Rimon

Sonia Oliveri

Partner

Immigration Law
Miami

Areas of Focus:

EDUCATION

Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad College of Law

J.D., cum laude, Dean's List

Roma Tre University

J.D., summa cum laude

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

  • Kelley Kronenberg (Partner)

    ADMISSIONS

  • District of Columbia
  • State of Florida
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

    Languages

  • English
  • Farsi
  • French
  • Italian
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish

Sonia Oliveri’s practice focuses on business immigration, EB-5, and on commercial clients’ immigration and international business needs. A native of Italy, Ms. Oliveri is fluent in six languages: English, Farsi, Italian, French, Portugese and Spanish.

Ms. Oliveri is a highly accomplished immigration attorney. She assists corporate clients, foreign corporations and investors with complex corporate transactions and immigration matters, with an emphasis on the EB-5 program, E-1/E-2 treaty trader and investor programs, H-1B visa matters, and L-1 intracompany transferee visa applications. Ms. Oliveri counsels foreign national clients on obtaining green cards through either individual direct, pooled investments, or regional center EB-5 investments, nationwide. She serves clients seeking solutions to complex immigration and business issues. She also works with employers and human resources departments on I-9 compliance as well as H-1B and LCA compliance. She regularly counsels businesses on immigration-related regulatory compliance issues including employment-eligibility verification issues, E-Verify and I-9 audits, internal audits and reviews.

Ms. Oliveri represents clients with domestic and international interests concerning international/cross-border transactions and international estate matters. Clientele from all over the world — specifically Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and India — rely on her cultural experience and global international background and perspective for matters that require cultural sensitivity. She leverages her international business abilities and interpersonal skills in complex international matters, corporate and immigration-related. Ms. Oliveri presents creative solutions and identifies issues before they become problematic, while delivering the highest levels of customer attention and care.

The combination of her international business and multilingual background allows Ms. Oliveri to bring unique expertise to the EB-5 arena. Her thorough understanding of the broad issues associated with business migration to the U.S. permits her to recognize and communicate to clients many of the complex issues of the U.S. business immigration processes outside of the traditional application filings with USCIS.

Ms. Oliveri has also served clients worldwide including treaty investors (E-2), and traders (E-1), immigrant investors, regional centers, multi-national managers and corporations, small businesses, artists, entertainers, athletes, students, trainees, professionals, managers, executives, employers, and individuals seeking solutions to complex immigration and business issues.

Ms. Oliveri has developed strong professional relationships in her field. She provides advice on the complexities of immigration matters to the clients of numerous U.S. investment groups, regional centers, and developers. Additionally, Ms. Oliveri advises these groups on EB-5 program compliance, including developing new projects that qualify for EB-5 investments, preparing amendment filings, and applying for exemplar petitions. Ms. Oliveri works with securities lawyers, economists, business plan writers and other professionals on the preparation and filing of regional center designations and regional center amendment applications. From the beginning of her career, Ms. Oliveri has been responsible for filing hundreds of EB-5 petitions. She also advises individuals, businesses and regional centers on EB-5 compliance issues and complex U.S. immigration and nationality matters.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Oliveri was a partner with Kelley Kronenberg, where she created and led the firm’s EB-5 and Immigration practice groups. Prior to that, Ms. Oliveri was an attorney for a major immigration investment law firm. There, she gained experience in business immigration, advising high-net-worth foreign nationals and companies on business agreements, business and investor visas, commercial lease agreements, contract negotiations, corporate formation, employment, employment-based applications and global immigration.

