Find Lawyers in California, United States for Immigration Law
Practice Area Overview
Immigration law is divided into two basic tracks: Family-based immigration is the process by which an individual is sponsored for permanent residence in a foreign country by a spouse, parent, or other qualifying family member. Business immigration is the process by which individual can obtain temporary or permanent residence in a foreign country on the basis of employment, self-employment, or investment.
Immigration practice isn’t limited to the entry of foreign nationals to the United States. Rather, a full-service immigration firm will have expertise in many jurisdictions. One of the most important facets of the practice is the ability to assist multinational organizations with the mobility of their global workforce – whether it’s to help a German executive obtain permission to visit China for a critical business meeting, or to assist when a United Kingdom company wants to hire a leading United States scientist to lead its R&D efforts.
The guidance of an immigration lawyer is particularly critical in the employment context. Most countries place stringent restrictions on the ability of non-citizens to work, in order to protect their native workforce. In many cases, a company that wants to hire a foreign national must get authorization from both immigration and labor authorities – a complex process that requires the sure hand of a lawyer experienced in practicing before all the relevant government agencies.
The work of the immigration attorney doesn’t stop when visas and other government authorizations are obtained. Once an individual enters a foreign country, there may be important compliance responsibilities facing him or her, family members and employers, from registration with local police, tax, or social insurance authorities to reporting obligations before government agencies. Failing to comply with these responsibilities can mean fines, penalties, and restrictions on an individual’s future travel or an employer’s ability to sponsor additional foreign nationals. The advice of an immigration lawyer is critical throughout an individual’s overseas stay.
In our global economy, the ability to move across international borders has never been more important to professionals and their employers – and the role of immigration lawyers has never been more important to global mobility.
Select a city from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
Cities
Fariba Faiz is a distinguished immigration law attorney, renowned for her unparalleled expertise in handling a diverse range of cases, including corporate H-1B, L-1, O-1, E-2 visas, as well as EB-1, NIW, and PERM cases. With a career spanning over two decades, her journey began when she became a member of the CA State Bar in June 1998, and since then, she has carved a niche for herself as a prominent figure in the field. Her exceptional achievements reached a zenith in 2024 when she was honor...
Avi Friedman, a Partner with the firm, served six terms (2007-2010 & 2014-2017) on the AILA Department of State Liaison Committee. He served his ninth term as the Consular Affairs Liaison for the Southern California Chapter of AILA. He has authored numerous articles for AILA including: several chapters for the “Visa Processing Guide;” Third-Country National (TCN) and Consular Processing of Non-immigrant Visa Applications in Mexico and Canada: Practice Advisory; Nonimmigrant Wa...
David R. Fullmer joined Wolfsdorf Rosenthal as a partner in 2017. He is a top rated immigration lawyer and former LA County Bar Immigration Section Chair. Mr. Fullmer has practiced exclusively in the area of immigration law for over twenty years. His main goal is to provide leading edge immigration legal services. He strives to educate the parties at the nuts and bolts level on their compliance obligations. He also believes that effective communication combined with service and education is t...
With more than 15 years of immigration law experience, Regina Knoll represents a diverse group of people and business entities. Ms. Knoll’s experience includes representing U.S. and foreign companies spanning across all sizes and industries, foreign investors, professionals, people of extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, business, and education, religious workers, medical professionals, performers and athletes, family members of U.S. citizens and residents, victims of violence (...
Tien-Li (“TL”) Loke Walsh is the Principal of Loke Walsh Immigration Law, PC. Ms. Loke Walsh has practiced exclusively in the field of immigration law since her admission to the California State Bar in 1997. Originally from Malaysia, she graduated from the University of Sydney, Australia with a B.A. in Political Science and History, and received her law degree from Boston University School of Law. Ms. Loke Walsh has served on numerous American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA...
Located in San Diego, California, Kimberley Best Robidoux counsels corporate clients on immigration and related business matters, including corporate nonimmigrant visa matters, as well as employment-based immigrant petitions, such as outstanding researcher, extraordinary ability, multinational manager, and labor certification. Kimberley has specific expertise working with the high-tech, pharmaceutical/biotech, hospitality and healthcare industries as well as developing customized immigration ...
Cliff Rosenthal is partner of Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP. Mr. Rosenthal specializes in providing comprehensive immigration solutions to meet the needs of the firm’s diverse spectrum of clientele. Possessing over 18 years of experience and a thorough knowledge of the immigration law practice, Mr. Rosenthal prepares and assists clients with a wide range of immigration cases, focusing on non-immigrant and green card visa petitions, as well as applications for U.S. citizenship. Mr. Rosenthal i...
Donald Sheppard is certified as a legal specialist in immigration and nationality law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Sheppard’s typical clients are companies in the high tech and start-up industries seeking to hire the brightest and best talent which includes foreign nationals who need employment sponsorship in a variety of professional fields. He works closely with client companies’ HR professionals, talent partners, corporate legal counsels, ma...
Bernard P. Wolfsdorf is the Past President of the 15,000-member American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), where he received the Service Excellence Award for his contribution. He is the Managing Partner of Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP (WR), which has over 150 professionals and attorneys with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland, Santa Monica, and Shanghai. WR is a full-service, top-rated immigration law firm providing exceptional immigration and visa services. With over 30 years of...
Mayra Alejandra Castro is an attorney in HFM’s Immigration & Nationality Law practice group. Ms. Castro’s practice includes all areas of immigration and nationality law, including employment-based immigration, family-based immigration, deportation and removal hearings, naturalization and citizenship cases, cases under the Violence Against Women Act, and consular processing of visas and green cards in San Diego and throughout the United States. She was selected to the Best Lawy...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.