Kelly M. Fortier

From Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, Kelly helps employers of all sizes meet their staffing needs by handling the immigration issues they face in hiring foreign nationals and moving employees around the globe.

Kelly handles compliance issues for corporations that transfer dozens of employees into and out of the United States each year, as well as small companies seeking to bring in a few key hires from abroad or expand operations internationally.

Solutions in action

• Coordinated acquisition-related foreign national transfers for professional services provider expanding its offices nationwide, including Public Access File documentation, H-1B amendments, and green card related “successor-in-interest” filings.
• Provided guidance on remote work arrangements for foreign national employees, allowing maximum flexibility for worker relocations. Work included H-1B and PERM strategies for dozens of foreign national employee filings.
• Obtained approval for a PERM labor-certification application originally denied by the Department of Labor for what it considered a deficient PERM recruitment report. In winning the appeal before the Board of Alien Labor Certification (BALCA), she outlined why the recruitment report was sufficient and why the case was approvable as submitted.
• For a physicians group and hospital system, obtained multiple Conrad 30 J-1 waiver approvals and H-1B status for physician specialists working in non-HPSA locations.
• For a packaging manufacturer, obtained L-1B approvals for a large group of machine operators assigned to affiliated U.S. plants to train U.S. workers on new equipment and manufacturing lines.
• For an IT provider, obtained multiple EB-2 PERM green card approvals based on a “dissimilar position” strategy, allowing use of employment experience gained with sponsoring employer.
• For a university, obtained EB-1 Outstanding Professor green card approval for young professor with limited teaching experience.
• For an energy transmission company, obtained EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) green card approval for scientist developing products and processes to strengthen U.S. electric grid.
• For dairy products producer, obtained E-2 visa and L-1 petition approvals for managers and executives working intermittently in the U.S. for various company subsidiaries.
• In a pro bono case, obtained permanent residence (“green card”) approvals for mother and daughter based on Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
• For a meat processor, provided customized employment authorization and Form I-9 training for Human Resources employees at multiple plant locations, developing a certification and testing program to ensure employee proficiency.