Anu Gupta

Founder & Managing Attorney

Anu Gupta is and has always been an achiever. When she sets her mind to do something, you can rest assured she does it. That’s how Immigration Desk was founded. It was merely an idea until she transformed it into something real. The concept was simple enough: leave no client behind. Regardless of whether the client is a corporation or an individual, Anu Gupta was determined to create an immigration practice where creative thinking, a deep understanding of the immigration system, and expert knowledge of the law combine to ensure each client’s immigration needs are met as seamlessly and painlessly as possible. 

As it is, over 99% of thousands of petitions filed in a span of 25+ years have been approved through Anu Gupta’s Immigration Desk. 

A Business Immigration Attorney Who Builds Strong Partnerships

Anu founded Immigration Desk in 1999 in Silicon Valley, after she moved to California from New York where she had been working at a mid-Manhattan law firm handling international contracts and business litigation. She was in Silicon Valley for the tech boom, and she was also there when the tech bubble burst. Anu worked with think tanks, entrepreneurs, foreign investors, college professors, innovators, IT startups, and corporations, helping them grow their businesses and acquire the skilled workers they needed. Then – during the recession – she ensured these same businesses complied with rules and regulations on layoffs and mass terminations and helped some of their employees transfer their work visas to legitimize their continued stay in the United States. 

During the economic downturn and the intensified ICE crackdowns and increased Department of Labor audits that followed, Anu met every challenge with a fresh perspective and renewed energy for each of her corporate clients. Whether a corporate client was undergoing an immigration audit or fraud investigation, Anu strategically represented and handled each matter. She positioned Immigration Desk to advise businesses on best practices and in-house procedures for self-auditing and compliance with immigration regulations, LCA audits, mandatory document maintenance, among other things.

Each prior corporate immigration matter informs the present. Now, even though Anu Gupta is based in Massachusetts, she continues to handle immigration matters for companies she represented when she started Immigration Desk in California – this is a testament to the trust she builds between herself and her clients. She has built a large clientele because when she provides business immigration legal services, she does so with long-term ambitions that are mutually beneficial. Through this process, she builds relationships that are more akin to partnerships than anything else.

A Family Immigration Lawyer Who Understands Her Clients

At Immigration Desk, we know that while businesses are the backbone of the economy, families are the backbone of our communities. Whether you want to be reunited with loved ones in the United States or meet someone while in the United States, family-based immigration is the answer to staying and building stronger communities together. Many of you may come to the United States on a student visa and meet someone and want to stay, and later you may want to bring family members from your country of origin to the United States – whatever it is, Anu Gupta sees each client as a person and not a case, and she will use her skills, experience, and resources to help.

Born in India herself, Anu Gupta came to the United States when she was 20 years old. She had only $20 in her pocket and a place to live. Unlike many myths about international students, Anu Gupta was not rich, and she worked throughout undergraduate school at DePaul University in Chicago. Often having to trudge through the snow at 5:00 am to go to work, she would return to her room later in the day, exhausted but bright-eyed and ready to study. As a straight-A student, she successfully completed 110 credits in one year, graduated summa cum laude, took the LSAT, and was accepted to DePaul University College of Law – her alma mater – all in one year.

During her extended studies, Anu was creating a life for herself in the United States. Though she missed her family in India, she stayed in the United States, eventually becoming a naturalized citizen.

It is the combination of these experiences that nurtured Anu’s desire to focus her law practice on immigration. She wants to give back to the very thing that got her to where she is today. She understands the emotional roller coaster that the convoluted immigration process entails. She shares her clients’ anxieties and worries. She also knows their hopes and aspirations. As such, Anu Gupta wants to help each client who possesses the same ambition, desires, and dreams. Though different, these dreams are still grounded in the same principle that immigration is what makes this country thrive economically, academically, and socially.

Immigration Services with Strong Roots 

Deep roots are the support needed for a person to branch out and reach boundaries never thought possible. Anu Gupta is deeply rooted to her home in India. These roots taught her a love for education and the fulfillment of hard work. She learned from her parents that honesty, integrity, and determination are the keys to achieving life’s goals. 

When thinking of home, Anu cannot help but hear her father’s words reverberating in her head:

A good surgeon knows the complications that can arise.

