Overview
Kripa Upadhyay’s practice focuses on Immigration law. She works closely with International Investors; Principals/Founders of US and foreign entities and HR teams in the US and abroad.
Kripa’s practice lies in the intersection of Immigration, Corporate/Business Law, Foreign Direct Investment and Employment Law.
Kripa assists clients in guiding strategies for establishment of subsidiary/affiliate offices in the US; movement of key individuals/employees of foreign entities into the US; recruiting and retaining foreign talent, and providing immigration plans for international mergers and acquisitions.
She advises and guides individuals interested in investing in the US in entities either established or expanding to the US and for Investors seeking alternate passports via investment in the US.
She helps companies address the challenges of U.S. immigration compliance and has worked with major corporations to build out compliant immigration visa programs securing a variety of short term and long-term visas/residency for their global employees. She also spends time on I-9 employment verification matters as well as H-1B and LCA compliance, including internal and external audits and reviews to minimize employer liability.
Kripa is a frequent speaker on immigration matters before the Association of Immigration Lawyers of America (AILA), the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA), other industry leading professional associations.
Named a “Rising Star” for Immigration Law 2014-2018, consecutively, she is an active member of AILA’s National committee for EB-5 (investor-based immigration) as well as AILA’S Washington State Chapter where she has served on various committees in leadership positions. Kripa is also actively involved with, and a frequent speaker at, seminars and conferences organized by Invest in the USA (IIUSA); America’s leading investor-based immigration trade association.
An immigrant from Nepal, Kripa speaks English, Nepali, Hindi, Urdu and Spanish.
Presentations & Publications
- Article, How Chinese EB-5 investors can deal with money transfer restrictions, EB-5 Investors Magazine (Oct 2023)
- Interview, USCIS portal for E-registration of H-1B applications facers outage, The Times of India (March 2023)
- Interview, Tech Industry Layoffs Mean Added Headaches for H-1B Workers, Bloomberg Law (Nov 2022)
- Kripa is actively involved with, and a frequent speaker at, National and International seminars and conferences organized by Invest in the USA (IIUSA); America’s leading investor based immigration trade association.
- She is also a frequent speaker at local and regional conferences organized by the American Immigration Lawyers association (AILA).
Awards & Unique Recognition
- Award recognition by EB5 Magazine as Top 10 Rising Star (2023)
- Actively engaged in educating newly arriving immigrants and refugees as to their rights and responsibilities in the U.S., Kripa was awarded the Washington State Bar Association’s (WSBA) Community Service Award in 2011, recognizing her outstanding and exemplary service in helping immigrants and refugees in Washington State.
- Kripa was named Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine for every year from 2014 – 2018.
Languages Spoken
Nepali, Hindi, Urdu and Spanish