Heather Sivaraman

Sivaraman Immigration Law's founder, Heather Sivaraman, brings an exceptional level of initiative, creativity and dedication to the practice of Immigration Law. A 2008 graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, she is an active member of the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the American Health Lawyers Association and the International Medical Graduate Taskforce. Her practice focuses exclusively on employment and family based immigration, with particular expertise in assisting clients in the healthcare and education sectors.

Heather began her career in immigration law as an immigration attorney in a prominent NC immigration law firm. She has since successfully advocated on behalf of hundreds of individuals, families, and businesses before state and federal agencies on complex immigration matters. Her practice emphasizes helping highly-educated and skilled workers obtain U.S. legal status and facilitating companies’ compliance with laws regarding the employment of foreign nationals. She has also raised awareness of immigration issues through engagement with local schools and universities, mentorship of law students and new attorneys, and by serving as a guest lecturer on immigration at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina Central University.

作为Sivaraman Immigration Law的创始人，Sivaraman律师一直致力于提供高质量，个性化的移民服务。她在办理J-1豁免，国家利益豁免（NIW）和EB-1, EB-2, EB-3申请方面有着多年的丰富经验， 同时还擅长于办理O-1和H-1B的申请。

教育背景：

北卡罗来纳大学法学博士

北卡罗来纳大学社工硕士

佛罗里达大学心理学学士 

会员资格：

美国移民律师协会会员

北卡罗来纳州律师协会会员 

Recognition

Heather has been chosen by peer review to appear in The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers each year from 2011 to 2015, and in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers in 2012 and 2013.Heather is regularly invited to speak to professional organizations, public and private employers, and immigrant interest groups nationwide. In 2015, Heather was a finalist and the sole immigration practitioner nominated for the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Under 40 Award.

Policy Advocacy

In addition to her exceptional work on behalf of her firm and clients, Heather has also demonstrated an abiding commitment to improving immigration services and policies at state and national levels. She is a former Chair the North Carolina Bar Association Immigration Law Committee and, at the national level, Heather served as the Legislative Advocacy Chair for the Carolinas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a professional organization comprising more than 150 immigration lawyers in North and South Carolina. As a result of her legislative advocacy efforts, Heather has established a reputation as a fierce advocate for immigrant rights, one who vividly articulates the many contributions of foreign-born individuals to their U.S. employers and communities, thoughtfully discusses the challenges many immigrants face in acquiring legal status, and crafts thought-provoking responses to immigration-related questions and concerns raised by Congressional members and staff.

Background

Prior to practicing immigration law, Heather served as an International Adoption Program Director at a multinational non-profit organization in Washington D.C., and as an Adoption Case Manager at an adoption agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she assisted families adopting children internationally from Kazakhstan and Russia. She continues to have a passion for adoption issues, and regularly provides consultations to families adopting children internationally.

During law school, Heather was awarded a U.S. Department of State Foreign Language and Area Studies Scholarship to study Russian Language in St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition to her Juris Doctorate (JD), Heather has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Florida and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Heather lives in Carrboro with her son Arin and cat, Tiger Torpedo.