Gary has helped clients with U.S. visas, permanent residence, and citizenship for more than 30 years. Gary also has been a founding member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Asia-Pacific chapter, co-chair of the American Chamber of Commerce-China’s visa committee, and an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent School of Law. He writes the Law and Border blog.
Gary has represented startups and Fortune 500 companies, high-tech companies and IT professionals, EB-5 regional centers and investors, symphonies and musicians, hospitals and health care professionals, universities and their faculty and students, coaches and athletes, governments entities and diplomats, Nobel Prize winners, artists, athletes, and many families with complex immigration matters.
Gary often represents clients before the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulates in Greater China (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Taipei) as well as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices in the region. He also has extensive experience representing clients in Immigration Court, federal courts, and before the U.S. Department of Labor. And he is knowledgeable about the security and export control issues that arise in immigration cases.
Gary has authored a number of articles and book chapters on immigration law. His publications have been cited in testimony before the U.S. Congress and by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He is also frequently called on to provide expert commentary on immigration issues for the media. Gary has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN, USA Today, The Atlantic, National Review, Rolling Stone, Foreign Policy, Chicago Tribune, Southern California Public Radio (KPCC), The Telegraph, The Guardian, South China Morning Post, Voice of America, Axios, Vice Media, China Central Television (CCTV) News, China Radio International, BBC, and ARD (Germany), among others.
Gary earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall in 1993, after graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in 1989. Subsequently, he was a partner in a Chicago law firm, where he practiced immigration law for 10 years. He has practiced law in China since 2004.
An adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Gary has also taught courses at Peking University, China University of Politics and Law, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Liaoning University, the Beijing Lawyers Association, and the Shanghai Lawyers Association.
Gary speaks Mandarin, Spanish, and English.
He is admitted to the State Bar of California. And he is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and former co-chair of the American Chamber of Commerce-China’s Visa Committee.
During his free time, Gary may be busy aquascaping, i.e., underwater gardening.
Selected Publications and Presentations
Pro Forma Visas for U.S.- China Dual National Children, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n APAC Chapter Newsletter (Oct. 2024)
212(d)(3)(A)(i) Nonimmigrant Visa Waivers, Los Angeles County Bar Association, F-1 Student Visa Demystified (Aug. 2020)
APAC Consular Tips from the “Boot on the Ground,” American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Bangkok District Chapter Annual Conference (Taipei, Feb. 2020)
Nonimmigrant Visa Consular Processing: The Basics, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Annual Conference (2019)
Immigrant Visa Issues: China and Beyond, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Bangkok District Chapter Annual Conference (Hong Kong, May 2018) (presentation with the Immigrant Visa Chief at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, focusing on inadmissibility due to membership in or affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party)
Consular Post Communications in Complex Client Situations, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, Immigration Practice Pointers 723-730 (2017) (co-authored by Lynn Marie Lee, Daniel J. Parisi, and Edward Rios)
Guide to EVUS Enrollment for Chinese with 10-Year B1/B2 Visas, 22-7 Bender’s Immigr. Bull. 01 (2017)
EVUS Enrollment Required for Chinese with 10-Year B1/B2 Visas, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Bangkok District Chapter Newsletter (Dec. 2016)
“Do’s” and “Dont’s” for Attorneys Representing Visa Applicants, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, Immigration Practice Pointers 835-848 (2016-2017 ed.) (co-authored by Liam Schwartz, Kehrela Hodkinson, and Poorvi Chothani)
Fun and Games: Immigration Issues in Entertainment and Sports, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, Global Immigration Forum Handbook (2016) (co-authored by Marco Mazzeschi, Marcel Reurs, and Hardeep “Dee” Sull)
It’s Still OK to Deal Hands-on with an Unrepresented I-864 Joint Sponsor, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Bangkok District Chapter Newsletter (Jan. 2016)
