About the Firm

Principal

Alan Lee's law practice exclusively deals in the area of U.S. Immigration and Nationality laws and he has practiced this exclusively for 30+ years. He has attained the AV preeminent rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the preeminent rating system of lawyers in the United States, which is the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards. He is also on the Bar Register of Preeminent Attorneys, and on the New York Super Lawyers list. He was awarded twice by the government of the Republic of China in 1985 for his outstanding work in Immigration and Human Rights Affairs; was selected for Who's Who in American Law; and has appeared as an expert witness on immigration matters in court. He writes extensively for the Chinese language newspapers, World Journal and Sing Tao, and has authored a number of articles in the leading immigration publications, Interpreter Releases and the Immigration Daily. He was honorary editor of the newspaper, Pakistan Calling, where his immigration columns were seen on a weekly basis. He also previously authored articles in the Japanese language publication, OCS, and in the Pakistani language newspaper, Muhasba. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Bush Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004. Mr. Lee has over 1,150 legal writings in newspapers and journals on immigration law. 

He is a baccalaureate degree graduate of UCLA, and a juris doctorate graduate of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law where he was awarded the Sidney A. Levine award for best legal writing in 1976-77. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and has successfully litigated cases before the federal courts, Board of Immigration Appeals, Appeals Adjudication Unit, Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals, and the Regional Commissioners of Legacy INS. He became a member of the Ohio bar in 1977 and the New York bar in 1982. He is further registered to practice before the Southern, Eastern and Western district courts of New York as well as the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Associate

Katia Vais, admitted to the California bar in 2007, is fluent in Russian and an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, she earned her juris doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco as part of the Honors Lawyering Program. Prior to joining the law firm of Alan Lee, she was associated with an immigration law firm before establishing her own solo immigration law practice in San Francisco, where she handled a wide array of immigration issues pertaining to employment and family-based immigration. She has served as a pro bono immigration attorney for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and Jewish Family and Children’s Services in San Francisco. She keeps an active twitter profile, @kvimmigration, posting about various immigration issues and current events.

Copyright © 2003-2012 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.