Building efficient, effective business immigration programs for employers

Grant Sovern practices immigration law, focusing on business-based immigration. Addressing the needs of both employers and employees in the pharmaceutical, biotech, high tech and other industries, Grant advises on:

• Global mobility programs
• Immigration compliance (I-9) programs
• International transferee programs to the U.S.

Grant and his team examine the full range of their clients’ human resources needs and develop and manage immigration programs to enable employers to move employees where they need them, on the timetable they need them. Grant works to create programs that human resources teams can administer simply and efficiently, making their lives easier and enabling their foreign national employees to trust that their immigration goals are being achieved fully and effectively.

Committed to pro bono legal service and meeting the legal needs of immigrants who cannot afford counsel, Grant serves as president of the board of the Community Immigration Law Center, one of the first organizations in the country to develop a publicly funded public defender program for immigrants threatened with deportation. Grant helped develop a statewide network of pro bono attorneys to prepare and file asylum and special immigrant visa applications for Afghan refugees.

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts
• Wisconsin

Education

• Institut d'Etudes Politiques (1987)

• Tufts University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1989)
  • Majors: International Relations and History

• University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1996)

• "H-1B Updates"
• "Immigration changes will affect employers and employees"
• "Immigration Law and Policy Changes Under the New Administration"
• "International Challenges for University Research: Foreign Economic Espionage & Trade Secret Exfiltration, and Immigration"
• "What faculty, postdocs, grad students and administrators need to know about international researchers coming, staying and moving beyond campus"
• 2019 Diversity Visa Lottery (Green Card Lottery) Special Announcement
• Administration Announces End of DACA Program: FAQs for Employers
• Advanced Immigration Solutions for Small Business and Entrepreneurs
• All Employers Required To Use New Form I-9 In Hiring Process Starting February 2, 2009
• America Dives into Immigration Reform - How Could it Affect Me or My Business
• Business Law Training | Immigration for Employers: Staying Ahead of the Trump Administration
• Business Traveler Alert: Changes to the Visa Waiver Program
• China: Super Saturday Visa Program
• Citizens of India Eligible to Avoid Long Immigration Inspections Lines When Entering U.S.
• Community Luncheon: Immigration 101
• Current Issues in the U.S. Immigration Reform Debate
• Department of Homeland Security Issues Revised Form I-9
• Department of State Announces it Will Begin Contacting Employers of Visa Holders
• Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Now Open for Fiscal Year 2011
• Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Now Open For Fiscal Year 2012
• Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Now Open For Fiscal Year 2013
• Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Now Open for Fiscal Year 2014
• Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Now Open for Fiscal Year 2018
• E-Verify Requirement for Federal Contractors Postponed AGAIN
• E-Verify, IMAGE, and SSNVS
• E-Verify: The Top 10 Mistakes Companies Make
• Employer Compliance: Immigration, the Form I- 9, and E-Verify (Speaker)
• Employer Compliance: Immigration, the Form I-9, and E-Verify
• Employer Immigration Compliance: The Top 10 Employer Mistakes on the Form I-9 and Easy Solutions
• Employer immigration compliance: The top 10 employer mistakes on the Form I-9 and easy solutions (Co-author)
• Employment-based Nonimmigrant Visas (Panelist)
• Federal Government Expands Enforcement of Immigration, I-9 and E-Verify Rules
• Government Changes Practice - Will Require In-Person Interviews for People Getting Green Cards Through Employer Sponsorship Starting October 1
• H-1B Visa Petitions are Still Available
• H-1B Visas Are Still Available
• How to Hit a Moving Target: L-1 Strategies
• How to Hit a Moving Target: L-1 Strategies
• HR Toolbox: Hot Topics Legal Update (Immigration and FMLA)
• Immigration & The Law (Invited speaker along with a U.S. Representative)
• Immigration and Form I-9 Compliance in the Midst of COVID-19
• Immigration Changes for Employers: E-Verify, New I-9, No-Match Letters, and Workplace Raids (Speaker)
• Immigration Compliance in the Workplace (Speaker)
• Immigration Issues for Employers & Employees: The New Immigration Landscape Under the Trump Administration
• Immigration Leader Grant Sovern Writes Wisconsin Law Journal Article About Afghan Pro Bono Project
• Immigration Updates for Employers: Travel Guidelines and I-9 Compliance in the Midst of COVID-19
• Impact and Timing of the DHS Final Rule to Expand Premium Processing
• India Expands Electronic Business Visa Program to Include U.S. Travelers
• New Governor Mandates E-Verify for Florida State Agencies and Businesses With State Contracts
• New Illinois E-Verify Law Takes Effect on January 1, 2010: Special Illinois Procedures Required
• New Window for Filing H-1B Visa Petitions Fast Approaching
• New Window for Filing H-1B Visa Petitions Fast Approaching
• New Window for Filing H-1B Visa Petitions Fast Approaching
• Newly Introduced Provisions of Senate's Immigration Bill
• No-Match Letters are Back!
• President Announces Immigration Changes For Employers and Employees
• President Biden’s Impact on Employers in His First Three Weeks
• Social Security Challenges for Foreign National Employees
• Sorting Out the Facts: How the Trump Administration’s Policy Shifts Affect Employers
• The Fiscal Year 2010 H-1B Cap Has Been Reached
• The New Dynamics of Immigration - Finding the Way Between Getting Tough and Getting Employees
• U.S. Government Issues New Form I-9 for Use by All Employers
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Announces 1,000 New Audits of Employers Nationwide
• U.S. Immigration Service Adds New Requirements to H-1B Employees Working Off-Site
• U.S. State Department Suspends Visa Operations in Russia
• U.S. State Department System Crash Causing Significant Visa Processing Delays
• USCIS Announces Premium Processing Expansion for F-1 OPT and STEM OPT EAD Applications
• USCIS Implements New H-1B and L-1 Fees (P.L. 111-230)
• USCIS Suspends H-1B Premium Processing Beginning April 3
• Utah Joins In E-Verify Requirement
• Window for Filing H-1B Visa Petitions Fast Approaching
• Workplace Enforcement and Immigration
• ​Filing Window For H-1B Visa Petitions Fast Approaching
• ​New Window for Filing H-1B Visa Petitions Fast Approaching
• “Your Corporate Immigration Program - Successful Strategies to Ensure Full Compliance”

Seminar

• Annual Labor & Employment Symposium
• Annual Labor & Employment Symposium - Get the Big Picture
• Business Law Training | Immigration for Employers: Staying Ahead of the Trump Administration
• Immigration Issues for Employers & Employees: The New Immigration Landscape Under the Trump Administration
• International Challenges for University Research: Foreign Economic Espionage & Trade Secret Exfiltration, and Immigration
• The President’s Executive Action on Immigration: What Does it Mean for Employers?
• What faculty, postdocs, grad students and administrators need to know about international researchers coming, staying and moving beyond campus
• Your Corporate Immigration Program - Successful Strategies to Ensure Full Compliance