SELECTED EXPERIENCE

Immigration Counseling

  • Counseling one of the nation’s largest hospitals on all its immigration matters.
  • Developing and conducting I-9 compliance and immigration compliance training programs for human resource managers, general counsels and supervisory-level employees for a Fortune 200 company.
  • Counseling a global yacht manufacturer concerning all immigration matters, including L-1 visas, H-1Bs, TNs, C-1s, EB-1Cs and (PERM) labor certifications.
  • Counseling a private equity company on all immigration matters, including E-2 visas, H-1Bs, O-1s, TNs, and (PERM) labor certifications.
  • Counseling the U.S. branch of a top UEFA champion league football team concerning visas for players and coaches.
  • Counseling a $500 million U.S. company on all immigration needs for its specialized employees (H-1Bs, O-1s, L-1s, PERMS).
  • Obtaining approvals for national interest exceptions to the presidential proclamations imposing travel restrictions (i.e. Schengen Ban).
  • Counseling large Indian companies creating a U.S. branch for purposes of L-1 visas and other business immigration matters.
  • Obtaining E-2 approval for a 5-year investor visa for a Venezuelan/Spanish national who previously had received four denials with prior counsel (two U.S. consulate and two ESTA denial applications).
  • Obtaining a 5-year E-2 visa approval for a Venezuelan client holding an expired passport in light of the Guaido Decree of May 21, 2019, which extended the validity of Venezuelan passports past their printed expiration.
  • Obtaining approval without RFEs (“Requests for Further Evidence”) of all computer-related H-1B applications for one of the largest furniture retailers in Florida.
  • Obtaining difficult-to-receive B-1/B-2 visa application approval under extreme circumstances for a high-profile Italian client who had been denied U.S. visa with prior counsel. The client had an important contract with an international star performing on a U.S. tour. Due to the denial, the client had been barred from entering the U.S. Despite the urgency of the matter and various other difficulties, we assisted the client in obtaining the same visa in less than a week.
  • Structuring and obtaining approvals of E-2 visas for real estate investment businesses.
  • Obtaining approval in a very short time and without RFEs for a difficult-to-receive E-2 visa renewal prepared and filed in less than a month. The client had been under a E-2 visa for over 15 years.
  • Obtaining approval of several satisfactory departure applications for clients unable to leave the U.S. and travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Acting as expert immigration counsel during family law court proceedings, advising the court on immigration status of the parties, their ability to travel internationally, U.S. immigration timelines and other related issues.
  • Obtaining approval of a National Interest Exception Waiver for the owner of a venture capital company involved in developing a treatment and vaccine for COVID-19.

EB-5

  • Counseling a national dairy manufacturer on EB-5 investment program creation, structure and compliance.
  • Counseling a national developer concerning the group’s $130 million EB-5 regional center project capital structure for a two-tower hotel project in western Florida.
  • Counseling a private Canadian real estate investment and management company on all EB-5 and U.S. immigration-related matters including structure of new commercial enterprise, capital stack, business plan, economic forecasts, and compliance.
  • Counseling and filing EB-5 direct visa applications for clients interested in creating stand-alone EB-5 projects.
  • Counseling a Florida developer on EB-5 immigrant investor visa program and on the acquisition of regional centers in Massachusetts and California.
  • Counseling, structuring and filing corporate structure for “E-2 to EB-5” visa upgrades.
  • Counseling a large number of Mexican investors, individually and pooled, for their investment immigration corporate structures (E-2s, EB-5 & L-1 visa).
  • Counseling Argentinian investors, individually and pooled, for their business investment corporate structures (E-2s, EB-5 & L-1 visa).
  • Filing four EB-5 visa applications in 10-15 days, under incredible pressure, to meet a deadline to invest at the $500,000 level and be grandfathered in under past EB-5 regulations.
  • Acting as EB-5 counsel for immigration attorneys interested in learning the EB-5 visa program.

International Corporate Counseling

  • Counseling U.S. groups developing a marketing structure to attract Brazilian and Latin American investors.
  • Counseling and acting as general counsel for international corporate clients needing a point of contact in the U.S. fluent in their native language.
  • Counseling and acting as strategist for international clients creating a U.S. team of professionals for investment ventures: securities counsels, corporate counsels, business plan writers, and economists.
  • Counseling a large Italian renewable-energy company creating a U.S. branch on all immigration matters.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

  • Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), Board of Directors
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Member
  • South Florida AILA, Member Business & Investment Committee
  • Latin American and Caribbean AILA, Member
  • National Italian American Bar Association (NIABA), Member
  • COMITES, Italian Consular Committee for Italians Abroad, Member
  • Italy American Chamber of Commerce Southeast (IACC), Member

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

  • Chambers and Partners USA, Immigration – Florida, 2021-2022
  • Top 25 Immigration Attorneys, EB-5 Investor Magazine, 2019
  • Top 5 Rising Stars, EB-5 Investor Magazine, 2018
  • EB-5 Verified by EB-5 Investor Magazine


PUBLICATIONS


SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

  • Changes to the EB-5 Investor Program and the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa, NSU CLE New Immigration Challenges, Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, June 2019
  • H-1B to EB-5 Seminar Miami, ILW.COM, April 2019
  • Business Immigration, E-2 Treaty Investor Visa & EB-5 Investor Program, NSU CLE New Considerations in Immigration Practice, Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, February 2019
  • Practical Aspects of Preparing and Filing EB-5 Immigrant Visa Petitions, Business and Investment Committee, AILA South Florida, January 2019
  • EB-5 Investor Program Seminar & Roundtable, Nicastro Group, Milan, May 2018

Other Credentials

  • EB-5 Attorney – Immigrant Investment Petitions

EDUCATION

Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad College of Law

J.D., cum laude, Dean's List

Roma Tre University

J.D., summa cum laude

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

  • Kelley Kronenberg (Partner)

    ADMISSIONS

  • District of Columbia
  • State of Florida
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

    Languages

  • English
  • Farsi
  • French
  • Italian
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish