and educational evaluations to overcome initial deficiencies in documentation or concerns.
ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS: Counsel clients to overcome grounds of inadmissibility in the adjustment of status process, so that they do not have to rely upon Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
CONSULAR PROCESSING: Assist clients in completing the employment-based immigrant visa process through the U.S. Embassies/Consulates abroad as quickly as possible, by providing advance notice of documentary requirement and timely responding to inquiries from the National Visa Center and the consulates.
AUDITS: Actively assist clients in Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (uscis), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Audits. Successfully defended a consulting company with more than 6,000 employees during an H-1B Labor Condition Applicant audit by the DOL and assisted the company in avoiding a significant monetary civil penalty.
E STATUS: Regularly qualify companies/individuals for E-1/E-2 Treaty Trader/Investor visas from Japan, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Belgium, Mexico, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
EB-1 MULTINATIONAL MANAGERS AND EXECUTIVES: Procure employment-based immigrant visas for both traditional and functional managers.
EB-1 RESEARCHERS: Obtain employment-based immigrant visas for researchers by thoroughly documenting their outstanding ability in their academic field.
B-1 VISITOR FOR BUSINESS: Regularly process B-1 visas for machine installation pursuant to contracts of sales and other short term exceptions such as “B-1 in lieu of H-1B”.