About the author

Hi, my name is Greg McLawsen. I am a practicing immigration lawyer based in Washington state. I am the founder and managing attorney at Sound Immigration. We are a six-attorney immigration law firm that focuses on helping families unite and create new lives in the United States. Our firm has worked with hundreds of clients from all around the world.

My journey to immigration law began before law school. After my undergraduate years, I packed up my philosophy degree and a small backpack. I traveled by pickup truck, long-tail boat, motorcycle, and super crowded bus all over Southeast Asia and India. My companion was a short, blonde powerhouse of a young woman named Jules.

We spent the better part of a year slurping noodles and crowded street markets and climbing up to temples in the foothills of the Himalaya. By time I returned to the states to begin law school I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life continuing to connect with our fascinating co-residents this giant spinning ball called Earth. The work my firm does in immigration law is all about connecting other humans.

After law school I spent some time serving as a ghostwriter for a sprawling immigration treatise. This huge multivolume set is used by immigration lawyers to resolve complicated legal issues in their practice. Then I move back home to Washington state and spent two years serving as a law clerk in court. A law clerk is basically a lawyer who works for judges and serves as their research assistant.

When my clerkship was over I was finally able to return to immigration law. I decided that I wanted to start my own law firm. The legal industry was just beginning to embrace technology in a big way, and I saw a huge opportunity to make a law firm that was more accessible to the people we serve. The result grew into Sound Immigration, which uses secure technology to work with clients all over the world. Most of our clients are people we never see in person, working with them through video conference and our secure collaboration tools.

This book grew out of the huge amount of free information that we make available on the law firm’s website. I hope you find the book to be a helpful resource and that it moves you closer to connecting with people you love here in the United States.