Martha J. Schoonover

Martha J. Schoonover focuses her practice on business immigration matters and assists employers in obtaining temporary, nonimmigrant visas for business persons, managers and executives, treaty investors and traders, professionals (including physicians, researchers and scientists, nurses, physical therapists, engineers, computer scientists, and business professionals), exchange visitors, students, and crew members working on the Outer Continental Shelf. In addition, Martha assists in obtaining labor certifications and permanent resident status for professionals, researchers, multinational managers and executives and other priority workers and in obtaining and relinquishing U.S. citizenship.

Martha represents companies facing U.S. government investigations or audits for immigration violations and prepares immigration and visa compliance programs for clients. She counsels employers on the employer sanctions and anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and represents employers being audited by the U.S. Government. In addition, she assists foreign companies in obtaining vessel exemptions from the U.S. manning requirements of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and in obtaining determinations from the Coast Guard that persons are not a part of the regular complement of the crew. Her practice involves appearances before and filing petitions/applications with the U.S. Department of State and its overseas posts, The U.S. Department of Labor, and the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Coast Guard. Martha is a frequent lecturer and author for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and ALI-ABA. She headed AILA's Labor Certification Task Force from 1993 to 1995 and has served on its State Department and INS/CIS General Counsel Liaison Committees.