Biography
Lauren Sigg practices in the area of U.S. immigration law, and she focuses on business immigration. She is a member of the firm’s Immigration Group.
General Corporate Immigration
Lauren helps multinational companies, organizations, and institutions staff their U.S. offices by obtaining appropriate immigration status for their employees. She represents a range of clients, such as manufacturing and technology companies, hospitals, and academic institutions. Lauren's assistance allows clients to retain valuable key business people, scientists, researchers, and other professionals, as she helps them obtain both temporary and permanent immigration status. While her practice includes all business-related nonimmigrant and immigrant petitions, she focuses on applications for Labor Certification, complex H-1B petitions, petitions for outstanding researchers and individuals with extraordinary ability, and naturalization matters. Lauren is a Six Sigma Green Belt.
Immigration for “Cap-Exempt” Entities (Institutions of Higher Education, and Certain Other Non-Profit Organizations)
Lauren represents colleges and universities with regard to their immigration needs, including filing cap-exempt H-1B petitions, providing advice regarding J-1 issues, and preparing/filing special handling green card cases. She also works with entities affiliated with institutions of higher education, including hospitals and health centers. Lauren has prepared and filed applications to waive the two year home residency requirement for physicians in both Massachusetts and Connecticut, which allows clients to attract and retain top talent.
Employment Eligibility – Verification and Compliance
Lauren counsels employers on the Immigration Reform and Control Act and all requirements for employment verification and documentation, I-9 form matters, and E-Verify. She provides advice and training regarding I-9 obligations, and has assisted with questions arising during I-9 audits completed both internally and based on government requests.
Export Control
Lauren also provides advice and guidance regarding import/export control issues and regulations, including compliance and enforcement issues. She advises clients on compliance with trade regulations, including Export Administration Regulations (EAR), provides clients with classification counseling, and assists them with I-129 certifications for immigration, compliance programs and training.
Pro Bono
Lauren is committed to doing pro bono work, and regularly assists those in need of immigration-related assistance. She recently assisted with filing an extraordinary ability petition for a professor, who is also seeking asylum in the U.S. She also helped a ballet school with its application to bring foreign students to the United States. She routinely has assisted with filing special immigrant juvenile petitions, to allow these juveniles to obtain U.S. permanent resident status. Lauren serves as a member of the Hartford Advisory Board for the Pro Bono Partnership.
Lauren has been listed as a Rising Star in Connecticut Super Lawyers® from 2013 to 2018. A frequent author on pressing topics in immigration law, she most recently co-authored "The H-1B Quagmire: Colleges and Universities Develop Programs to Combat H-1B Gridlock," and "Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs Have Visa Options," both published in the Connecticut Law Tribune.