Lynn O'Brien assists U.S. employers in managing and resolving a wide range of business immigration matters. She represents clients navigating the nonimmigrant and immigrant visa process across numerous industries, including financial services, manufacturing, IT consulting, data sciences, advertising, and the media.

Lynn has significant experience in L-1, H-1B, TN processing, I visa processing, E-2 filings, and all types of USCIS filings. She has also successfully managed complex audit requests from the Department of Labor. With over 7 years of experience in a high-volume firm focused exclusively on immigration, she has seen and addressed nearly every scenario in the realm of business immigration from the hiring or sponsorship of a foreign national through the permanent resident process. She has advised a wide variety of companies from startups to billion-dollar companies.

As a frequent speaker and author on immigration-related topics, Lynn has presented at SHRM conferences, at the Council for Immigration Symposium, for various universities on visa options after graduation, for the ILW, and has gained valuable insights and perspective which have enriched her private practice by serving as Sr. Consultant on the USCIS Transformation project. Additionally, Lynn is the former chair and founder of the Immigration Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, which was founded to ensure that novice practitioners and smaller law offices could be made aware of the latest in immigration issues and trends.

Representative Experience

• Represented multiple executives in obtaining national interest exceptions to various executive orders.


• Counseled an IT consulting company on necessary steps to take in relation to their company's merger.


• Successfully filed and amended Blanket L petitions following various corporate transactions.


• Obtained TN visa status for a Canadian employee working intermittently in the U.S. for a U.S. company that had closed its Canadian offices.


• Successfully obtained approvals of successor in interest immigrant visa petitions.


• Obtained approvals in the filing of various L-1 petitions with the immigration service via the nunc pro tunc provisions of the law based on humanitarian need and underlying legal criteria immediately following denials.


• Obtained reversals of various USCIS decisions.


• Successfully fought Notices of Intent to Deny in various immigrant visa petition filings.


• Successfully responded to many hundreds of H-1B Requests for Evidence.


• Partnered with client to draft new hire criteria for recruiters.


• Partnered with HR and recruiters at various companies to provide detailed training on the PERM process and company obligations.


• Partnered with clients to draft overall immigration policies to meet business needs.


• Advised corporations on the key issues faced in B visa adjudications and when to use the B visa vs. the L-1 visa.


• Successfully appealed the denial of naturalization and green card applications before the immigration service.


• Created a low-cost solution to provide much needed legal advice to individual foreign national employees who suffered a layoff due to the ongoing pandemic.

Admitted in Maryland.