New York · H-1B Visa Guide
The H-1B lottery stopped being random in 2026. Registrations now earn entries by wage level measured against local Department of Labor data, which is a harder test in a city where the New York wage bands sit high to begin with. We compared three H-1B visa lawyers in New York on New York attorney registration records, the H-1B work each one actually does, published fee terms and verified Google reviews, then set out who each one suits and where each one falls short.
DJA Editorial · Legal Directory Research
Checked against state bar licensee records, court sources and public review platforms .
The short answer
Three practices, each leading for a different kind of H-1B problem. This is a shortlist rather than a ranking, and the firm in the top slot is the smallest of the three.
1
Sharma Law Associates, LLC
Best for an individual handling an RFE or a status problem with no company legal team behind them
2
Shankar Ninan & Co. LLP
Best for an employer registering a block of candidates in the March cap window
3
Berd & Klauss, PLLC
Best for an H-1B holder whose case could turn into an appeal or a court problem
At a glance: H-1B Visa Lawyers in New York, compared
| Firm |
Best for |
Focus |
Bar record |
Fees |
Rating |
| Sharma Law Associates, LLC |
Best for an individual handling an RFE or a status problem with no company legal team behind them |
Individual H-1B, status changes and RFE work |
Sonal Sharma, New York 2014 |
Not published, consultations bookable online |
5.0 · 95 Google |
| Shankar Ninan & Co. LLP |
Best for an employer registering a block of candidates in the March cap window |
Employer-side H-1B, PERM and work visas |
Sweekrutha Shankar, New York 2015 |
Not published, consultation fee not stated |
4.9 · 198 Google |
| Berd & Klauss, PLLC |
Best for an H-1B holder whose case could turn into an appeal or a court problem |
H-1B alongside removal defense and appeals |
Alex Berd, New York registration 4002218 |
Not published, PayPal accepted |
4.7 · 40 Google |
H-1B Visa in New York: the local picture
$0
What the training fee can legally cost you
A New York employer filing a cap H-1B pays $215 to register, $780 for the petition or $460 if it has 25 or fewer staff, $1,500 or $750 in ACWIA training fee, a $500 fraud fee and a $600 or $300 asylum program fee. Federal rules bar the employer from charging the ACWIA fee to you at all.
4 to 1
The lottery is no longer a coin flip
Weighted selection took effect on 27 February 2026 and ran for the first time in the March 2026 cap. A Level IV registration gets four entries, Level I gets one, and the level is measured against local wage data. Wage levels for a software developer in New York run from about $103,210 to $189,592, so a salary that looks large here can still register low.
$35
If you cannot pay any of these firms
The New York City Bar Legal Referral Service charges $35 for a 30 minute consultation with a screened lawyer, on 212-626-7373. ActionNYC runs free immigration help on 1-800-354-0365, though not employer petitions. If an employer charged you the training fee or underpaid the required wage, the Labor Department complaint is free and runs on a 12 month clock.
What clients in New York say: Read across all three Google listings and the praise is never about immigration law. It is about who picks up. Reviewers describe questions answered the same day, documents turned around inside 72 hours, and attorneys who took the call themselves instead of routing it. The listings also split cleanly by case type: student and status filings at one firm, employer and premium processing cases at the second, green cards and naturalization at the third. None of the three has a critical review in its visible set, and two have fewer than 100 reviews, so read the individual entries rather than the average.
How we chose these H-1B Visa Lawyers in New York
We looked at practices handling H-1B work for New York employers and workers, then compared them on things you can check yourself: the New York attorney registration record for the named attorney, the H-1B sub-work each firm actually lists rather than the work it advertises generally, whether it publishes fee terms, the office it staffs in Manhattan, and the visible client reviews on Google.
The three are a shortlist, not a ranking, and each leads for a different situation. Firm details come from each firm’s own site, cross checked against Google Business Profile listings, public New York attorney registration data and directory records, and federal regulation and agency sources for the fee, wage and deadline figures. Registration numbers and discipline records we could not confirm against the official New York attorney search during this update are flagged on the page rather than filled in, and no petition count or approval figure appears here unless the firm publishes it itself, in which case it is labelled as the firm’s own number.