An excellent surgeon knows how to manage those complications.

Only the best prepares the case so that the complications never arise.

The moral behind his words also echoes in her head: Brilliance is working hard to learn everything you can, so your cases never have complications. She applies this philosophy to each case – it is this philosophy that acts as the baseline for Immigration Desk’s sterling reputation and almost perfect petition approval rates.

The teachings of her parents in India are the roots that allowed Anu to branch out on her own when she came to the United States to study, when she stayed in the United States to start her own family and immigration practice, and when she expanded that practice from India to the United States and beyond.

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About Anu Gupta

At Immigration Desk, Anu Gupta is the Founder and Managing Attorney who supervises and guides the preparation of the more challenging immigration cases. In this role, she has advised more than 15,000 individuals and companies. With an uncanny ability to identify deficiencies and address them before filing a petition, she is focused, insightful, and proactive. Here are some highlights from her professional career.

USCIS, Department of Labor, U.S. Consulates

  • Personally handles or supervises immigration cases, including
    • Various work visas including H1Bs and alternate categories for clients who do not get accepted through the H-1B lottery
    • Both PERM and Non-PERM green cards for professionals
    • Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Investor Visas- E1 and E2 treaty visas, L1 Multinational Managers, Green cards for treaty visa holders, international managers and for investors using the Eb-5 program
    • Visas/Green cards for exceptional ability individuals, researchers and professors, and for entrepreneurs using O-1s, EB-1A, EB-1B and National Interest Waiver filings
    • J-1s and J-1 waivers for resident physicians and visas for other healthcare workers
  • Files responses for Request for Evidence from the USCIS; Motions to Reopen and Appeals with the USCIS and the Appellate Unit, responds to Department of Labor Audits and PERM denials
  • Handles consular visits and works with consular officers to respond to 221Gs
  • Handles overseas employee migrations, including obtaining visas for work in Asian countries and inclusion into the Business Executive Program at consulates

Waivers When Clients are Barred from Immigrating

  • Files waivers to limit or overturn bars to immigrating because of drunk driving, overstays, and criminal convictions
  • Negotiates with State District Attorneys' office to reduce or minimize damage to immigrant status
  • Issue second opinions on RFEs, denials, and files with other potentially serious immigration consequences
  • In-House Audits

    • Counsels and conducts in-house audits for I-9 violations, LCA and e-verify obligations, and worksite compliance issues
    • Represents clients in ongoing investigations and audits before the Department of Labor, USCIS, Customs and Border Patrol
    • Counsels clients and responds to notices pertaining to on-site USCIS visits and inspections

    • Harvard University Extension School: Writing Courses
    • DePaul University, College of Law: Juris Doctor
    • DePaul University: BA in English, Summa cum Laude, Dean’s List, GPA 3.9/4.0, completed 110 credits/one year
    • University of Delhi: BA (Honors) in English Literature, Silver Medalist

    • Licensed in New York and Illinois, US
    • Licensed as a Foreign Legal Consultant in Canada

    • Silicon India Magazine: Top 10 Indian Attorneys in the US
    • Who’s Who Albert Neilson’s Lifetime Achievement Award
    • City of Newton, Massachusetts: Inductee in Newton’s Hall of Fame
    • Who’s Who Legal: Corporate Immigration (Worldwide) – , Top 500 attorneys in immigration worldwide.
    • Top Attorney – Immigration Award with Avvo Rating of “Superb” – multiple years
    • AI: Best in Sector Performance for Immigration (US)-– multiple years
    • Corporate Livewire’s Global Award: Immigration-– multiple years
    • Acquisition International GMIL Award: Best for Entrepreneur Focused Relocation – USA
    • Global Mobility, Immigration and Logistics Awards: Best for Nationality Law – New York
    • Entrepreneur Focused Relocation Firm of the Year (US)
    • Avvo’s Client Choice Award – multiple years
    • Listed in Who’s Who in America – from 2008 onward
    • Indian Business Community Leader Recognition
    • Dean’s Award for Scholastic Excellence & Summa Cum Laude, DePaul University (Undergraduate)
    • Silver Medalist: Delhi University

