Managing Attorney *
Tel: 202 600 7742 (office), 510 394 2939 (Text/V-mail), 888-820-4430 (toll free) | Fax: (+1) 202-792-6243 | Email: info@adhikarilaw.com
(*Admitted only in New York, and practice is limited to matters and proceedings before federal courts and agencies)
(Request for a consultation or appointment with Nir at: Intake Form or pick a date or time on Calendly)
Nir represents business entities as well as individuals on all aspects of U.S. immigration and nationality laws. He handles business immigration as well as family-based immigration, special immigration programs, citizenship, and the visa programs. He has served multinational corporations, foreign corporations seeking business expansion to the U.S., domestic corporations, individual investors, entrepreneurs, and U.S. citizens and permanent residents in sponsoring their family members. He has advised companies on immigration compliance, government audits, site visits and investigations for immigration compliance, and has handled large number of complex as well as general immigration law and compliance related matters for corporate clients. He advises foreign and multinational companies on the immigration law matters in global mobility, in M&A, and in bankruptcy.
Nir has advised Fortune 1000, NASDAQ, TSE, NSE and BSE listed public companies, consulting companies, technology companies, medical organizations, government agencies, major research universities, domestic corporations, start-ups, non-profits, entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, artists, and individuals on variety of employment-based immigration and work visa matters. He has also provided legal guide on business formation and corporate governance for start-ups; foreign businesses and investors; matters of Trademarks and Copyright; Int’l Biz Transactions; Int’l Trade (including export-control) for small business; matters of JOBS Act; SEC filing, Trademarks and Copyright, and Intellectual Property Transactions. He advised large foreign and multinational companies on immigration law matters in global mobility, in M&A, and in bankruptcy.
Nir has served clients with the highest level of professionalism, diligence and zealous representation on their legal matters.
Mr. Adhikari has more than thirteen years of US legal experience which primarily involved U.S. immigration law, anti-trust (competition) law, M&A, int’l law, government contracts, and business transactions. For the last twelve years he has advised companies and individuals on U.S. immigration law and immigration compliance, and handled large number of complex as well as general immigration law and compliance related matters for corporate as well as individual clients.
Nir is admitted to New York State Bar. He graduated with the Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Berkeley, CA, USA where he extensively studied business and corporate law, international trade, and M&A in technology companies. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). He is a member of American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association and Federal Bar Association.
At the beginning of his legal career he interned at International Criminal Court, the Hague, Netherlands, was a Research Fellow with the American Antitrust Institute with a competitive fellowship award from the Antitrust Law Section of American Bar Association, worked a legal consultant to a government contractor, and worked as an attorney at a major immigration law firm.
During law school he interned at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Kathmandu, Nepal; and was a Research Intern at the Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi, India.
Selected Representative Matters and Highlights
- Have handled complex cases for large (incl. publicly traded) companies, IT consulting and staffing companies, medium and small enterprises; and prior to that was involved in anti-trust law and government contracts.
- Has been appointed by government agencies as their outside lawyer to handle their immigration law cases and compliance matters.
- Has been retained by major research universities to be their outside lawyer to handle their immigration law cases for professors, scientists, researchers and professionals and for immigration compliance matters.
- He led a legal team which secured an appellate and a trial win in a large tax abatement case for National Sikh Gurdwara of Washington, DC.
- Has advised and publicly engaged as a stakeholder with USCIS and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to improve their technologies, delivery services and improve legal rules and processes.
- Engaged with USCIS' Ombudsman publicly to advocate for client's needs and concerns.
- Counseld technology companies in the Department of Labor (DOL)'s Wage and Hour audit, remediating corporate compliance files and leading negotiations with government auditors, resulting in no fines or penalties being assessed to the employer.
- Providing counseling to clients in need of high-volume and low processing time for Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) applications.
- Helped corporate clients to develop their immigration policies which provided a fair, practical, transparent and and cost-effective visa sponsorship framework for the employers as well as workers.
- Advised large variety of clients on complex immigration and its compliance.
- Single-handedly managed and handled large immigration law portfolio with strict and intersecting deadlines with high volumes.
- Successfully defended corporations on Department of Labor, Department of State and Department of Homeland Security’s audits and site-inspections including leading a compliance advisory team for a major corporation.
- Saved substantially large sum of monies to clients using a unique immigration strategy and little knowledge legal provisions.
- Delivered major pro bono services to local organizations and individuals.
Awards and Recognitions
- Awarded the 2023 Community Leader Award by the South Asian Bar Association of Washington, D.C.
- Rated "Rising Stars" in 2022 by Super Lawyers on immigration law and international law matters.
- Various appreciations and awards for community services.
Speaking Engagements and Trade Delegations
- Speaker, Dual Citizenship and Challenges vis-à-vis Nepali and U.S. Laws, presented at NRNA NCC of USA, January 20, 2024, Manassas Virginia. (Presentation)
- Navigating the U.S. Visa Landscape for investors and entrepreneurs, at the SelectUSA Investment Summit of the U.S. Department of Commerce, June 26, 2022.