1. Sharma Law Associates, LLC
Best for an individual handling an RFE or a status problem with no company legal team behind them
★★★★★ 5.0 / 5 · Google · 95 reviews
The smallest practice here and the one built around the person rather than the payroll department. Sonal Sharma founded the firm, is an immigrant herself, and works the files directly. Her published H-1B material covers what employer-side pages tend to skip: worksite amendments, material changes to job duties, the 60 day grace period after a job loss, and cap-exempt routes through universities and nonprofit research bodies. If you are looking for an H-1B visa lawyer in New York because your own status is the problem rather than your employer’s headcount, this is the practice shaped for that.
Identity and footprint
Office90 Broad Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10004
Phone646-360-5955 on the Google listing and the attorney registration record. The site publishes 646-760-6339 on its contact page and two further numbers on individual service pages.
Founding attorneySonal Sharma
HoursMonday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
LanguagesEnglish, Hindi and Punjabi
Emailinfo@sharmalawassociates.com
CoverageOne New York City office, representing clients on both coasts
Practice and scope
Core workImmigration only, split between business and family matters
H-1B page contentCap-exempt employers, the 60 day grace period, worksite relocation amendments, reporting material changes in job duties, and continued prevailing wage payment
Other work visasL-1, O-1, E-3 and TN alongside H-1B
Immigrant categoriesEB-1A extraordinary ability, EB-2 national interest waiver, and family-based petitions
Published writingBlog posts on responding to requests for evidence in EB-2 national interest waiver cases and on B-1 business visitor rules
PositioningThe site leads with the founder’s own immigration history rather than with case volume
Credentials and licensing
New York registrationSonal Sharma, registration number 5269311, admitted in New York in 2014 through the Third Judicial Department, shown as currently registered
Law schoolLLM from New York University School of Law, 2013, in international arbitration and litigation
Other admissionsA directory profile lists New York and California. The firm’s own team page names only the New York admission.
MembershipsAmerican Immigration Lawyers Association
Before immigration workCommercial litigation and arbitration at international firms in Paris and London
Fees and consultation
ConsultationBookable through a calendar link and a contact form.
Who pays whatOn a cap petition the employer owes the government fees. The legal fee is a separate negotiation, so get it in writing.
What clients say
✓ Replies within hours
✓ RFE responses are the recurring subject
✓ The attorney is named, not the firm
· Reviews skew to student and status cases
· 95 reviews, no critical one visible
These reviews read as one person’s work rather than a firm’s. Reviewers name Sonal Sharma directly and describe OPT and F-1 change of status filings, a corrected I-797A, and requests for evidence answered under time pressure, one of them cleared within days. What is not visible is employer-side cap work. No critical review appeared in the readable set, so treat the 5.0 as a consistent record rather than a broad one.
Why they fit New York: The clearest fit if the H-1B problem is yours rather than your employer’s: a change of status, a grace period running down, a worksite amendment nobody filed, a request for evidence with three weeks on it. You get the founding attorney instead of a coordinator, and the reviews bear that out. Go in knowing the trade offs. This is one attorney, so a company registering twenty people in the March window is not the natural fit, no fee structure is published anywhere on the site, and four different phone numbers appear across its pages. Ask which number reaches the office and get the fee quote in writing before you sign.
2. Shankar Ninan & Co. LLP
Best for an employer registering a block of candidates in the March cap window
★★★★½ 4.9 / 5 · Google · 198 reviews
The volume operation. Sweekrutha Shankar leads the immigration side and the firm states it prepares more than 850 H-1B petitions a year across lottery and transfer cases, run by a team of paralegals and a relationship manager rather than by the partners alone. It is certified as a New York City Minority Business Enterprise and sits in the MetLife Legal Plans network, which matters to corporate buyers and to employees who reach a firm through a benefit. For a company that needs H-1B visa lawyers in New York to file a block of registrations in March, this is the machine on the page.
Identity and footprint
Office505 8th Avenue, Suite 1801, New York, NY 10018
Address noteThe public attorney registration record still lists the firm at 875 Avenue of the Americas, Room 1810. The firm site and Google both give the 8th Avenue address.
Phone(212) 594-6657, with extension 215 for business matters
HoursMonday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
AttorneysSweekrutha Shankar and Gigio K. Ninan as co-founders, with Anastasia Rizik and John F. Olsen of counsel
Support staffA chief operating and relationship manager, two senior paralegals, a paralegal and a secretary
CertificationCertified New York City Minority Business Enterprise, with the certificate published on the site
Second stateThe firm also runs a New Jersey practice, and its site carries the New Jersey Supreme Court advertising disclaimer
Practice and scope
Core workEmployment-based immigration, family immigration, investors, business and employment law, and mediation
H-1B depthCap lottery and transfer cases, extensions, amendments, RFE responses and employer immigration compliance
Other categoriesL-1, TN, E-3, O-1, P-3 and R-1, plus PERM, EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and EB-5
Industries namedIT staffing, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, physician and physical therapy practices, engineering, hospitality, and religious and nonprofit organizations
VolumeThe firm states it processes more than 850 H-1B petitions a year and that Ms. Shankar has represented over 300 employers. These are the firm’s own figures and cannot be checked independently.
