Matthew Martinez

Partner

Matthew.Martinez@lewisbrisbois.com

Matt Martinez is a partner in the Phoenix office of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the Immigration Practice.

Matt has over 20 years of experience representing clients in all matters of business immigration. He represents employers and foreign nationals in the preparation of nonimmigrant visa petitions, labor certification (PERM) applications, immigrant petitions, and permanent residency (green card) applications. He also counsels companies on complex immigration issues that arise in mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations, and assists companies with I-9 and E-Verify issues, including internal audits and government investigations. Matt advises multinational corporations seeking to establish operations in the U.S. and transfer key employees.

Sports Immigration
Matt has extensive experience representing clients in the sports industry, providing immigration advice and counsel to professional sports teams, athletes, and related support personnel. He helps players obtain temporary athlete visas, permanent residence (green cards), and assists with related consular issues. His clients include players in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer, as well as athletes in equestrian sport, motorcycling, golf, and swimming. He advises teams on specific immigration options and strategies, and works with sports agents, owners, managers, and related governing agencies to secure appropriate immigration status for players, their families, and assistants. In addition to working with professional athletes, Matt also offers immigration advice to international student athletes and universities. Matt is fluent in Spanish and frequently works with baseball players from Latin America.

Physician Immigration
Matt also focuses a large portion of his practice on physician immigration. He assists health care organizations, physician recruiters, hospital human resource directors and employers of international medical graduates in obtaining J-1 visa waivers, National Interest waivers, H-1B, O-1 and TN status, and permanent residence. He counsels J-1 physicians in obtaining Conrad and HHS waivers to practice in medically underserved areas in H-1B status. This includes providing counsel to J-1 waiver physicians who need to make changes due to extenuating circumstances, including adding or changing worksites, moving to a different state, and extended leaves of absence. Matt also assists qualified healthcare organizations in establishing H-1B cap exemptions and extending those exemptions to related entities and other physician groups. Matt has also assisted physicians subject to the two-year J-1 waiver requirement in obtaining H-1B status (Canadians) and O-1 visas prior to receiving a waiver.

Matt is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and frequent speaker on immigration matters affecting employers, and he also lectures international students at major universities regarding their post-graduation employment options.

Primary Area(s) of Practice

  • Immigration

Additional Experience

Associations

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association, Latin America and Caribbean Chapter, Customs and Border Protection Committee
  • State Bar of Arizona
  • Kentucky Bar Association
  • J. Reuben Clark Law Society

Awards & Honors

  • Immigration Law Trailblazers, National Law Journal, 2019
  • Best Lawyers in America: Employment Law: Management; Litigation: Labor & Employment; Immigration, 2023-2024
  • “Best in Arizona,” AZ Big Media, 2017-2018

Professional Presentations

  • Presenter, “Top 10 Immigration Trends in 2017,” Association of Corporate Counsel, Phoenix, AZ, July 27, 2017
  • Presenter, “It’s a Whole New World Out There: New Developments in Workplace Compliance,” Southern New Mexico SHRM Conference, Las Cruces, NM, July 13, 2017
  • Presenter, “Advanced Issues with Form I-9 and E-Verify,” SHRM Employment Law Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, April 11, 2017
  • Presenter, “What to Expect in the Trump Era,” 2017 SHRM New Mexico Legislative Conference, Albuquerque, NM, January 27, 2017
  • Presenter, “Top 10 Immigration Trends in 2017,” 10th Annual MCHRA Employment Law Conference, Dallas, TX, January 18 2017
  • Presenter, “OPT to H-1B: Immigration Options for International Students,” Arizona State University International Student Career Fair, Phoenix, AZ, January 9, 2016
  • Presenter, “Advanced Issues with Form I-9 and E-Verify,” SHRM Employment Law Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, December 2, 2015
  • Presenter, “North/South Border Processing Issues for Canada & Mexico,” Webinar, September 23, 2015

Education

Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School

Juris Doctor, 1999

  • Senior Editor, BYU Law Review

Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management

Bachelor of Science in Finance, 1995

Representative Matters

  • H-1B petitions, including cap-exempt petition for qualifying organizations.
  • E-2 treaty investor and E-1 treaty trader company registrations and visa applications at various U.S. consulates throughout the world.
  • L-1A and L-1B visa applications, including Blanket L applications for qualifying entities.
  • PERM labor certification applications.
  • Physician immigration matters, including HHS and J-1 Conrad waivers, National Interest Waiver applications, Schedule A petitions, and cap-exempt H-1B petitions.
  • EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 permanent residence petitions, including downgrades, upgrades, and interfiling requests.
  • O-1 petitions for individuals of extraordinary ability.
  • P-1 petitions for internationally recognized athletes.
  • TN applications under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
  • H-3 training programs for employers across all industries, including equestrian, hospitality, manufacturing, and research.
  • Counsel related to I-9 and E-Verify, including compliance training, conducting internal audits, and handling agency-initiated workplace audits and government investigations.
  • Advice related to the development of hiring policies and procedures for employee handbooks.

Foreign Language Capabilities

Spanish

Publications

"J-1 Conrad Waivers: Should I Stay or Should I Go?," National Law Review, August 27, 2018