    • Mensa
    • The National Advocates Top 100 Lawyers
    • American Immigration Lawyers Association, Officer/Liaison to USCIS Committee (Past)
    • Charles River Regional Chamber/ Newton Needham Chamber of Commerce
    • Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
    • American Bar Association
    • New York Bar Association
    • South Asian Bar Association (New England Chapter Member)
    • Several industry associations, such as TiE (New England), Nasscom and the National Association of Professional Women

    Anu Gupta is a prolific writer. In fact, it was her popular weekly immigration advice column in the India Post, the largest read Indian newspaper in the United States, that nurtured a solid foundation for Anu Gupta’s immigration law practice in California. In that column, she answered questions on popular immigration issues, focusing on providing readers not only with the law, but with thought provoking analysis of current immigration issues. Her readers respected her genuine, well-argued opinions, thus establishing her as a well-respected and trusted immigration attorney in the region. Her generously provided free column is also a testament to her commitment to helping everyone – from an Olympic athlete to a low-income student – to bring their immigration dream to fruition.

    She also created the immigration channel for ThinkIndia/Rediff, the first of its kind portal for the Indian diaspora in the early 2000s and her immigration advice column regularly received over 100,000 hits.

    Anu Gupta’s published materials are extensive and range from academic papers to informal commentary.

    Publications Featuring Anu Gupta’s Articles

    Non-exhaustive list of legal articles and publications:

    • New Rules on Travelling Abroad When H1B Transfer Position is Pending
    • Effect of Corporate Mergers/Restructuring on H1B Employees
    • How Can a Canadian LPR Visit the US?
    • Starting a Company on a H1
    • Internet Taxation
    • Change in the Employer-Corporation While Green Card is Pending
    • Effect of Criminal Conviction on a Pending Green Card
    • How to File for a Green Card for Canada
    • Can Canadians Get Tourist Visas?
    • How to choose between H1 and L1
    • Found Pirated Software in the Office
    • How Can a Small Company Hire H1 Employees?
    • Filing an H1 for a Tech Consultant Without a Client
    • Legalities of Sending Consultants to Work in the US on a Business Visa
    • What to do When There is a Change in H1 Holder’s Job Description
    • Should I File an H1 or J1 for Medical Residency?
    • Can a Green Card Holder Stay Out for 2 Years?
    • Why Does a Laid-Off H1B Holder Have to Leave the US or File Another H1 Before Being Laid-Off?
    • Affidavit of Support: Who Needs to Fill It?
    • Non Payment of Wages to H1B
    • Life Act vs. Amnesty Provision
    • Travel While H1 Transfer is Pending?
    • Filing for a Fiancée from India
    • When the Labor Condition Application is Filed After the H1 Petition
    • Permanent Residency for Priests
    • Categories of Employment Based Green Card
    • Engaged to an Indian? How to File for Her
    • What is the TTS Drop Box at the Consulate?
    • Department of Labor: H1B Dependent Employers
    • Change of Status From a Tourist Visa to Green Card
    • Changing Employers when Green Card is Pending
    • What is an L1 Visa?
    • Options When H4 Not Extended Before Expiry
    • Employer’s Responsibilities Under the Labor Condition Application
    • Getting a Visa Issued at a US Consulate in Canada
    • How to Stay Beyond 6 Years on a H1
    • When Filing an H1, Is There Need to List all the Work Locations on an LCA?
    • How to Transfer Pending Green Card to New Employer
    • Tourist Visas
    • Processing Time for a Fiancée Visa
    • Filing for a H1-What happens When Prevailing Wage is Higher Than Actual Salary
    • How to Get a B1 at a Consulate
    • Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing?
    • Adjustment of Status Under 245(i)
    • Who Does the LIFE Act Apply to?

    Let us make immigration easy for you

    Our breadth of legal experience and ability to bring creative solutions to the table when our clients are in tough situations and our willingness to take on a challenge are the reasons why Immigration Desk has a sterling reputation and one of the highest visa approval rates consistently over the past 2 decades.

    Immigration Desk currently works with corporations of all sizes in the high-tech and other professional services industries; with hospitals, universities and restaurants; and with high-net-worth individuals, investors and entrepreneurs. We also work with individuals immigrating through family or filing for waivers.

    Anu has built a truly diversified practice to benefit her clients. Her staff speaks several languages and is ready to help you navigate the immigration process with ease.

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