Benefit plan routeListed as a MetLife Legal Plans firm, so some employees reach it through an employer benefit rather than a retainer
Page currencyThe H-1B page this entry links to was last updated in March 2024 and still quotes premium processing at $1,440. The current figure is $2,965.
Credentials and licensing
New York registrationSweekrutha Shankar, registration number 5316708, admitted in New York in 2015, shown as currently registered
Other admissionsNew Jersey in 2014, and the US District Court for the District of New Jersey
EducationJ.D., Touro College Law Center; B.S. in finance, cum laude, Temple University
MembershipsAmerican Immigration Lawyers Association, South Asian Bar Association of New York, New York State Bar Association, and ITServe Alliance
RecognitionListed in New York Metro Super Lawyers Rising Stars from 2018 to 2024, per the firm’s own award page. Inclusion in a list is not a rating of skill.
Directly on pointPresented a Lawline continuing education course in October 2025 on the $100,000 H-1B fee proclamation, and published a Forbes piece in January 2018 on beating the cap timeline
Fees and consultation
ConsultationThe H-1B page advertises a competitive consultation fee without stating the number.
Employer costsOn a cap case the employer owes the government fees. The legal fee is separate and negotiable, particularly on a block of registrations.
Benefit coverageIf your employer offers MetLife Legal Plans, check whether your matter is covered before paying privately
What clients say
✓ Largest verified review base here
✓ Paralegals and managers named warmly
✓ Premium processing approvals described
· Praise is split across the team
· No critical review in the readable set
At 198 reviews this is the deepest record on the page, and the pattern is a team one. Reviewers name Swee Shankar, Gigio Ninan, the relationship manager and a paralegal by first name inside the same review, and describe O-1B and adjustment cases moved through premium processing with regular updates. That is what high volume looks like when it works. No critical review surfaced in the readable set, so read past the first page before deciding.
Why they fit New York: The right call if you are the employer rather than the beneficiary, and particularly if you are registering several people in the March window and want someone who has run that at scale. The honest trade off is the other side of that volume. Your daily contact is likely to be a paralegal or the relationship manager rather than a partner, the 850 petition figure is the firm’s own and cannot be checked from outside, and the H-1B page you land on has not been touched since March 2024 and still quotes a premium processing fee that has risen twice since. Ask who signs the G-28 on your file and who drafts the answer when USCIS issues a request for evidence.
3. Berd & Klauss, PLLC
Best for an H-1B holder whose case could turn into an appeal or a court problem
★★★★½ 4.7 / 5 · Google · 40 reviews
The litigation-capable option. Alex Berd and Patrick Klauss run a two-partner firm on Greenwich Street that appears not only before USCIS but in immigration court, before the Administrative Appeals Office, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Second and Third Circuits. Most H-1B practices stop at the petition. This one handles what follows when status collapses, an old conviction surfaces, or a denial needs appealing. If you want an immigration lawyer in New York who can carry the matter past the filing window, that reach is the difference here.
Identity and footprint
Office107 Greenwich Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10006
Address noteThe AILA directory still lists the firm at 44 Wall Street, 12th Floor, and a business data profile at 28 Liberty Street. The Greenwich Street address is the current one on the firm’s own site and Google.
Phone212-461-7152 for the firm and for Patrick Klauss, 212-380-1291 for Alex Berd
Hours conflictThe site states Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. The Google listing shows Saturday 10am to 6pm and Sunday 9am to 6pm, and the firm’s AILA profile advertises consultations seven days a week.
PartnersAlex Berd and Patrick Klauss
OfficesThe site states offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn
LanguagesAlex Berd’s directory profile lists Russian, Hebrew, Ukrainian and German
Emailinfo@berdklauss.com
Practice and scope
Core workImmigrant and non-immigrant visas, business immigration, removal defense, asylum, waivers and naturalization
H-1B page contentThe specialty occupation degree rule, the three years of experience for one year of study substitution, the labor condition application step, dual intent, and extension past six years where an I-140 is on file
ForumsUSCIS, the Administrative Appeals Office, the Admissibility Review Office, CBP, ICE, the immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Departments of Labor and State, and the Second and Third Circuits
Patrick Klauss on H-1BH-1B, O-1, PERM, E-1 and E-2, L-1 and all I-140 categories, plus criminal deportation issues and appeals to the AAO and BIA
Alex Berd’s backgroundIn-house counsel to an engineering group listed on NASDAQ and the Tel Aviv exchange, and earlier work in the Israeli Prime Minister’s legal department
SizeThe site names only the two partners. A business data profile lists five staff.
