Maria Ramos

Clients across multiple industries frequently turn to Maria del Carmen Ramos for her knowledge and experience in counseling on immigration issues. What makes Maria such a sought-after immigration lawyer? Twice named Tampa’s top immigration lawyer, Maria understands that immigration law is a way for employers to move human capital, including workers’ knowledge, talent, skills, experience, and training, around the world.

Most employers rightly view U.S. immigration law as a labyrinth-an elaborate, confusing set of rules that are all but impossible to navigate. But with nearly two decades of experience navigating the immigration statutes, regulations, and policy guidance, Maria is able to help employers efficiently and cost-effectively move employees where they need them, when they need them.

To do so, Maria takes a holistic approach to counseling clients. By taking time to understand her clients’ needs and objectives at the outset, Maria is able to properly counsel her clients on the immigration options available to them, whether it be a business visa (E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, H-3, L, O, P, R, and TN), investment visa (E-2, EB-5, etc.), or permanent residence. By carefully building her clients’ immigration cases early on, Maria sees fewer requests for evidence, which ultimately mean faster and less expensive processing for her clients.

Aside from helping employers move workers around the world, Maria also helps employers comply with their I-9 obligations. Among other things, Maria routinely conducts compliance audits for clients to determine if they are properly verifying their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States (I-9 compliance). By conducting these audits, Maria can help employers avoid thousands of dollars in fines and penalties.

While she prides herself on her substantive expertise of tackling some of the most difficult immigration cases, Maria believes clients come to her for a much simpler reason: her availability and willingness to bring value to her clients. When she is in the office, you will get Maria on the line because she works on her own files. When she is not available, she responds to calls and emails promptly.

Maria also takes the time to educate her clients, (often the human resource employees are given the thankless task of managing the clients’ immigration needs), on the immigration process. She also co-authors the Immigration Bulletin, an immigration blog read by Fortune 100 companies and small businesses alike, which keeps clients and potential clients abreast of the latest immigration developments. In fact, Maria has twice won JD Supra’s Reader’s Choice Award for her blogging. Sure, sometimes Maria’s willingness to educate her clients means less work or fewer fees for her, but she believes if you do right by your clients, they will keep coming back.

Speaking of doing right, Maria believes it is important to give back to the community. She was one of the original chairs of the firm’s Leadership Shumaker program during her tenure, raising more than $60,000 for Tampa Bay area charities. Maria has also been the chair of the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s Immigration Section, a fellow of The Florida Bar Leadership Academy, and on the Board of Directors for the Central Florida Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Education:

• J.D., University of Miami School of Law, 2000
• B.A., Yale University, 1996

Professional and Community Affiliations:

• The Florida Bar Judicial Administration and Evaluations Committee, Member
• American Immigration Lawyers Association, Central Florida Chapter, Tampa Regional Vice Chair
• Hillsborough County Bar Association, Chair Immigration & Nationality Law Section (2014-2016)
• Hispanic National Bar Association, Latina Commission Member
• Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Committee of the 13th Judicial Circuit Community Alliance, Member
• Working Women of Tampa Bay, VIP Member
• Tampa Connection (Class of 2009 – 2010)