Rami Lee-VanValkenburg, Esquire
Ms. Rami Lee-VanValkenburg is an experienced US Immigration Attorney with a sincere passion for excellence in immigration law. Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg’s passion for excellence in immigration law derives from her own family’s first-hand immigration experiences. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg and the Lee Family arrived in the United States in 1986 and finally became US Citizens in 1998. Raised in a traditional Korean-American first generation immigration family, Ms. Lee’s father’s unwavering devotion in raising his four children and the experiences and sacrifices he made so that each of his children can achieve the American Dream has made Ms. Lee a more honest, hardworking, and compassionate immigration attorney. Each case Ms. Lee works on she sees her own family’s immigration experiences, hopes, and dreams. Being an immigrant herself, Ms. Lee sincerely understands each one of her client’s immigration goals and works effectively to help each client achieve the American Dream.
Immigration Experience
Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg maintains her own immigration practice in Princeton, NJ. Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg is licensed before the NJ Supreme Court and various federal courts. Because the practice of US Immigration Law is purely federal (national) in scope, she can effectively represent clients nationwide.
Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg practices in all areas of business immigration, health care immigration, and family immigration. She currently represents various individual clients, start-up companies, foreign researchers, doctors, businessmen, and multinational companies and executives within the US and internationally.
Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg has significant hands-on processing experience filing hundreds of successful immigration applications, specifically in the areas of PERM, H1B Visas, Schedule A Nurses, Alien of Extraordinary Ability Petitions, National Interest Waivers, L1 Intra-Company Transferees, Multinational Manager Green Cards, Conrad Waivers, J1 Visa Waivers, Outstanding Researchers, Extreme Hardship Waivers, Fraud Waivers, Battered Spouse Petitions, Asylum Applications, Consular Processing, Deportation and Removal Proceedings.
Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg has advised her international and local corporate clients and small businesses on various immigration related compliance matters for employers using temporary and permanent foreign workers. Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg has worked with her business clients to ensure that each client was maintaining an effective immigration compliance program through required immigration public disclosure documents, foreign employee documentation retention, foreign employee I-9 document verification processes, employer’s ability to pay and prevailing wage issues, employer’s requirements with roving employees, requirements with work authorization renewals, requirements regarding authorized employment during a pending application, etc. Ms. Lee has reviewed and advised various I-9 compliance issues for her business clients and kept her clients advised of any recent changes to the I-9 form and procedures.
Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg also has extensive immigration litigation experience. She has filed various Motions, Appeals, Writs of Habeas Corpus, Petitions for Rehearing, before the Board of Immigration Appeals, Administrative Appeals Office, USCIS, various federal and district courts. Ms. Lee-VanValkenburg appeared before the US Immigration Court during deportation/removal proceedings and before USCIS to attend marriage interviews, US Citizenship interviews, and family-based green card interviews.
Legal Work Experience
- Rami Lee-VanValkenburg Immigration Law located in Princeton, NJ (April 2009 – Present)
- Weisel, Xides & Foerster located in Pittsburgh, PA (August 2007 – April 2009, Immigration Attorney)
- Pittsburgh immigration boutique law firm (August 2005-August 2007, Supervising Attorney; December 2004-July 2005, Law Clerk)
- Pittsburgh Regional Immigration Assistance Center (May 2004-November 2004, Legal Intern)
- Ford Institute for Human Security (April 2004-April 2005, Graduate Assistant, Comparative Immigration Policy & Corporate Social Responsibility Project)
- Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius (November 2000-June 2001, Intern, FDA Group in the Antitrust Department)
- GWU Jacob Burns Legal Clinic Federal Appellate Clinic (September 1998-June 2001, Research Assistant) and the Small Business Clinic (April 2000-August 2000)
Education
- JD, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
- MPIA, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
- BA, George Washington University, Elliot School of International Affairs as a junior, with senior standing.
Bar Admission
- New Jersey
Court Admission
- New Jersey
- U.S. District Court, New Jersey
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Honors
- Graduate Honoree, University of Pittsburgh’s Honors Convocation (2006)
- University of Pittsburgh School of Law Community Service Award (2005)
Memberships
- American Bar Association (ABA)
- American Immigration Lawyers Association