Credentials and licensing
New York bar, Alex BerdRegistration number 4002218 on his claimed directory profile
New York bar, Patrick KlaussRegistration number 4283321 on his claimed directory profile, J.D. Brooklyn Law School 2004
Federal admissionsAlex Berd is admitted in the Second and Third Circuits and in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
Foreign qualificationsAlex Berd states he is an inactive Israeli attorney and a non-practicing English solicitor, with degrees from the University of Liverpool and Columbia Law School
RecognitionPatrick Klauss has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for immigration law in New York since 2024
MembershipsBoth partners are American Immigration Lawyers Association members, and Alex Berd is active in its New York chapter
ClerkshipPatrick Klauss clerked at the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department
Fees and consultation
ConsultationThe firm’s AILA directory profile advertises free phone and email consultations seven days a week. The firm’s own site does not repeat that, so confirm it on the call.
PaymentThe site accepts PayPal, which is unusual for an immigration firm and worth raising if you want to stage payments
Response timeThe AILA profile states email replies within two hours. That is the firm’s own claim.
What clients say
✓ Partner contact rather than paralegals
✓ Worked with a client on budget
· Visible cases are green cards and naturalization
· 40 reviews, the smallest base here
· No critical review in the readable set
Forty reviews is the thinnest record on this page, and what sits in it is about access to the partners. One reviewer says plainly that Alex Berd does not hide behind paralegals. Another describes Patrick Klauss meeting face to face and working within a tight budget. The visible matters are green cards and naturalization rather than H-1B, so ask for references on cap-subject work specifically. No critical review appeared in the readable set.
Why they fit New York: The one to call when the H-1B question is really a status or admissibility question: an old arrest, a denial worth appealing, a fall out of status with a court date attached. Two partners who appear in the Second and Third Circuits is a different capability from a petition shop, and the reviews say you get those partners personally. The honest caveats are size and focus. Forty reviews is the smallest base here, the visible reviews are about green cards rather than H-1B, three different addresses are live across directories, and the published weekday hours contradict the weekend hours on the Google listing. Ask which office you would actually meet at and how many cap-subject H-1B petitions the firm filed this year.
What to check before hiring an H-1B Visa Lawyer in New York
✓ Look up the registration number yourself, it takes two minutes
The New York Unified Court System runs a free attorney search showing registration number, year of admission, judicial department, current status and public discipline. Search the individual attorney who will sign your G-28, not the firm name. None of the three firms on this page publishes a registration number on its own site, so this one is on you.
✓ Ask which wage level your registration will use
Since 27 February 2026 your lottery entries depend on the wage level your offered salary reaches for your occupation code and worksite, from one entry at Level I to four at Level IV. New York wage bands are high in absolute terms, so a good New York salary can still register as Level I or II. Ask the employer which code and level they plan to file, then check it on the Department of Labor wage search yourself.
✓ Get the fee split in writing, and know what you cannot be charged
Federal rules bar an employer from passing the ACWIA training fee to you in any form, and no employer business expense may cut your pay below the required wage. Ask which government fees the employer pays, what the legal fee is, whether a request for evidence response costs extra, and who pays if the case needs refiling.
✓ Ask what happens the day you lose the job
The grace period after H-1B employment ends runs up to 60 days, once per authorized validity period, and it is short enough that finding counsel afterwards wastes a week of it. Ask before you sign what the firm charges for an emergency transfer or a change of status inside that window, and how quickly it can file.
✓ Check the date on the fee numbers before you trust them
H-1B fees moved repeatedly between 2024 and 2026, and premium processing rose to $2,965 on 1 March 2026. If a firm’s H-1B page still quotes $1,440 or $2,805, the page is out of date. That is a maintenance problem rather than a competence problem, but it tells you how closely the public material is watched.
✓ Ask what the firm does if the petition is denied
A motion to reopen, an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Office and a challenge in federal court are three different capabilities and not every immigration firm carries all three. Only one firm on this page advertises appellate work in the Second and Third Circuits. If your case has any complication in it, ask the question at the consultation rather than after the denial.
