Sergio Rodriguez Valderrama is an associate in the Louisiana office of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A. He represents professionals and their families in corporate immigration matters involving employment-based temporary and permanent visa (EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3) categories for many industries. He also practices in the areas of Insurance Defense, General Litigation and Employment matters.

He has extensive experience in developing, implementing, and managing the PERM labor certification and immigrant green card process. He also provides outbound visa services to clients that need effective solutions for managing a global workforce. His immigration practice focuses on representing and advising businesses, organizations, investors, individuals, and families in obtaining temporary and permanent work authorizations, immigration status and visas. Mr. Valderrama has comprehensive experience with a full range of employment-based immigration, including H-1B, L-1, TN, P-1, O-1, R-1, E-2, E-3 and other categories. His experience also includes obtaining labor certifications (EB-2 and EB-3) and EB-5 investment, EB-1 as well as national interest waivers and J-1 waivers.

Mr. Valderrama has over two years of experience representing clients in all aspects of immigration law. He has represented a wide array of immigration clients ranging from businesses to individuals. His clientele has included: Fortune 500 multinational corporations; smaller businesses with only one to a few foreign-born employees; individuals seeking asylum; deportation proceedings; individuals trying to regularize their status in the U.S.; etc.

One of Mr. Valderrama’s strengths as an immigration attorney is that he has a grasp of all aspects of U.S. immigration law such that he is truly able to consider all potentially available options. He is a trusted advisor counseling business clients on immigration compliance matters (such as I-9 compliance, LCA compliance, FDNS matters, etc.) and he assists businesses in bringing employees to the U.S. temporarily (in nonimmigrant status) or permanently (in immigrant status). He is a committed advocate who (as an example) spent seven years fighting for asylum clients and families. Clients rely on Mr. Valderrama for his practical advice and insight based on experience and breadth of knowledge to advise and assist them in navigating the increasingly perilous domain of immigration law.

Mr. Valderrama looks for trends in the adjudication of cases and monitors changes to the law to ferret out even de facto unwritten changes in the government’s interpretations and assist clients to proactively submit cases that address the most recent concepts of what is required to win in that case.

Mr. Valderrama helps clients develop and implement strategies to address complex immigration matters, including due diligence considerations during corporate restructuring, layoffs, and workforce reductions, as well as compliance with immigration laws, Department of Labor regulations, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service programs. He works with clients to understand their particular concerns, desires, and needs and strategies to avoid issues and complications where possible.

Areas of Practice

• Inbound and Outbound Temporary Visa Petitions: Inbound U.S. Business Visitors (B); Investors (E); Specialty Workers (H-1B); Temporary Workers (H-2B); Trainees (H-3); Intra-company Transferees (L); Extraordinary Ability (O); Canadian and Mexican Professionals (TN). In reference to Outbound Visas, Mr. Valderrama works with expert local counsel in the outbound country to facilitate and streamline the visa process.
• Permanent Residency Applications: Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Researchers and Professors; Multinational Managers (EB-1) Advanced Degree Professionals (EB-2); Skilled Workers and Professionals (EB-3) PERM Labor Certifications; Family Based Petitions in all categories, waivers and consular processing.
• Corporate Immigration Compliance: I-9 Policies, compliance programs, training, audits, ICE investigations; E-Verify advice and counsel, training, compliance programs and risk/benefit analysis; electronic I-9 vendor reviews, merger and acquisition immigration compliance review, remediation and risk analysis.

Mr. Valderrama received his Juris Doctor from Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela in 2014 and his Master of Law from LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2020.

He is licensed to practice law in Louisiana.

Mr. Valderrama is bilingual and fluent in Spanish.