Kellie E. MacDonald
Maine
Pierce Atwood LLP
254 Commercial Street
Merrill's Wharf
Portland, ME 04101
Tel: 207.791.1220
Email:
kmacdonald@pierceatwood.com
Web:
www.pierceatwood.com
Kellie practices employment-based immigration law, working with employers and employees to develop and implement solutions for short and long-term immigration needs. Her work focuses on temporary employment-based processes, including petitions for H-1B, L-1, E-3, and TN nonimmigrant workers, waivers for J-1 nonimmigrants, including Conrad 30 and Interested Government Agency applications and J-1 recipients of government funding, and employment-based permanent residence processes.
Kellie has particular expertise developing immigration solutions for individuals with extraordinary and exceptional ability in the sciences and business, including O-1 nonimmigrant petitions, EB-1 petitions for outstanding researchers and individuals with extraordinary ability, and EB-2 National Interest Waivers. She provides counsel and support for companies of all sizes on compliance issues relating to Labor Condition Applications, Forms I-9, and immigration issues and considerations arising out of corporate mergers and acquisitions.
Prior to joining Pierce Atwood, Kellie worked in immigration legal services at Catholic Charities’ Refugee and Immigration Services in Boston, Massachusetts, and at the American Friends Service Committee’s Immigrant Rights’ Program in Newark, New Jersey. In these roles, she gained extensive experience in removal defense, asylum, “crimmigration” issues, immigrant detention, and immigration appeals.
After graduating law school, she was awarded an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellowship, a competitive immigration law fellowship for new attorneys practicing deportation defense. During law school, Kellie was a student attorney with the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, the oldest student-run legal services office in the country.
- Partners with clients of all sizes and in industries ranging from biomedical research to healthcare, engineering, and information technology to obtain approvals for non-immigrant 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.
- Provides guidance on the best available immigration options and strategies, assisting throughout all stages of the employment-based permanent residence process for extraordinary individuals, intra-company managers and executives, as well as advanced degree and skilled workers.
- Provides eligibility assessments and obtain approvals for “extraordinary ability” foreign workers, including O-1 petitions and EB-1 extraordinary ability permanent residence processes, as well as “outstanding research” EB-1 permanent residence processes.
- Provides eligibility assessments and obtain approvals for National Interest Waiver green card processes.
- Advises and supports employers and employee with port of entry nonimmigrant processes, including TN and L-1 processes.
- 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 employers around F-1 compliance issues relating to CPT, OPT, and STEM OPT work authorization and maintenance of status issues related to F-1 employment.
- Provides eligibility assessments and obtain approvals for J-1 waiver applications, including “no objection” waivers and Conrad 30 waivers for physicians.
We provide corporate immigration services for clients with multinational business operations or whose business needs require local hire of foreign workers. Our clients include publicly traded Fortune 500 companies with annual revenue in excess of $10 billion, as well as small businesses, foreign investors, and startups. An important aspect of our business immigration practice is obtaining appropriate employment-based visas for foreign workers needed by clients in labor-short or special skills occupations, as well as for executives, managers, and key employees on cross-border assignment.
Pierce Atwood LLP is a highly-regarded full-service law firm based in New England, recognized nationally and internationally for its expertise in complex and class action litigation, energy production and distribution, midmarket mergers and acquisitions, information security and technology, commercial real estate development, and complex construction projects.
Pierce Atwood provides legal and business counsel to its clients, which range from regional and local enterprises, utilities, financiers, middle-market companies, entrepreneurs, and individuals, to Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations, and state and foreign governments. Clients derive superior value based on the firm’s efficient and cost-effective service structure coupled with its high level of sophistication, responsiveness, and industry expertise.
At the Pierce Atwood law firm, our success is built on three core strengths: attracting and retaining superb legal talent, achieving superior client satisfaction, and delivering exceptional value. Our attorneys understand that our clients want creative and timely legal solutions from attorneys who understand their businesses. We also understand that clients want responsiveness and efficiency in the delivery of legal services. Our goal is to deliver all of these.
“Known for her sharp insight and client-centered approach, Kellie provides outstanding counsel on employment-based immigration matters. Clients value her practical advice and attention to detail, while peers regard her as a highly capable advisor in complex visa and compliance issues.”