H-1B Visa Lawyers in New York: frequently asked questions
How much does an H-1B actually cost in New York, and who pays?
The government side is fixed and public. A cap case runs $215 to register, then $780 for the petition or $460 for an employer with 25 or fewer staff, $1,500 or $750 in ACWIA training fee, $500 for fraud prevention on an initial or change of employer filing, and $600 or $300 for the asylum program fee. Premium processing adds $2,965 and is optional. Legal fees sit on top and none of the three firms here publishes its number, so ask. The employer pays the government fees, and cannot charge you the training fee at all.
Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still in force?
Not at the moment. The September 2025 proclamation imposed a $100,000 payment on certain new petitions for people outside the United States who needed consular processing. A federal court in Massachusetts vacated the policy implementing it on 8 June 2026, and the First Circuit refused to pause that ruling on 24 July 2026, so the payment is not currently collectible. A court in the District of Columbia reached the opposite result in December 2025 and the appeals continue. The proclamation also carries its own expiry of 20 September 2026 unless it is extended. Check the USCIS fee page on the day you file.
How does the new weighted lottery change my chances in New York?
It ties your odds to pay. Since 27 February 2026 a registration earns entries equal to its wage level: four for Level IV, three for Level III, two for Level II and one for Level I, drawn in a single weighted random selection. The levels come from local Department of Labor data for your occupation and worksite, so they are measured against New York salaries rather than national ones. A software developer role in New York sits at roughly $103,210 at Level I and $189,592 at Level IV. That is why a strong New York offer can still register in the bottom tier.
What happens to my H-1B if I am laid off?
You get a grace period of up to 60 consecutive days, or until your current authorized validity period ends, whichever is shorter, and it is available once per validity period. Inside that window a new employer can file a change of employer petition, or you can file to change to another status. Miss it and you are out of status, which creates problems well beyond the job. Raise this on the first call rather than after the fact, because the practical window is shorter than 60 days once the new employer’s paperwork is factored in.
Can my employer make me pay the filing fees back?
Not the training fee, under any arrangement. Department of Labor rules treat any attempt to shift the ACWIA fee to the worker as a violation in itself, and no other employer business expense may reduce your pay below the required wage. If that has happened to you, the complaint to the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division is free, uses Form WH-4, and must be filed within 12 months of the most recent violation. The helpline is 1-866-487-9243.
Do I need a lawyer at all, or can my employer just file it?
An employer can file without counsel, and some large ones do it in house. Where counsel earns its fee is in the parts that go wrong: choosing the occupation code and wage level at registration, answering a specialty occupation request for evidence, amending after a worksite move, and rescuing a case inside the 60 day grace period. If you cannot afford a private firm, the New York City Bar Legal Referral Service arranges a 30 minute consultation for $35 on 212-626-7373, and ActionNYC gives free immigration help on 1-800-354-0365, though not on employer petitions.
DJA Editorial
Legal Directory Research
Compiles Distinguished Justice Advocates city guides from state attorney registration records, federal regulation and agency sources, and publicly visible client reviews. Firms appear as a shortlist rather than a ranking. Figures a firm publishes about itself are labelled as such, and anything that could not be verified is flagged on the page rather than estimated.
Sources and method
- New York Unified Court System attorney registration records and public attorney directories: registration numbers, admission years, judicial department and status for each named attorney, with anything unconfirmed flagged on the page.
- Firm websites and attorney bios: office addresses, phone numbers, named attorneys, practice areas, memberships, recognitions and consultation policy.
- Google Business Profile listings for each firm’s Manhattan office: ratings, review counts, opening hours and the review text behind the client themes.
- USCIS fee schedule at 8 CFR 106.2 and the USCIS premium processing fee increase effective 1 March 2026: the I-129, ACWIA, fraud prevention, asylum program and premium processing amounts.
- USCIS FY2027 H-1B cap notice and the DHS weighted selection final rule of 29 December 2025: the March registration window, the $215 registration fee and the wage level entry weighting.
- State of California v. Noem in the District of Massachusetts and the First Circuit order of 24 July 2026, with Proclamation 10973: the current status of the $100,000 payment requirement.
- 20 CFR 655.731 and 655.806 and Department of Labor Form WH-4: the required wage rules, the bar on charging the training fee to the worker, and the 12 month complaint deadline.
- New York City Bar Legal Referral Service and ActionNYC: the $35 consultation and the free city immigration help line.
