Katie Nokes Minervino
Partner
Katie Minervino leads Pierce Atwood's Immigration Practice Group. She has been practicing exclusively employment-based immigration law for the past 16 years, helping employers and employees create and execute immigration strategies to meet their short- and long-term immigration needs.
Katie has a national business immigration practice that includes obtaining immigration benefits for workers in a variety of industries and in a wide range of immigration work authorized categories, and she works closely with clients to ensure their immigration needs are met in a timely and efficient manner by corporate immigration attorneys who are personally engaged in and invested in each process. Katie also has specialized expertise in a wide range of issues including cross border benefits and processes, immigration support for extraordinary workers, including O-1, EB-1A, B, and C, and EB-2 NIW, and on employer compliance in verifying the employment authorization of US workers. She is a current member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Verification & Worksite Enforcement Liaison Committee and tracks closely developments relating to the Form I-9, E-Verify, and other enforcement related developments.
- Recognized by Chambers USA as an "Up and Coming" attorney in Labor and Employment: Immigration (2018)
- Received an Outstanding Service Award from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) in Maine for pro bono representation of asylum seekers (2013)
- Recognized for her pro bono service through the Katahdin Counsel Recognition Program (2012, 2013, 2014)
- Received the firm's first-ever Scribner Firm Impact Award for her work to keep pro bono and community service top-of-mind at the firm.
- Chair, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Verification & Documentation Liaison Committee (2019-2020) (2020-2021)
- Vice Chair, AILA Verification & Worksite Enforcement Liaison Committee (2018-2019) (2017-2018)
- Member, AILA, Verification & Worksite Enforcement Liaison Committee (2016-2017) (2015-2016) (2014-2015) (2021-2022) (2022-2023) (2023-2024)
- Frequent speaker on immigration-related topics
- Pro bono panel attorney, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Practice Areas
- Partners with clients of all sizes – from large publically traded multinational companies to start-up investors - to obtain approvals for nonimmigrant visa petitions filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (H-1B, L-1A, L-1B, O-1, TN, E-3, R-1) for foreign workers with qualifying US employment offers.
- Given Maine’s proximity to the northern border with Canada, our group has substantial and specialized experience advising and supporting employers and employees with “Port of Entry” processing at the US and Canadian border for qualifying TN and L-1 employment-based petitions.
- Assists employers with Fiscal Year H-1B lottery petition consultations, petition processing and identifying and advising on "fall back" options if petitions are rejected in the FY H-1B lottery.
- Counsels clients on hiring "late stage"/post-sixth year H-1B employees and related considerations around priority date retention, post sixth year H-1B approvals based on previously approved I-140 petitions and timing considerations for future permanent residence "green card" processes.
- Provides eligibility assessments and obtain approvals for "extraordinary ability" foreign workers, including O-1 petitions and EB-1 extraordinary ability permanent residence processes.
- Supports and instructs clients in consular visa processing for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas made directly at the Consulate, including E-3 petitions and B-1 in lieu of H-1B and B-1 in lieu of H-3 applications.
- Advises on best available immigration options/strategies and then supports all stages of the employment-based permanent residence processes for extraordinary, intra-company managers and executives, advanced degree and skilled workers.
- Counsels employers and employees on options and execute related strategies (re-entry permits, naturalization, etc.) on protecting permanent residence if there will be an assignment abroad.
- Provides advice and counsel to Designated School Officials on SEVIS program compliance and work authorization for foreign students.
- Counsels employers around F-1 OPT EAD compliance issues for employees requesting STEM OPT EAD extensions.
- Supports healthcare clients in hiring and sponsorship of health care related occupations, advising and executing immigration processes for physicians (J-1 Conrad 30 waivers, cap exempt H-1B petitions, National Interest Waivers, EB-1 extraordinary ability and conventional "PERM" labor certification permanent residence processes) RNs (TN, Schedule A, and other strategies), and other healthcare related occupations.
- Partners with clients in creating and customizing immigration policies and internal templates to facilitate consistent and efficient support and sponsorship of employment-based immigration processes.
- Supports employers on employment verification developments and best practices (Form I-9 and E-Verify) and other issued relating to the hiring process.
- Provides immigration and Form I-9 compliance advice and support relating to government inspections, internal audits, training and other compliance best practices, and pre-and post-mergers and acquisition due diligence requirements/considerations.
- Counsels employers on E-Verify use: whether to enroll, how it works and what to do if they find themselves out of compliance with their Memorandum of Understanding.
- Provides up-to-date guidance to employers relating to impact of recent immigration development, including new employment-immigration related regulations and Executive Orders.
- Supports family-based permanent residence processes at the request of corporate clients for employees for whom the family-based permanent residence option is available.