Global Compliance: Securing Appropriate Immigration Status in China, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria and Russia, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, Global Immigration Forum Handbook (2015) (co-authored by Jill Marie Bussey, Rebecca Cortes, Kunle Obebe, Yoshio Shimoda, and Alexander Titov)
PRC Work Visa Issues for Young Professionals, American Chamber of Commerce-China presentation (May 14, 2015)
Chinese Communist Party Membership or Affiliation: Inadmissibility, Exceptions, Security Advisory Opinions, and Waivers, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Bangkok District Chapter Annual Conference (Mar. 2015)
The Mona Lisa of Visa Reform: Both Sides Are Smiling, But Unknowns Remain, American Chamber of Commerce-China Business Now Magazine 21 (Dec. 2014) (on the US-China visa reciprocity agreement)
Marriage Visas: Are Couples’ Sex Lives Fair Game During the Interview? American Immigration Lawyers Association Bangkok District Chapter Newsletter (Nov. 2014)
The B-1 Business Visa–How to “B” Resourceful, American Immigration Lawyers Association Web Seminar (Oct. 23, 2014) (with Jared Leung and Lynn Marie Lee)
Getting Schooled: How Immigration Law Issues Affect Kids Enrolling in International School in Beijing, American Chamber of Commerce-China Business Now Magazine 15 (Sept. 2014)
Technology and a Global Immigration Practice, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, Global Immigration Forum Handbook (2014) (co-authored by Poorvi Chothani, Andrea Elliot, and Liam Schwartz)
Chinese Communist Party Membership Makes Some Ineligible for U.S. Green Card, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Bankgok District Chapter Newsletter (Dec. 2013)
Visa Policy, in The American Chamber of Commerce—China White Paper (eds. 2007-2013) (co-author)
EB-5 Visa Options for Chinese Investors, presentation at Qingdao, China (March 29, 2013)
New Visa Appointment System at the U.S. Mission in China, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Bangkok District Chapter Newsletter (Mar. 2013)
Visa Law in China and Hong Kong, presentation to the American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Global Migration Section (Feb. 27, 2013)
Show-and-Tell: Outlook and OneNote as Practice Management Software, Immigration Practice News, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n (Jan. 2013)
New Exit-Entry Law Enacted in China, American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n Global Migration Digest (Sept. 2012)
B-1 Visitor for Business Visas: Permissible Business versus Labor, presentation at the American Chamber of Commerce—China (June 15, 2012)
Visas for PRC Companies Doing Business in the U.S., presentation at Hangzhou, China (Apr. 11, 2012)
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing, in The Consular Posts Book (2009-2010) (ghostwriter)
The U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, Visa Processing Guide and Consular Posts Handbook (2009-2010).
The U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, in American Immigration Lawyers Ass’n, Visa Processing Guide and Consular Posts Handbook (2008-2009).
Latest in Consular Processing, web seminar sponsored by ILW.com (Apr. 10, 2008)
How Colonial History Shaped the U.S. Constitution, lecture at University of Politics and Law, Beijing, China (Apr. 2007), and Nankai University, Tianjin, China (May 13, 2005)
J-1 Waivers for Physicians, presentation to the Chicago Bar Association Immigration Law Committee, Chicago, Illinois (Mar. 28, 2003)
Legal Ethics for Immigration Attorneys and Accredited Representatives, presentation at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center / Illinois Coalition for Immigrants’ and Refugees’ Rights 6-Day Training for Legal Workers, Chicago, Illinois (Nov. 18, 2002)
Bibliography of Labor Certification Resources Online and In Print, in Navigating Tempestuous Seas: Permanent Labor Certification in a Changing Economy, Chicago Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (Nov. 7, 2002), reprinted in American Immigration Lawyers Association, Annual Midwest Regional Conference (Mar. 7, 2003)
Adjustment of Status Portability under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, 40 The Globe (Illinois State Bar Association) 6-10 (Oct. 2002), available at http://www.illinoisbar.org/sections/International/10-02b.htm#gen2
Challenging the Immigration Judge’s Entry of an In Absentia Order, in Proceedings of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Midwest Conference, Chicago, Illinois (1998)
Immigration Law: Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity, in Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual (Columbia Human Rights L. Rev. 3d ed. 1992) (co-authored by C. Reynolds, D. Rizzo, A. Cameron)
Fighting Immigration-Related Job Discrimination: What Workers and Employers Need to Know (ACLU 2d ed. 1993), at http://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrant/discrim.html (co-authored by Lucas Guttentag)