Welcome

The Law Office of Nancy A. Berté is located in Evanston, Illinois and serves the greater Chicago Metropolitan area as well as clients throughout the United States. This office was founded in 1997 at which time principal counsel, Nancy Berté, changed her practice from one handling many different kinds of legal matters to one dedicated to immigration law. Attorney Berté is a long-standing member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and its local Chicago Chapter. I am committed to personal service for, and individual attention to, my clients.

Email communication is preferred and office visits are by prior appointment only.

My office is dedicated to helping clients with their legal matters principally related to:

1. Temporary Visas
2. Immigrant Visas (i.e., Permanent Residency)
3. Naturalization to U.S. Citizenship

There are two principal avenues for immigration, one based on employment in the United States, and the other based on family ties to U.S. citizens and/or legal permanent residents of the United States.

The principal focus of The Law Office of Nancy A. Berté’s employment-based immigration practice is on academics, research scientists and professionals in other areas of endeavor. Specifically, I file numerous petitions in the following categories:

• EB-1 Extraordinary Ability petitions
• EB-1 Outstanding Researcher or Professor Petitions
• EB-2 National Interest Waivers
• EB-2 Optional Special Recruitment Labor Certification
  designed for college and university teaching faculty
• EB-2 Regular PERM labor certification

Over the years my clients have come from universities, government research institutions and private industry from coast to coast — to name just a few: Harvard University, Columbia University, Georgia Tech, University of Southern Florida, Purdue University, The University of Michigan, The University of Missouri at Columbia, Northwestern University, The University of Chicago, The University of California at San Diego, Berkeley, and Los Angeles, and many more large and small universities and colleges. I also serve clients from research institutions such as Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory.

Additionally, the temporary work-related visa & work authorization card needs of professionals and their families also handled by my office include: H-1B, J-1, O-1, L-1, TN and other temporary visas. Issues related to such visas, such as waivers of the two-year home residency requirement often attached to J-1 visas under INA §212(e), are also handled by my office. Employment authorization cards for eligible spouses of professional workers are also handled. I additionally obtain other temporary visas which are not work related such as B-1/B-2 visas and advise on issues related to visa waivers.

For my family-based immigration practice, I routinely file petitions for:

• immediate relatives of US citizens
• immediate relatives of legal permanent residents
• removal of conditions on permanent residency

My family-based temporary visa practice serves the needs of fiancé(e)s and spouses living abroad who need visas such as K-1 and K-3 visas to enter the United States.

Please contact the Evanston law office by email with questions about your legal needs and issues. Provide as much information as possible regarding your inquiry. While this contact does not serve to establish an attorney/client relationship, it will allow my office to begin a preliminary assessment of your case. Your communication will be kept confidential.

I strongly encourage foreign-born nationals to seek at least initial advice on any plans they may have regarding intended stays and/or work in the United States. This initial advice may help prevent them from inadvertently creating unintended problems for themselves and their families. Too often people wait to ask about the consequences of work in the United States and travel in and out of the United States until after the fact sometimes creating bars to certain benefits of the immigration laws that they had not anticipated.