Matthew S. Dunn

Matt is also renowned for representing Fortune 500 companies and firms both large and small involved in government investigations, audits, and requests for information and evidence. His extraordinary success in this area includes representing clients before the Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Homeland Security (including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and Department of State and in actions against these agencies in federal court and in other legal tribunals.

He provides immigration counsel to corporations in the context of mergers, acquisitions and spinoffs to strategize and structure these transactions to ensure compliance with U.S. immigration law.

Drawing on his previous experience as assistant district counsel for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Matt provides ongoing business immigration counsel to clients, assisting them in establishing and maintaining employment verification programs in compliance with the complicated rules and regulations governing documentation and record keeping, overseeing internal compliance investigations, and defending companies of all sizes facing compliance audits and charges of noncompliance, in particular, I-9 audits by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Labor Condition Applications, and wage and hour audits by the Department of Labor.

In addition to his work with corporate clients, Matt represents high-net-worth foreign national investors seeking permanent resident status based on their substantial investments in their own enterprises or in special investment vehicles under the U.S. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. He also represents major professional sports leagues and entertainment organizations, as well as prominent foreign athletes and entertainers, in immigration matters including short- and long-term visas, waivers and enforcement actions.

Among his most notable work, Matt represents a number of foreign investment banks, including one of the foremost French investment banks and two of the leading Asian investment banks, in U.S. immigration matters. He advises and represents a top-five global financial services company in internal compliance investigations, and counsels several of the foremost providers of consulting in technology services on the hiring and transfer of foreign nationals, and on internal compliance, investigative and enforcement matters. Matt provides ongoing immigration counsel to several of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the country, including one of the largest employers in New York City. He has also represented a number of Fortune 100 companies on ICE worksite investigation matters, and has defended prominent companies in major investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Matt has held a number of leadership positions within the business immigration bar. He currently co-chairs the New York State Bar Association’s Immigration and Nationality Law Committee. He previously chaired the 1,000-member New York chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and served as a member of AILA’s board of governors. He also serves as associate editor of the Occupation Guide Book Series, Immigration Options for Nurses and Allied Health Care Professionals, which focuses on immigration issues for nurses and allied health care professionals, and he has authored many publications in the field.

Matt’s more than 20 years of work in business immigration has earned him recognition as one of the preeminent attorneys in the field. Matt co-chairs a team that was recognized as the 2021 “Law Firm of the Year” for Immigration Law in the United States in U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers’ annual Best Law Firms rankings. Human Resource Executive and Lawdragon have repeatedly named him among the top 20 business immigration lawyers in the United States (2011 – 2022), and Chambers USA (2007 – 2023) and Legal 500 US (2010 – 2023) have regularly ranked him as a leading practitioner. According to Chambers USA, which notes Matt’s immigration work on behalf of “many leading clients in the financial services sector,” as well as “professional services firms and significant technology and media companies,” sources say Matt “is excellent at what he does; he’s a thought leader” and describe him as “a very respected and accomplished lawyer” and “a very smart and practical immigration attorney.” One client recently told Chambers USA: “He has a fantastic personality and explains things well. I trust him with all of our work and never question his information.”