NNU Immigration

Firm Details:

Managing Partner: Nita Nicole Upadhye

Partner: Robert Garafola

Number of partners: 2

Offices: London

Firm Overview:

US Immigration specialists: NNU Immigration is a niche, London-based US immigration law practice offering world-class US immigration advice and services to global businesses, entrepreneurs and high net worth private clients. The firm supports corporate and individual clients across the globe and from the full range of industry sectors to meet their US immigration needs. These may include employer-sponsored visas; investor visas; business visitors visas; criminal waivers of inadmissibility; green card status; abandonment of green card status; naturalization; renunciation of US citizenship.

Acting for major clients: NNU Immigration provides legal support to clients across a diverse range of business sectors. Many of the companies supported by NNU Immigration are multinational corporations, as well as publicly listed companies. The firm's clients are predominately based in the UK; however, the firm has a global reach, representing clients from all around the world in achieving their US expansion goals.

E-2 treaty investor specialism: Nearly 50% of the firm's caseload consists of E-2 treaty investor visa applications. Clients come to the firm as a result of the team's intimate knowledge of the practices and procedures at the American Embassy in London and Embassies in other parts of Europe. NNU Immigration has an extremely high E-2 treaty investor success rate due to the careful and detailed analysis and advice given regarding the nature of investment and other key requirements.

Working with other firms: The firm's specialism allows the team to serve as a valuable resource for British law firms where there is a US immigration component to a particular legal matter. Given the strong business and economic ties between the UK and US, there is often a need to call upon a specialist in the US immigration field – expertise many law firms do not have. The firm's geographic proximity to UK clients and UK law firms gives them a competitive advantage and they are frequently asked to provide expert knowledge and insights on entering the US market, as well as on travel across US borders.

Experienced team: Managing Partner Nita Nicole Upadhye has over 20 years’ experience in this field. The firm has been operating for 10 years and collectively have over 20 years of experience in the field of US immigration.

Talent mobility consultancy: NNU Immigration offers customised legal advice that is tailored to clients’ requirements. The firm understands that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution and therefore strive to provide the most personalized service to enable clients to successfully and swiftly transfer their global talent to the United States. The firm partners with their clients, formulating strategic solutions to solidify the client’s foothold in the US market, taking into account the sector within which they operate, long- and short-term expansion goals, as well as other key factors.

Main Area of Practice: Immigration: Business

International Work:

The firm represents a leading global program management and construction consultancy business operating across six continents, with 104 offices in 44 countries. Due to its massive growth in the United States and foreign markets in the past several years, the client had been seeking partnership opportunities to further develop its business and better serve its clients. To that end, they entered into a pivotal partnership with an American, publicly traded, global commercial company, whereby the company acquired an ownership interest in client. Critical applications in the E-2 category, as well as the E-3 and L-1 visa categories, were approved and the company has been able to progress with its expansion plans. The company continues to instruct NNU in relation to US business travel and US work visas to facilitate billion dollar infrastructure projects.

Another key client is a global, publicly-traded communications company. The client's US operations grew in revenues from less than $50m in 2014 to more than $150m in 2020. This was part of a strategy to shift revenue concentration away from the UK to a more globally distributed basis. Over that period, the client acquired and grew businesses in New York, Baltimore, Salt Lake City and Boston, along with smaller operations in other US cities. NNU lawyers analyzed the new ownership structure post-acquisition to ensure all critical employees maintained the right to work in the United States. All applications were approved and the client continues to successfully expand in the United States. The client continues to instruct NNU in relation to US business travel and US work visas.