We were lucky to catch up with Shruti Bali recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shruti, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

The one story that comes to mind is that of a father working hard over the years to build his profile (organically) and applying for an EB1A just so his son who is about to turn 21 years old can get a green card. To understand the story, you have to know a little bit about the challenges that foreign nationals Face after moving here to the United States.. everyone talks about how foreigners come and take away American jobs, but no one wants to talk about the Harsh reality that foreigners, especially those born in India Face after they move to the United States on the golden visa that everyone popularly knows has the H1B. It’s ridden with often working many years for the same employer, so they can agree to sponsor you for a green card and then getting stuck with years and years of backlog before you actually get the opportunity to get a green card. The story is of one such father who moved to the United States almost 2 decades ago with young children brilliant in his field, he moved here on a H1B and God has employer to sponsor him for a green card through the traditional PERM based route. But with a priority date in 2018, he realized that it could be a good two more decades before he can actually get his green card. He didn’t care about the card for himself, but he saw the opportunity slipping for his young son, who was about to turn 21 years. Once your child turns 21 years, they are no longer eligible to get a green card through you. This is a sad reality faced by many many children who are brought here as dependence by their parents on work visas. Aging out and not being able to get a green card through their parents and then getting stuck in the familiar F1- H1B – PERM based green card. When he saw the time slipping away from his child hands, he decided to build his profile and apply for a green card through the EB1A category, which is meant for people with extraordinary abilities in their field of endeavor. And he was truly extra extraordinary. We worked at dramatic speed so we could file his application in time and get an answer so his child could file his green card before he turned 21. Just like a Hollywood movie, we got the approval for the father in the nick of time and I think if I remember correctly, we were able to file the son‘s green card application just a few weeks shy of his 21st birthday.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well I’m a child of immigrants and after I completed law school practicing immigration law was just a natural choice. When I practice immigration law, I see myself, my father and my mother and my brother, and my clients and every time I help someone a part of me feels like I’m helping my family.

Have you ever had to pivot?

About four years ago, my son got a diagnosis that changed my life. It was then that I decided to stop being an employee and start my own practice. I need a flexible hours and I knew I had to be my own boss if I was gonna be there for my son who needed me at that point in his life the most

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Good and effective communication. People appreciate professionals who take the time and listen to them and communicate with them in a timely manner. I think my clients appreciate efficient communication from my end and they appreciate the fact that they deal with me directly and not some paralegal or Jr associate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.balilawusa.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shruti-bali-2a664829?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app