- Speaker, Navigating the U.S. Visa Landscape for investors and entrepreneurs, at the SelectUSA Investment Summit of the U.S. Department of Commerce, June 26, 2022 (https://www.selectusasummit.us/About/2022-Archives).
- Part of the U.S. trade delegation to the Trade Winds Conference and Trade Mission in New Delhi, India, May 2019. U.S. trade delegation was led by U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
- International delegate from the U.S. at DAXPO BUSAN 2019 (Digital Asset Exchange Expo is the world's first event that caters major cryptocurrency exchanges and companies in the cryptocurrency industry), Busan, South Korea.
- U.S. legal professional delegate to the Invest in the USA's roadshows in Seoul (South Korea), Taipei, (Taiwan) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), 2019. It is a premier business development and educational event connecting investors and investment professionals.
- Speaker, Cross Border Immigration Analysis: Trump vs. Trudeau, a Zero-Sum Game?, 16th Annual
Conference of South Asian Bar Association- North America, Atlanta, GA, June 21, 2019. - Moderator, CHARLIE CHAT: Deciphering the Visa Bulletin and at the annual Immigration Law Conference of Federal Bar Association (FBA, www.fedbar.org, http://www.fedbar.org/Image-Library/Events/2018-Immigration-Law-Conference/ImmLaw18-Onsite-Program.aspx), May 18-19, 2018, Memphis, TN.
- Moderator, IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING AND WAIVERS: Unlawful Presence, Applicability of Bars to Admissibility, I-601A Waivers, Effect of Minority and Voluntary Departure, etc. at the annual Immigration Law Conference of Federal Bar Association (FBA, www.fedbar.org, http://www.fedbar.org/Image-Library/Events/2018-Immigration-Law-Conference/ImmLaw18-Onsite-Program.aspx), May 18-19, 2018, Memphis, TN.
- Speaker alongside government officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Know Your Rights/Immigration Clinic, Gurudwara, Virginia, May 6, 2018.
- Speaker, Visa and Immigration Planning for Student, Scholars, Faculty and Staff members including Visa Programs for Private Sector Employment, Start-ups and Self-Petition, May 10th, 2017, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Education
- Master in Laws (LL.M.) University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Berkeley, CA
- Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), Kathmandu School of Law, Nepal
Academic Training
- Directed Studies and the Summer Course on Private International Law, Hague Academy of International Law, The Hague, the Netherlands.
- Summer Program on International Law, Xiamen (Asia) Academy of International Law, China.
- Communicating Freedom Workshop, Mumbai, Centre for Civil Society, India.
- Human Rights Summer School, Empowerment through Law of the Common People, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Membership in Professional Associations
- American Bar Association
- Section of International Law
- Member of Steering Committee (past), Immigration and Naturalization Law Committee
- India Committee
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Co-Chair (Past) Citizenship Day Committee, Washington DC Chapter
- Former, Federal Bar Association
- Immigration Law Section
- member, District of Columbia Chapter
- Intellectual Property and Communications Law Section
- International Law Section
- Securities Law Section
- South Asian Bar Association (SABA)-DC
- Chair (past), Immigration Law Committee, SABA-DC
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
- Asian Pacific American Bar Association-District of Columbia (DC)
- Patan Appellate Bar Association, Lalitpur
Public Interest and Pro Bono Activities
- Chairperson, Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Community Development, District of Columbia, Washington, DC (2017-Present).
- Volunteer for pro bono clinics of DC Bar, AILA DC, SABA-DC and Legal Services of Northern Virginia (ongoing).
- Volunteer Judge for the International Rounds of Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, Washington, DC since 2010- present.
- Former Board Member, MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington, D.C. & Baltimore.
- Former Secretary, Executive Board, Durga Temple, Virginia.
- Pro bono legal services to university students and scientists on various visa and immigration options, George Washington University, George Mason University; pro bono legal services in Virginia and Maryland for naturalizations as part of AILA Constitution Day (2019 and 2018).
- Provided pro bono legal consultations and legal services to applicants for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepal (2015-2018) and legal consultations to Haitian nationals (2018).
- Former general member, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Extracurricular Accomplishments
- Co-organizer of one of the largest pickup soccer meetup groups in the United States.
- Trekked (unsuccessfully) the Annapurna, (10th highest mountain in the world, 26,545 ft., one of the most dangerous expeditions) in an elevation of 17,769 (5, 416 m)
- Captain of high school soccer team.
Languages
Nepali (native), native level fluency in Hindi, conversant in Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Maithli, Newari and Urdu, and beginner in French and Sanskrit.
(*Admitted only in New York, and practice is limited to matters and proceedings before federal courts and agencies)
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