Ms. Dowd leads the Firm’s Immigration Team. Debra and her team strive for excellence in service through their substantive knowledge and utilization of technology.

Ms. Dowd is recognized as a leader in employment-based immigration, having been named amongst Virginia’s Legal Elite since 2001 and as one of Virginia’s Super Lawyers. In 2002, she was recognized as the Commonwealth’s top immigration lawyer. Since 2002, Debra and her team have been appointed as immigration counsel to the Commonwealth of Virginia by the Attorney General to serve its agencies including Virginia’s public colleges and universities.

In addition to her immigration experience, Debra works in the business sector representing private and public companies in a wide range of industries. Some of these industries include: high-tech, bio-tech, healthcare, research, manufacturing, higher education and public education. She counsels businesses on employer compliance matters such as policy development, in-house training programs, I-9 compliance and audits, E-Verify, work site raids and federal investigations. By combining her corporate law background and her immigration law experience Ms. Dowd advises companies on the immigration impact of mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring.

With today’s global workforce and changing immigration laws, employers – both foreign and domestic – rely on Ms. Dowd’s experience to develop and implement a smooth immigration plan for key workers and their families and to speed international mergers, acquisitions and contracts.

Ms. Dowd also handles family based immigration matters, delivering services in an experienced yet passionate manner. Her services include all aspects of family-based cases including petitions, adjustment of status, consular processing, applications for fiancée visas, removal of conditions and naturalization.

Debra has served on the executive committees for Virginia Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Alliance, Inc. and Executive Dialogue (Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce). She is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond.

Debra has also served as Special Counsel to the Commonwealth of Virginia in immigration related litigation brought against several of Virginia’s Universities and Colleges regarding their admission and enrollment policies for unlawfully present foreign national students.

In 2006 Debra was asked to serve on a special committee appointed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to review and revise Virginia’s In-State Tuition Domicile Guidelines.

In 2006 Debra was asked to serve on a Focus Group by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia to deliberate the impact of immigration on Virginia’s Court System.