Mohammad Ali Syed (Mo)

PRACTICE FOCUS
Mohammad Ali Syed is a principal attorney in Offit Kurman’s Immigration Law practice group.

He represents client in business and employment related permanent and temporary visa matters such as: (1) U.S. employers employing non-U.S. nationals in professional and non-professional positions – H1B, H2B, TN, O, PERM; (2) non-U.S. businesses and individuals such as treaty traders and investors, E-1/E-2, EB-5, EB1A, EB1B (extraordinary ability individuals and researchers), EB2-NIW (national interest waivers); (3) multinational companies with intracompany transfers of employees and principals to their U.S. offices, existing and startups – L1 and EB1C; (4) Counselling on I-9 compliance, immigration and visa strategy.

He also represents families and individuals in family-based immigration matters, such as fiancé, spouse and immediate family member applications. He also litigates immigration matters in federal courts, such as writs of mandamus and APA Act suits for delays in processing.

His clients include individuals, small, medium and large companies and non-profits, both U.S. and non-U.S. His representation has spanned a variety of industries, such as accounting, agriculture, architecture, automotive, casinos, commercial real estate, education, energy, financial service, healthcare, hospitality, IT, law firms, oil and gas, pharmaceutical and medical device, print and digital media, religious entities, restaurants, retail, robotics, sports, software, staffing, technology and wine makers to name just a few.

He regularly represents aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business and athletics. He has vast experience with nonimmigrant and immigrant visas including H-1B, PERM (employment-based green cards), E-1/E-2 treaty trader and investor visas, L-1 intracompany transfer visas, O, P and multinational managers and EB-5 investor immigration. He also handles I-9 compliance and Department of Labor Investigations.

He has expertise in family-based immigration, fiancé visas, naturalization and related matters. He also litigates cases involving delayed consular processing of visas, and USCIS delays in naturalization and immigration matters.

His clients come from several different countries and a variety of industry sectors. This experience in a variety of legal areas for a host of varied clients gives him the depth and breadth of real-world knowledge and legal expertise to be a trusted advisor to his clients and an effective advocate for them.

Prior to devoting himself full-time to immigration law, he worked as a civil and business litigator in Washington, D.C. and in Nashville, TN with prestigious law firms. He then decided to start his own law firm, and built a robust business immigration practice, for nearly a decade before joining Offit Kurman. Prior to this he also spent some time at a large regional law firm in Karachi, Pakistan as a business and disputes lawyer.

He is a certified Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) ski instructor and an avid cyclist.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
L-1A visas and EB-1C permanent residence visas for principal of large Caribbean law firm for transferred to its New York, NY office.
Intracompany transfer L-1A and EB-1C permanent residence visas for the principals transferred to Florida, by a Canadian strategic marketing and consulting firm providing services, including marketing strategy development, business advisement, website audits, quarterly content planning and marketing design asset production.
Intracompany transfer L-1A visa for a CEO – transferred to the Washington, DC area - of a UK based multinational translation services provider offering translations in over 220 languages for industries including pharmaceuticals, finance, and marketing.
Obtained several H-1B visas for a non-profit organization for professional Clinical Therapist positions. The non-profit is affiliated with the Oregon Institute of Technology, providing multidisciplinary behavioral health and wellness practice and offering mental health and substance abuse services.
Obtained dozens of approvals for permanent labor certification based immigration visas for a AAA Four-Diamond-rated hotel and casino in Maryland. The client is among the top-performing commercial casinos in the United States, home to over 4,000 slot machines, 188 live-action game tables, 82 dealer-assisted electronic table games and FanDuel Sportsbook.
Obtained an E-2 investor visa for the Chief Executive Officer of an Italian startup company providing services to enterprises purchasing industrial equipment from machinery wholesalers.
EB-2 National Interest Waiver for Spanish physician owner of startup company provider of high-level healthcare innovation education services for the domestic and international healthcare and business sector. The endeavor was shown to contribute to the expansion of U.S. medical devices and technology and medical start-ups to markets in developing countries, as well as raise the profitability and sales of U.S.-based medical and business companies.
EB-2 National Interest Waiver for Korean wireless communication technology expert. The case established the client as widely recognized expert in conformance and interoperability testing for 50, C­V2X, and other radio communications used in connected devices and infrastructure. As a result of his expertise, his employer was able to provide services to national and international clients that then promotes key public objectives, such as transportation safety, fuel economy, environmental protection, and several others. The key finding was that this promotes the national economy by advancing technologies. making available cheaper, safer and more effective devices.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
The 2024 H-1B Visa Lottery – What Employers Need to Know Webinar - February 14, 2024
“Remote/Hybrid Work Trends Panel Discussion”, American Immigration Lawyer Association DC Chapter Fall Conference, Washington D.C., November 10, 2023.
“Immigration Law Trends and Challenges: From Refugees to Businesses”, National Association of Muslim Lawyers Conference, Arlington, VA, October 7, 2023.
“Immigration Delays and National Security”, Maryland State Bar Association CLE, September 6, 2023.
“Foreign Startups in the US”, 2023 Legal Summit Series, July 10, 2023.
"Navigating the U.S. Visa Landscape", Select USA, National Harbor, MD, May 1, 2023.
"H-1Bs and Me: How I Learned to Get Approvals and Love the Job," American Immigration Lawyers Association DC Chapter CLE Conference, Speaker, February 23, 2022.
Additional Speaking Engagements

DC Bar CLE Webinar, A World of Change: Immigration Under a Biden/Harris Administration, Presenter, March 18, 2021.
“How Foreign Law Firms Can Establish Offices in the U.S.: Immigration, Business and Ethics Considerations,” American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Immigration and Naturalization Committee, Panel Discussion and Teleconference, Washington, D.C., Speaker and Program Chair, April 3, 2019.
“What Lawyers Need to Know About Business Immigration in the Trump Era,” D.C. Bar, CLE Program, Panel and Webinar, Washington, D.C., Speaker, May 14, 2019.
“Startups: A Comparative Immigration Law Perspective from Australia, UK, US, and Singapore,” American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Immigration and Naturalization Committee, Panel Discussion and Teleconference, Moderator and Program Chair, July 16, 2019.
“Visas and Working in the United States,” Aurora Hills Branch Library, Arlington Public Library, Speaker, Arlington, Virginia, October 1, 2019.
“Expand Your Business Globally,” hosted by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, International Business Realtor Forum, Speaker, Fairfax, Virginia, October 3, 2019.
PUBLICATIONS
"Immigration Win for Employers," GGI Insider, GGI Geneva Group International, Issue No. 10, Author, Spring 2021
Additional Publications

“US Visa Options for Foreign Businesses and Entrepreneurs,” GGI Insider, GGI Geneva Group International, Issue No. 106, Author, March 2020
RECOGNITIONS
Top Attorney List, Immigration, Bethesda Magazine, 2023
AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell's
10 out of 10 Ranking, AVVO
Super Lawyers, Washington, DC - 2018-2020
Super Lawyers, Tennessee - 2013-2016
LANGUAGES
Urdu – Fluent
Hindi – Fluent
Spanish – functional