Immigration Lawyer Michael A. Harris has had a dynamic career in the field of immigration law since 2000, in which he has been involved in all aspects of the law. From small families to multinational companies with over 20,000 employees, Mr. Harris, based in Miami, Florida, has been successful in a wide variety of immigration matters.

Mr. Harris is a Board Certified Immigration Lawyer, which means that the Florida Bar has determined that he is an expert in the field of Immigration & Nationality Law. Mr. Harris has also earned an AV Preeminent Peer Rating, the highest rating available from Martindale-Hubbell, the leading independent attorney rating entity. An AV Rating signifies that a lawyer has reached the heights of professional excellence; he or she has practiced law for a number of years, and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity. Mr. Harris also has earned a rating from Best Lawyers® as one of the best immigration lawyers in the America. As an attorney practicing federal immigration law, Mr. Harris is permitted to represent immigration clients around the United States and world.

In addition to greatly enjoying the practice of Immigration law and living in South Florida, Mr. Harris and his family have deep ties to the community. He grew up in Miami Beach as a 1st and 2nd generation American, and graduated high school from Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, FL, one of the nation’s leading private secondary schools. He is an active father to two young children, whom he is raising with his wife. His mother was born in Lima, Peru, and his father was a World War II Air Force veteran whose parents were born in Eastern Europe in the late-1800s. After college at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, and during the midst of the Elian Gonzalez crisis, Mr. Harris began work as a paralegal for a board certified specialist in Immigration & Nationality Law. During these three-plus years in Gainesville he experienced the Post-9/11 overhaul of the legacy-INS into the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the problems created by the Patriot Act, Special Registration and the transition of immigration procedure into the BCIS (which is now known as the USCIS).

Following several years of work and clerkship in the field of immigration law, Mr. Harris received his Juris Doctor degree from the Nova Southeastern University College of Law in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 2007. Prior to earning his law degree, he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and English from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida in 1999. Further, Mr. Harris studied Political Science for two years at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. His studies in U.S. federal government and the American political system helped prepare Mr. Harris for work in highly distinguished immigration law firms where he was educated and trained by some of the country’s leading experts, authors and lawyers in the field of Immigration & Nationality Law.

Today, Mr. Harris is recognized as a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Immigration & Nationality Law. Among all attorneys eligible by the Florida Bar, currently only 6% are board certified specialists. This is the highest level of evaluation by The Florida Bar of the competency and experience of attorneys in an area of expertise. Board certification is not required to practice immigration law, but it shows a level of commitment and expertise by lawyers. In fact, among over 96,000 attorneys currently licensed by the Bar, Mr. Harris is 1 of more than 70 attorneys (or less than 1%) who are board certified as experts in Immigration Law. Additionally, Mr. Harris is Of Counsel in Miami to Diaz Reus, an international law firm rates by the prestigious Chambers & Partners; the Legal 500; Best Lawyers®; Latinvex; South Florida Legal Guide; Martindale-Hubbel’s AV Preeminent Rating; and many others. Mr. Harris’ alliance with Diaz Reus extends his access to law offices in the United States, Latin America,  Europe, Middle East, Asia, as well as Dubai, UAE; Moscow, Russia; Shanghai, China; and South Africa.

In support of his record of success, Mr. Harris has significant experience taking part in the representation of highly complex immigration matters, including:

• Business Immigration cases for investors, executives, acclaimed artists and athletes, academic professors, professionals, and multinational industry companies.
• EB-5 Investment Immigration matters for U.S. companies seeking to qualify under the EB-5  Immigrant Investor Program, which allows companies to offer a foreign national an investment opportunity in order to apply for a green card based on minimum qualifying  investment. Mr. Harris’ EB-5 clients have sought to raise between $1 million and $250 million in EB-5 capital through the USCIS Immigrant Investor Program. Mr. Harris actively represents EB-5 Regional Centers across the United States, which based on his representation have gained approval  in industries such as assisted living; food hospitality; gold and silver mining; and hotel/office construction. The geographic areas of these EB-5 Regional Centers include all or parts of the territories of the states of Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, the State of Washington, Washington, D.C., as well as Florida. Mr. Harris also represents new commercial enterprises which are utilizing the “basic” or Direct EB-5 program to pool multiple investors for non-Regional Center projects. Additionally, Mr. Harris also represents individual EB-5 investors seeking to invest through a USCIS-approved Regional Center, in EB-5 Direct Pooled Investments, or through direct standalone investments in their own U.S. business. Mr. Harris’ expertise in the practice of EB-5 law has been recognized through his invitation to write and speak on EB-5 matters for distinguished EB-5 seminars and online publications. Mr. Harris has been a member of IIUSA, a not-for-profit industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program, which he has served as a member of its technology committee.  He has also been named one of the Top 25 EB-5 Lawyers in the U.S. by EB5 Investors Magazine.

• Family Immigration matters involving U.S. citizen petitioners and families in complex legalization, abused spouse cases, good faith marriage waivers, hardship cases, and other family immigration issues.

• Deportation Defense matters for detained and non-detained clients. Mr. Harris has successfully obtained various forms of relief for his clients, including: Cancellation of Removal, Motions to Terminate, Motions to Reopen, and Release on Recognizance (without Bond) for client detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As well, in today’s “crimmigration” world, Mr. Harris has also advised criminal defense attorneys on the immigration consequences of certain crimes and plea deals, such as food mislabeling, theft, and controlled substances offenses.

Mr. Harris is currently an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the nation’s largest bar association of immigration attorneys in the U.S., and the AILA South Florida Chapter. He actively serves his AILA chapter as an elected Board Director, as co-chair of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, and on various immigration law committees. Mr. Harris also currently serves as a member of the Florida Bar’s Immigration & Nationality Law Certification Committee, which is tasked with creating and grading the board certification exam given to potential applicants for certification.