Nancy Lawrence has been providing advice and counsel to individuals and a wide range of corporate clients and employees for over 40 years. Her practice is exclusive to immigration law, where Nancy has a one-hundred percent hands-on approach, personally working with each client. Her professional, yet light and friendly manner puts clients at ease while instilling confidence. She is happy to assist French and Spanish speaking clients in their native languages.
Nancy provides strategies and guidance for appropriate filings with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Department of Labor, and the State Department (dealing with its embassies and consulates abroad). The filings include H-1B, L-1, and E-2 nonimmigrant visas, and business- and family-based immigrant (“green card”) visas. For 20 years, she taught Family and Employment Based Immigration Law at The George Washington University Law School, and for 17 years, she taught the same subject at American University Washington College of Law.
Nancy has been recognized in the Best Lawyers in America® lists every year since 2008, and she was included in Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite” for Immigration in three separate years. Nancy has also been selected by Washingtonian magazine as one of Washington, D.C. area’s Top Lawyers for Immigration in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 and is currently listed as a ranked lawyer in Immigration Law by Chambers USA.
- J.D., The George Washington University Law School, 1978
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B.A., Foreign Languages, magna cum laude, Clark University, 1974
- Phi Beta Kappa
- District of Columbia
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Obtaining various types of U.S. nonimmigrant visas including:
- Specialty occupation (H-1B) visas for IT professionals, economists, business professionals, teachers, etc.
- Intracompany transferee (L-1) visas for managers, executives and employees with specialized knowledge
- Treaty investor (E-2) visas for managers, executives, and employees with essential skills
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Obtaining U.S. Permanent Resident (“green card”) status for individuals including:
- Family-based relative petitions
- Employment-based labor certification (PERM) applications and preference petitions
- Advising individuals on strategies for handling the immigrant visa phase of their cases
- Representing corporations in establishing blanket L-1 intracompany transfer programs
- Exercise Care When Terminating Employee Who Holds H-1B Status ( January 7, 2016 )
- 2008-2022, Best Lawyers in America® – Immigration Law
- 2019, 2021 Arlington magazine's Top Attorneys - Immigration
- 2002, 2005, 2006, 2019-2021,Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite” – Immigration
- 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, Washingtonian magazine‘s ”Top Lawyers for Immigration”
- 2017, Best of NoVA, top lawyers in Immigration, Northern Virginia magazine
- 2011 - 2021, Chambers USA, Ranked Lawyer for Immigration Law
- April 2010, April 2011, May 2012, April 2013: What Every Lawyer Should Know About Immigration Law, DC Bar CLE, Panelist
- July 2012: Immigration Law Practice Clinic: Nonimmigrant Visas, DC Bar CLE, Panelist
- January 2006: Hot Topics in Business Immigration, Virginia CLE, Fairfax, VA
- August 2005: Immigration Law & Practice Seminar –Family-Based Immigration, Virginia CLE, Richmond and Fairfax, VA
- April 2005: Immigration Law for Local Government Attorneys, Local Government Attorneys of Virginia Spring 2005 Conference, Alexandria, VA
- March 2005: Understanding Family-Sponsored Immigration, Half Moon Seminar, Arlington, VA
- August 2004: Immigration Meets Employment, Virginia CLE, Fairfax, VA
- April 2004: Immigration Law Issues in the Employment Setting, Fairfax Bar Association, Tysons Corner, VA
Professional Organizations
- American Immigration Lawyers Association –Washington, D.C. Chapter
- Chapter Chair, 1987-1988
- Chapter Secretary, 1985-1987
- Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia
- Co-Chair Naturalization Ceremony Committee, 1986-1988
Teaching Positions:
- Professional Lecturer in Law, The George Washington University Law School, Spring 1998-Present
- Adjunct Associate Professor, American University Law School, Fall 2001-Present
- English Language Conversation Teacher, Lycee D’Etat Mixte, Amiens, France, 1974-1975
