Immigration Attorney in Tampa, Florida

Shawn Mesa Immigration Law

550 Reo Drive
Suite 300
Tampa, Florida 33609
USA

(813) 679-5780

(813) 425-9036

www.ShawnMesaImmigrationLaw.com

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Law Firm Overview

Shawn Mesa Immigration Law practices exclusively in the areas of immigration and citizenship law. Attorney Shawn Mesa helps individuals that wish to work in the United States, families wishing to obtain U.S. citizenship, businesses that rely on, or wish to rely on, authorized employees, and individuals that are facing deportation or requesting asylum.

If you or a key employee is interested in working or living in the United States, you have to understand U.S. immigration laws and how to properly apply for legal status. Lawyer Shawn Mesa offers big-firm expertise but delivers personalized client services at an affordable cost. He goes out-of-his-way to make sure he understands your unique needs, or your families. Attorney Shawn Mesa can help you with a wide-range of immigration and citizenship matters.

Languages: Spanish; English

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Deportation Defense & Asylum, Cancellation of Removal; Employer & Business Compliance; Business Immigration; B-1 Business Visa; B-2 Tourist Visa; E-3 Visa; P Visa; EB-1 Priority Workers; EB-2 Professionals with Advanced Degrees or Persons with Exceptional Ability; EB-3 Skilled or Professional Workers; EB-4 Special Immigrants; EB-5 Immigrant Investors; Permanent Immigration For Nurses; R-1 Religious Workers; TN Professionals; O-1 Individuals of Extraordinary Ability or Achievement; E-2 Treaty Investor; E-1 Treaty Traders; L-1 Intra-company Transfers; H1-B Specialty Occupation.

Practice Areas Description

- Business Immigration

One of the key areas of my immigration practice's focus is to assist individuals, business clients, entrepreneurs, hospitals, colleges and universities, scientific - research organizations and professional sports franchises that are interested in obtaining temporary employment visas and permanent resident status (green cards).

- Employment-Based Immigrant Visas

Employment based immigrant visas are granted to individuals that have unique skills and wish to work in the U.S. - or for U.S. based business that use this unique tool for recruiting and retaining a talented professional or skilled employee. These visas are for:

• Immigrants with extraordinary ability in business, arts or sciences
• Managers and Executives of multi-national businesses
• Outstanding professors or researchers
• Immigrants with advanced degrees and performing work in the national interest
• Immigrants with job offers and a Bachelor degree or higher, or work experience equaling a degree
• Religious workers and ministers whose services are required by their non-profit religious organization
• Immigrant investors with substantial funds invested in the U.S.

- Permanent Employment Visas

Here are a few other Permanent Employment Visas (Permanent Resident Cards or Green Cards) that might apply to your situation:

• EB-1 Priority Workers
• EB-2 Professionals with Advanced Degrees or Persons with Exceptional Ability
• EB-3 Skilled or Professional Workers
• EB-4 Special Immigrants
• EB-5 Immigrant Investors
• Permanent Immigration for Nurses

- Non-Immigrant Visas

If you wish to enter the U.S. for a temporary period of time, a non-immigrant visa permits you to travel to a U.S. port of entry and request permission of the Department of Homeland Security to visit for a specific purpose.

• B-1 Business Visa
• B-2 Tourist Visa
• E-3 Visa
• P Visa

- H1-B Specialty Occupation

This non-immigrant visa classification applies to an alien who will be employed temporarily in a specialty occupation (one which typically requires a Bachelor's degree) or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability. Under current law, there is an annual limit of 65,000 aliens who may be issued a visa or otherwise provided H-1B status. As many as 20,000 additional H-1B slots are available to graduates of U.S. Master's degree (or higher) programs.

- L-1 Intra-company Transfers

The L-1 visa permits multinational companies to transfer high-level and essential employees from their international offices to the United States. The non-immigrant would work at the affiliate or subsidiary of that same employer in the U.S. in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity.

- E-1 Treaty Traders

The E-1 visa allows an individual to enter the United States on a non-immigrant basis for the sole purpose of carrying on substantial trade between his or her country and the United States. The home country of the non-immigrant must have a treaty with the United States.

- E-2 Treaty Investor

If you come to the U.S. to run an enterprise in which you are invested, you may obtain the non-immigrant visa status of E-2 treaty investor. If you are an employee of a treaty trader investor you may also be qualified as an E visa holder if your duties require special qualifications essential to the business. The non-immigrant must have the same nationality as the alien employer and the home country of the non-immigrant must have a treaty with the United States.

- O-1 Individuals of Extraordinary Ability or Achievement

Highly talented or acclaimed individuals may be eligible for an O visa for entry into the U.S. People who may qualify for this visa are physicians, scientists and accomplished businesspeople as well as athletes considered to be at the top of their field.

- TN Professionals

These visas are limited to nationals of Canada and Mexico. If you are employed in one of the sixty-three listed professions in NAFTA, you can apply for non-immigrant TN status. Most of the listed professions require either a bachelor's degree or a license degree.

- R-1 Religious Workers

The R-1 visa permits religious workers to come to the U.S. to take on a religious occupation and perform services for their religious organization. The religious organization must already be established in the United States.

- Family Immigration and Citizenship

Atty. Shawn Mesa's family immigration practice concentrates on bringing families together by providing effective representation for permanent residency matters. He works to obtain green cards based upon marriage to a U.S. citizen and permanent resident, or securing green cards for parents, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters. Atty. Shawn Mesa will also work on securing a visa for your fiancé by utilizing the K-1 or K-3 visa. He also focuses on United States citizenship and naturalization legal matters for green card holders, as well as other related immigration matters.

- Deportation Defense

It's no surprise that Deportation can be one of the most frightening experiences anyone can face. Deportation is simply the removal of a non-U.S. citizen from the United States (U.S.) when the non-citizen is physically present in the U.S. and has not followed U.S. immigration laws.

- Asylum

Asylum is typically thought of as being used by a refugee to escape some sort of persecution. And I've handled these types of cases before.

But what you might not be aware of is that asylum can sometimes be used to avoid deportation. A person may be eligible if it can be proved there was past persecution to the person or a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinions or membership in a social group.

- Cancellation of Removal

A person may be eligible for cancellation of removal if the person has been physically present in the U.S. for a certain period of time. Other eligibility requirements apply depending on whether the person is a lawful permanent resident or not.

- Waivers

A waiver is an application to the U.S. government to excuse one of the reasons a person would be deported or excluded. One can seek a waiver to forgive certain criminal grounds of deportation, past misrepresentations to immigration officials, health-related grounds, unlawful presence in the U.S., and more.

- Employer Compliance

Since 1986 the employment of unauthorized workers is illegal. In general, it is unlawful for a person or business entity to hire, recruit, or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States (U.S.), a worker who is known to be unauthorized for employment.