Kentucky’s small community of immigration lawyers faces tough odds as they work to gain permanent resident status for clients whose skills are in high demand by commonwealth businesses, education institutions and healthcare providers.
But once they get a taste of the deep satisfaction of helping someone fulfill the dream of becoming a full-fledged American, they often are hooked on the practice area.
That’s especially true when that attorney is an immigrant him or herself.
Irini Strelkova, who spends half her legal practice time with Frost Brown Todd on immigration work, came to the U.S. as a fourth grader from Russia. She’s intentionally increased the share of her time doing employment law that goes to immigration.
“It’s really grown the last two years and that’s been intentional on my part just because I truly love the work,” Strelkova said. “The clients we have in that space are incredible, the work that they’re doing. A lot of them are with renowned research establishments that are coming up with advanced medical technologies and other life-saving things. It’s been just an amazing experience. So, in the last few years I’ve been very intentional about doing more.”
A look at the numbers
Kentucky has roughly 180,000 foreign-born residents, a little more than 4% of its 4.5 million residents. That figure is significantly below the 14% of all United States residents who are foreign born, but reflective of general trends.
Kentucky has 157 members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said Charles Baesler, chair of Stoll Keenon Ogden’s Immigration practice in its Lexington office. About 70 are part of Louisville’s legal community and 44 are in Lexington, Baesler said. Of the 157, only 22 are part of AILA’s business immigration.
The U.S. is a highly desired destination for emigrants all over the world, but those who do come tend to locate on the coastal borders and larger population centers. Just over half of the 47 million foreign-born residents are in the four largest states, all coastal:
- California: 27% of 39 million
- Texas: 17% of 30 million
- Florida: 21.6% of 23 million
- New York: 23% of 20 million
Those four tilt the U.S. average upward, meaning Kentucky’s population characteristics are near the norms of many other states. Kentucky’s non-native rate has increased steadily from just under 1% in 1990.
Lexington and Louisville/Jefferson County have the commonwealth’s largest foreign-born populations. Louisville has the second largest Cuban American community in the U.S. after South Florida. Lexington is the most requested destination city in the U.S. by immigrants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mexico, India and China natives are the predominant sources of foreign-born residents in general, although Kentucky has more Cubans than Chinese.
Jefferson and Fayette counties both count more than 100 languages spoken in homes across each county, according to public data and their respective foreign affairs coordinators and local government global engagement centers. The number of languages is so high, they said, in part because the 1.4 billion natives of India have more than 20 native tongues and Guatemala’s 17 million natives (the fourth most in North America) speak 22 Mayan and two indigenous languages in addition to the official Spanish.
The 22nd annual WorldFest, Louisville’s premier international festival, attracted more than 150,000 attendees over the four-day Labor Day weekend. WorldFest celebrates and showcases the international cultures and communities that make up the city of Louisville and neighboring areas.
The long road to citizenship
Becoming a U.S. citizen is a long and arduous process. Immigrants must be legal permanent residents for six years to be eligible to apply, and gaining permanent legal resident status is complicated. The number of people seeking legal status annually is many times the number of slots available; within those numbers are annual limits per country, which are divided equally rather than proportionately. Massively populated countries have decades-long waiting lists in the legal system.
Baesler represents clients before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. consulates overseas to gain employment authorization for engineers, scientists, professors, doctors, business managers and equine workers. He also represents foreign-based companies seeking investor visa status to facilitate the transfer of personnel and capital to U.S. markets.
Baesler works often with Stoll Keenon Ogden’s Jamila Carter, who assists in obtaining U.S. work authorization for physicians, scientists, professors, researchers and business analysts. She also has experience assisting investors in navigating EB-5 rules. (An EB-5 visa allows foreign investors to obtain green cards by investing in U.S. businesses and creating jobs.) There are many applying for H-1B and J1 visas, which provide only temporary U.S. residency.
The largest category in terms of guest worker numbers, the H-1B allows U.S. employers to get foreign workers in specialty occupations — requiring application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
J-1 visas are issued to research scholars, professors and exchange visitors participating in programs that promote cultural exchange, especially to obtain U.S. medical or business training. Applicants must meet eligibility criteria, English language requirements, and be sponsored either by a university, private sector or government program.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service also has an O1-A visa for those with “extraordinary ability” and an EB-2 employment-based visa for those deemed in the national interest to be given waivers to bypass the usual system. These are faster and have high approval rates — in 2023 it was 80% for EB-2s and 92% for O1-As — but come with more stringent qualifications.
