Kerri-Ann Griggs
Partner, Global Mobility & Immigration (Labor & Employment) – Alston & Bird
Description of field of expertise
In the increasingly global world of business, Kerri-Ann Griggs recognizes that top talent is one of the scarcest resources available to find, capture, and keep your competitive edge and marketplace advantage. She makes it possible for clients to find, keep, and deploy the talent they need in the roles they most need them, regardless of the national origin of the employee or the location of the role. Her main service areas include:
- White-glove, highly customized executive transfers and investor visa support.
- Talent strategy and HR/employee policy development and advisory services.
- Workforce visa program and process management.
- Employment eligibility compliance audits, defense, and remediation.
She has decades of experience spanning all industries and visa categories with the knowledge to successfully manage any immigration case. Her expertise includes employment-based visas (H-1B, L-1, E, O-1, and TN visas), permanent residency (Green Cards) sponsorship, and investment visas. Her agency experience includes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Labor (DOL), Department of State (DOS), Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She represents corporate clients in responses to USCIS’ Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs), Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIRs) and Appeals. She has established a track-record of obtaining nearly 100% approvals for these complex RFE, NOID, and NOIR Business Immigration Cases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she pioneered an approach that led to a nearly 100% approval rate for National Interest Exemption filings (NIEs) for her clients in response to the global travel ban.
She interned with Harvard’s Immigration and Refugee Clinic, and represented clients in Asylum and VAWA applications. She has volunteered with ACLU, MALDEF and the Latin American Association (LAA).
Across all service lines, she ensures clients maintain compliance with all relevant laws and regulations while maintaining business operations.
What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?
The advice I would offer new attorneys is if you are interested in and passionate about global mobility and immigration, pursue it! We need more great lawyers in the field. While that was a passion and interest of mine at the time I graduated from law school, I didn’t pursue it. Because of what I had exposure to when I was in law school, I didn’t even know that that was something people could do. Once I found immigration work, it gave me the opportunity to show up more authentically as myself and live an integrated rather than compartmentalized life.
Hold yourself to a standard of excellence, and be flexible and open about where the road might go. There is not one “right way” for a career path. I have learned that using your internal compass is far more important than anchoring in what you think others would define as success.
Additional Information…
I love my NBA-CLS network and friends! I served on the CLE Committee for 23-24. I am also a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and have served in national leadership. This gave me the chance to engage with government officials and shape the learning of 14,000+ immigration attorneys nationally.
