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As the Co-Chair of the firm’s Immigration practice, Fazila Vaid assists multinational corporations and business professionals with temporary and permanent residence matters, including a full range of nonimmigrant and immigrant visas and PERM applications. Clients appreciate Fazila’s ability to cut through the complex legalese of immigration law by streamlining and explaining the issues or problem at hand and providing a workable solution to realizing the right result.

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Fazila's practice focuses primarily on counseling companies engaged in trade and investment in the U.S. regarding the transfer of employees utilizing the E and L visa categories.  She has broad experience assisting companies to file complex and challenging O-1 petitions on behalf of researchers and individuals with extraordinary ability in business, the arts and sciences.  She assists companies to file H-1B petitions for foreign students and workers as well as TN applications for Canadian and Mexican nationals.  Fazila has developed a niche practice assisting professionals in all industries to secure permanent residency in the EB-1 category as entrepreneurs, researchers, scholars, artists and in other hard-to-define professions.  In addition, Fazila has extensive experience assisting companies to file traditional PERM applications and I-140 petitions in the EB-2 and EB-3 preference categories. Fazila provides strategic advice to employers on a wide range of immigration issues, including I-9 compliance, audits and negotiations with ICE, corporate restructuring and mergers and acquisitions, complex Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Revoke/Deny, nonimmigrant visa waivers, and short and long-term immigration options for corporations and individuals. Fazila also addresses issues related to family-based immigration and citizenship and naturalization matters.

Moreover, Fazila represents clients before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Labor, and numerous U.S. consular posts worldwide. She has been practicing immigration law exclusively for nearly two decades, and represents clients from a wide variety of industries including energy, information technology, finance, engineering, food manufacturing, automotive parts manufacturing, construction equipment manufacturing, and high-speed railway and railway manufacturing.

Fazila has served as pro bono counsel to low-income individuals in asylum matters for the National Immigrant Justice Center. She lectures on immigration issues at professional and community organizations, conferences, universities and professional schools. In the past, she has served as pro bono counsel to low-income individuals in asylum matters for the National Immigrant Justice Center. Prior to joining Masuda Funai, Fazila worked in the immigration department of a mid-size law firm in downtown Chicago, where she represented corporations, universities, hospitals, medical institutions, foreign medical graduates and individual clients with temporary and permanent residence matters.

Practice Areas

Education

  • IIT-Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., 2000
  • University of Illinois, Chicago, B.A. Criminal Justice and Spanish, 1996

Admissions

  • Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • Supreme Court of Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals: 7th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois

Languages

  • Urdu
  • Urdu / Hindi
  • Gujarati
  • Spanish
.
Experience

Experience

Assisted a multinational manufacturing corporation in seeking B-1 visas at "high fraud" consular posts for multiple overseas employees seeking to attend seminars in the U.S.

Counseled companies to seek alternative visas after the exhaustion of H-1B quota numbers.

Provided a comprehensive analysis of a permanent residency process and implemented the process on behalf of companies.

Assisted and counseled foreign medical graduates to seek permanent residency through the PERM and Physician National Interest Waiver process.

Provided strategic immigration counseling and assisted companies in complying with USCIS and DOL regulations in connection with corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions.

Assisted physicians seeking National Interest Waiver to submit adjustment of status applications and prepare and submit "preliminary" and "final" evidence to the USCIS.

