J Visa Guidebook: The Complete Resource for Exchange Visitor Programs and Participants

Brian C. Schmitt (brian@hake.com) is the President of Hake & Schmitt in Westminster, Maryland, where he concentrates on various waiver applications with an emphasis on J-1 waivers, in particular Form I-612 hardship and persecution waivers, handling such matters at all stages including administrative appeals and federal litigation. Brian has contributed to the legal literature in the difficult area of program, policy, and foreign relations issues in J-1 waiver cases involving U.S. government funding such as Fulbright cases. He is interested in litigation involving judicial review of J-1 waiver denials based on negative State Department recommendations. He serves on the editorial board of Bender’s Immigration Bulletin. He is also a Lieutenant Colonel, Judge Advocate (Reserve Soldier), in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where he focuses on military justice (criminal law), administrative law, international and operational law, and legal assistance. Brian received his B.S. in General Biology from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and received his J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in Detroit, Michigan, where he served as a member the University of Detroit Mercy Law Review.

Gregory Siskind (gsiskind@visalaw.com) is a partner in the law firm of Siskind Susser P.C.–Immigration Lawyers, which has offices in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. He has experience handling all aspects of immigration and nationality law especially concerning business and employment migration matters. He is a board member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Bar Association (ABA), and he currently chairs the International Medical Graduate Taskforce, the country’s physician immigration bar association. He was one of the first lawyers in the country (and the very first immigration lawyer) to set up a website for his practice and the first lawyer in the country to create a blog. He is the author of The Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, published by the ABA, The Employer’s Immigration Compliance Desk Reference, published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and The Physician Immigration Handbook, published by Alan House. He graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University and received his law degree from the University of Chicago.

William Stock (wstock@klaskolaw.com) is a partner in Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, a firm devoted exclusively to the practice of immigration and nationality law with offices in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. A former foreign student advisor at the University of Minnesota, he handles all aspects of immigration law, including assisting companies, universities, research institutions and individuals in obtaining employment- and family-based visas. He regularly advises universities on immigration policy development and compliance with F-1, J-1, H-1B and permanent residence regulations. In addition to his work for clients, he is on the executive committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), has been a member of the Editorial Board of Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, has authored many articles on immigration law topics, and has been an adjunct faculty member at Villanova University School of Law. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, The Chambers Global Guide, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, and Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.

Stephen Yale-Loehr (syl@millermayer.com) is co-author of Immigration Law & Procedure, the leading immigration law treatise, published by LexisNexis Matthew Bender. He also is Professor of Immigration Law Practice at Cornell University Law School, and is of counsel at Miller Mayer, LLP, in Ithaca, New York, where he advises many universities, businesses, and J exchange visitors. He also is a founding member of the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers. He also founded and was the first president of the Invest In the USA (IIUSA), a trade association of EB-5 immigrant investor regional centers. From 1994-1996, he was a Senior Associate for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., where he co-authored a book proposing a new way to select economic immigrants. He is a non-resident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, DC. He graduated from Cornell Law School in 1981, cum laude, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell International Law Journal. In 2001, he received AILA’s Elmer Fried award for excellence in teaching. In 2004, he received AILA’s Edith Lowenstein award for excellence in the practice of immigration law. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, The Chambers Global Guide, New York Super Lawyers, and the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.

Esther Fridman (eschachter@visalaw.com) is the Immigration Case Manager at Siskind Susser P.C.—Immigration Lawyers. She has experience working on all aspects of employment immigration matters, is one of the editors of www.visalaw.com, and has authored many articles on immigration law topics, including those published in Immigration Options for Religious Workers, published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and The Nurse Immigration Book, published by ILW.com.