Dedicated Legal Experts Committed to Your Success

Welcome to our firm, where legal expertise meets personalized, client-focused legal services. We provide exceptional legal solutions tailored to the unique needs of our clients with a special focus on immigration issues in academia and medicine.

Our special focus is on international students and scholars (F/J/M visas), SEVIS certification, designation and compliance, academic medicine -- both research and clinical, including graduate medical education, and I-9/E-Verify compliance.

Our legal services extend to family and employment immigration issues that affect the academic and medical communities and extend beyond immigration to international taxation -- and specifically foreign national taxation (or "nonresident alien tax"). With our deep legal knowledge and commitment to client success, you ensure you receive high quality immigration and tax representation.

MEET THE ATTORNEYS

EXPERIENCE

With experience-gained knowledge in immigration and tax law, we provide tailored solutions for international students, scholars, faculty, medical professionals, family members, and businesses.

PERSONALIZED SERVICE

We treat each case with individual attention, offering guidance that meets your unique needs.

PROVEN SUCCESS

Our years of experience and dedication to client success make us a trusted partner in navigating complex legal challenges.

CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH

We prioritize clear communication, timely responses, and proactive solutions to ensure the best outcomes. Each client has direct access to Dahlia French.

Why Clients Choose Us?

Experience, Dedication & Client-Centered

Our Legal Services

We Love Academic Immigration!

Our international student and scholar services include F-1, J-1, and M-1 advising. We also provide skill legal representation for institutions and organizations seeking SEVIS certification, designation, compliance monitoring, or staff training.

Dahlia French has over 30 years experience in academic immigration. For 16 of those years, she worked at US universities as an immigration attorney while also providing services as a DSO, ARO, and RO. She understands SEVIS and its regulations. She and her experienced team of SEVIS specialists work with clients seeking SEVIS certification/designation, recertification/redesignation, I-17 amendments, I-17 audits or notices of revocation, SEVIS training and compliance, and SEVIS program management.

Dahlia works directly with international students and scholars ("SEVIS Students & Scholars") and their family members in F, J, or M visa status, and students wanting to change to one of those visa statuses. She provides guidance through the academic journey and into employment immigration, permanent residence, and US citizenship.

ACADEMIC IMMIGRATION

ALL THINGS SEVIS!

MEDICAL IMMIGRATION

ACADEMIC MEDICAL CENTERS

International Medical Graduates & Medical Immigration is one of our favorite practice areas!

Dahlia French has decades of experience working with and in academic medical centers and with international physicians. We are skilled at securing visas for academic and private medical centers needing medical providers. We have decades of experience with J-1 waivers for physicians and researchers, and partner with medical schools and graduate medical education programs to craft sensible, cost-effective immigration sponsorship policies.

With her decades of experience in US healthcare, an LL.M in Health Law, and certification in Healthcare Compliance, Dahlia French "speaks the language" of the federal agencies and certify organizations in the medical world: ECFMG, ACGME, AMA, ACCME, LCME, etc.) and understands the unique concerns of academic medical centers that operate Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs or partner with a GME-serving hospital.

Legal services are available to physician and non-physician researchers, and to medical centers seeking allied healthcare professionals (RNs, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, etc).

Whether it be F-1, J-1, H-1B, O-1 or permanent residence sponsorship, French Legal will provide exceptional legal representation.

BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT IMMIGRATION, I-9/E-VERIFY COMPLIANCE

For businesses looking to hire international talent or for professionals seeking self-employment in the U.S., we provide end-to-end legal assistance. We also provide guidance, training, and audits for I-9/E-Verify management and compliance.

One of our areas of special focus is obtaining H-1B affiliation petition approval for non-exempt employers. If your company is frustrated by the competitive H-1B registration ("H-1B Lottery") process, please contact us to discuss whether you qualify for an H-1B affiliation filing, or are willing to take the necessary steps to meet this qualification.

FAMILY IMMIGRATION

We are committed to maintaining family unity through immigration and helping families secure a foothold in the USA, through permanent residence sponsorship and citizenship filings.

Whether you are sponsoring parents, children, a spouse, or siblings, French Legal can provide legal representation and advice to ensure you will be successful.

We offer tax advising, filing, and IRS representation for nonresidents, dual residents. We help you navigate U.S. tax laws and file all required tax returns. We offer tax advising about "sailing permits" to LPRs and US citizens permanently leaving the USA.

ITIN & EIN ASSISTANCE

As an IRS-Authorized Certified Acceptance Agent, we provide full support for obtaining ITINs and EINs, ensuring you and your business have the necessary IRS identification for your tax-related activities.

Dahlia French is an IRS Certified Acceptance Agent which enables him to certify original identification documents, so that a nonresident alien applying for an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) can avoid sending their original documents to the IRS.

Our current fee for ITIN advice, application and follow-up if needed is typically $250 per applicant. We offer a 50% multiple family member application discount. This does not include preparing an income tax return, which can be done for a separate fee if requested. We can also mail a tax filing from another preparer with your ITIN application, and sometimes this may be required. We cannot give you the ITIN application to mail to the IRS; we are required to mail it for you, so your tax preparer must be willing to give us the tax filing they prepared on your behalf.

If you need help applying for an ITIN, filing a U.S. tax return, contact Dahlia French at (615) 251-8111 or dahlia@frenchlegal.net.