Memberships

Memberships

American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Chicago Chapter - Former Chair, Social Security Administration (SSA) Liaison Committee
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Chicago Chapter - Former Co-Chair, Social Security Administration (SSA) Liaison Committee
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Chicago Chapter - Former Member, Advocacy Committee and Citizenship Liaison Committee
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Chicago Chapter - Former Member, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Liaison Committee
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Chicago Chapter - Former Vice Chair, Illinois Secretary of State & Attorney General Liaison Committee
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), National - Former Member, Verification and Documentation Liaison Committee
Muslim Bar Association - Advisory Board Member, Former Secretary and Board Member
Professional Activities
Legal Updates/Client Advisories
Understanding the Complexities of Completing the Form I-9 for TPS Beneficiaries
Completing the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is already a complicated process for most U.S. employers. However, when you…
Substantial USCIS Filing Fee Increases Implemented
As noted in our articles published on January 31, February 27, and March 26, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)…
Visa, I-94, I-797 and Status—What Do They Mean?
Nonimmigrants (individuals who enter the U.S. on a temporary basis) frequently use the term visa to refer to everything from their…
Check Your Form I-94 After International Travel
During the holiday season, more people travel internationally for family visits, vacations, or business trips. Upon returning to the U.S…
Class Action Lawsuit in Bait-and-Switch Scheme Leads to Increased Scrutiny of TN Visas
A class action lawsuit filed in Georgia alleged that U.S. companies lured Mexican nationals to the U.S. to work as professional engineers…
Help! I Still Haven't Received My U.S. Passport and I Need to Travel Next Month
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) is experiencing an unprecedented demand for U.S. passports. During some months this year, the DOS…
Surprise Denials of Entry to the U.S. Under The VWP Using ESTA
As travel to the U.S. is back on the rise, we have been receiving more frequent reports of travelers who have been denied or refused…
How Companies Can Avoid Getting ICE Burn
As the enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the primary directive of the U.S. Immigration and Customs…
But it Was Only an Apple!
Recently, our office received a call from a very disgruntled gentleman who complained that his Global Entry privileges were revoked because…
Update on the June 22, 2020 Proclamation
On June 22, 2020, the President issued a Proclamation (Proc. 10052) which suspended the entry of certain H-1B, H-2B, J-1 and L-1…
Amended Proclamation Bars Visa Issuance to H-1B, H-2B, J-1 and L-1 Work Visa Categories
On June 22, 2020, the President extended and amended Proclamation 10014 (signed on April 22, 2020), which suspended the issuance of certain…
New Restrictive Immigration Order on the Horizon
There is speculation that within the next few days or weeks, the Trump Administration will issue a new Executive Order that will impact…
COVID-19 Immigration Alert Update
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, U.S. government agencies are implementing measures that impact U.S…
USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2019
On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had completed its fiscal year 2019…
Business Immigration Weekly - March 5, 2018
Justice Department Settles Discrimination Claim Against Meat Processing Plant in Illinois On March 5, 2018, the Justice Department…
Business Immigration Weekly - February 28, 2018
USCIS Rewrites Mission Statement On February 22, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) rewrote its mission…
Business Immigration Weekly - February 23, 2018
ICE Arrests Hundreds in the Los Angeles Area In mid-February, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 212 individuals…
Business Immigration Weekly - February 5, 2018
President Trump Establishes National Vetting Center On February 6, 2018, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen released a…
Business Immigration Weekly - January 29, 2018
The DOJ’s IER Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against CVS Subsidiary The Department of Justice, through its Immigrant and…
Business Immigration Weekly - January 22, 2018
USCIS Confirms No Anticipated Procedural Changes for FY 2019 H-1B Cap Season The USCIS announced that that it intends to follow the same…
Business Immigration Weekly - January 15, 2018
CBP to Send Out I-94 Expiration Reminders to Visa Waiver Program Travelers On January 5, 2018, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)…
Business Immigration Weekly - January 8, 2018
USCIS Not Considering Changes to H-1B Extension Rules In late December 2017, news service McClatchy DC reported that the U.S. Department of…
Speaking Engagements
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago Webinar – Participated in a Panel Discussion on "Muslim Women Leaders in the Workplace" - March 28, 2021
3.28.21
Muslim Bar Association of Chicago – Moderated Panel Discussion on "Ask a Lawyer Series" - March 25, 2021
3.25.21
CONversation Fandom Event Planner's Conference 2021 (ConvoCon 2021) – Participated in a Panel Discussion on "Ask a Lawyer 2021" - March 13, 2021
3.13.21
The KZ Show - Co-Panelist on "Immigration Laws: Constantly Changing Dynamics" - March 10, 2021
3.10.21
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Webinar – "Recent Trends in I-140 Requests for Evidence" - April 23, 2020
4.23.20
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Webinar – "Update on Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Interviews" Moderated Panel - August 15, 2019
8.15.19
HalfMoon Education Seminar – "Employment-Based Immigration Law & Practice" - July 31, 2019
7.31.19
Events
Late-Breaking Webinar: Potential Impact of the Presidential Election on the Legal Immigration System
11.21.24
Bob White Fazila Vaid Julie Emerick The Potential New H-1B Program under the Trump Administration Effects of the new Trump…
Late Breaking Webinar - Substantial I-9 Employment Verification Changes: Remote Verifications, Revised Form and Reverifications
8.17.23
Fazila Vaid Julie Emerick The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be making the most significant changes to the I-9…
2018 Annual Complimentary Immigration Law Update Seminar
3.2.18
8:00 am - Registration and Breakfast 8:30-11:30 am - Presentations Continental breakfast will be provided
News
Fazila Vaid & Michael Golensen's Articles Lead BizBuddy's Rankings.
Masuda Funai is pleased to announce that Fazila Vaid and Michael Golenson’s articles have been ranked in the list of most accessed articles…
Masuda Funai Hosts 2024 Immigration Seminar
Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd. hosted its annual Immigration Seminar on Thursday, February 29, 2024, at the DoubleTree Hotel in…
Masuda Funai Hosts 2023 Immigration Seminar
Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd. hosted its annual Immigration Seminar on Thursday, February 23, 2023, at the DoubleTree Hotel in…
Masuda Funai Hosts 2020 Immigration Seminar
Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd. hosted its annual Immigration Seminar on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at the DoubleTree Hotel in…
Fazila Vaid Spoke at The CONversation Fandom Conference
On January 5, Fazila Vaid, Principal in Masuda Funai’s Immigration Group, participated in a panel discussion at The CONversation Fandom…
Bryan Funai, Kathleen Gaber and Fazila Vaid Authored an Article in the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
The article "Employment-Based Permanent Resident Petitions" featured in the 2019 Immigration Law Edition of the Illinois Institute for…
Fazila Vaid Authored an Article in the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
The article "Family-Sponsored Immigration: Immediate Relatives and Family-Based Preferences" featured in the 2019 Immigration Law Edition…
Masuda Funai Hosts 2019 Immigration Seminar
Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd. hosted its annual Immigration Seminar on Friday, February 15, 2019 at the DoubleTree Hotel in…
Masuda Funai Hosts 2018 Immigration Seminar
Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd. hosted its annual Immigration Seminar on Friday, March 2, 2018. Approximately 100 executives…
Publications
Distinctions

Distinctions

  • Leading Lawyers, 2015-2024
  • Illinois Super Lawyers, 2024