Matthew D. Goldsmith Immigration Law Blog on Lawyers.com

One of my favorite out-of-office work engagements is when we visit New York University (undergrad) and New York University, Stern School of Business, where we frequently lecture to students about their various visa options upon graduation.  We hear all the time in the news that many of the best and brightest foreign students are not coming to the US anymore to study because it can be very difficult to obtain a visa to work after they complete their studies.  These students are fully aware of this risk, yet they do not let that fact deter from their dream of studying at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.  When these students come to our lectures, they come fully prepared, and the questions they ask only help reinforce how special a group these students are.  I frequently use the analogy that putting a cap on the number of working visas foreign nationals can obtain is similar to a rule limiting your favorite baseball team to two foreign born players.  The Yankees would not be the annual force that they are if Mariano Rivera or Robinson Cano were prohibited from playing in the major leagues because of a cap.  By extension, these types of players make everyone around them better, because they raise the level of play, which only enhances the product.  If Rivera and Cano could not play in the US, they would take their talents elsewhere, and the quality of baseball in America would suffer.  Over time, other nations would be seen as excellent options for some of the best up and coming talent.     

In many ways, while these students attend our lectures to learn about their potential visa options after they graduate, we the speakers learn just as much from the students.  Hearing what problems they face and what concerns they have about the US immigration process helps us with our every day consulting practice.  Being an immigration lawyer in New York requires more than understanding our immigration laws.  It requires understanding the frustrations and real needs of your clients which sometimes are difficult to extract in the confines of a law office.

For more than 30 years, the law firm of Garganigo, Goldsmith & Weiss has been assisting people with immigration, green card or visa issues. For more information on how our immigration attorneys in NY can help, please call us at 212-643-6400, email us online, or visit our office at 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1020, New York, NY 10122.