Shaun Staller: Immigration Attorney Finding Purpose in Uncertainty
8th November 2025
Date
Interviewee
Shaun Staller
Philadelphia Immigration Attorney Shaun Staller: Helping Employers and Foreign Nationals Achieve the American Dream
The breakfast meeting was not a common client interaction that Shaun Staller gets to experience. A family he'd helped secure green cards and H-1B visas had driven from middle Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia region with one mission: to thank their attorney in person.
"You did this. We're sitting here because of you," the father told him.
For Staller, a business immigration attorney who recently joined a new firm with his team, moments like these crystallize why he remains committed to a practice he never initially planned to pursue. In an immigration climate he describes as "chaotic and hostile," that gratitude carries extra weight.
From Philadelphia to Barcelona: The Making of a Global Perspective
Staller's path to immigration law began far from any courtroom. As a first-generation college graduate growing up in Philadelphia, he harbored dreams of leaving the city for university. Those plans shifted when the University of Pennsylvania offered him a scholarship he couldn't refuse. What seemed like a limitation became an opportunity, particularly when he discovered a natural aptitude for Spanish.
"I was always just naturally very good at it," Staller recalls of his language studies. That talent, combined with an adventurous spirit, led him to pursue advanced coursework and eventually a double major in Hispanic studies.
His first taste of life abroad came during a semester in Barcelona during college. The experience was transformative. "I immediately knew that I wanted to leave the US after I graduated school," he says. Thus, Staller found his way back to Barcelona for a master's degree in International Relations, where he lived for three years, creating an entirely new life, community, and professional network.
Those years in Spain gave him more than academic credentials. They provided experiences unavailable in Philadelphia and exposed him to the vibrant multiculturalism of one of Europe's most dynamic cities. But by late 2009, Staller faced a crossroads, uncertain about his career trajectory and dealing with personal reasons that prompted his return to the United States.
The 2009 Recession and an Unplanned Legal Career
Staller's homecoming coincided with one of the worst economic downturns in modern history. "The economy tanked in ‘09, so it was very tough. People were not getting jobs. It was like the forgotten year of graduates," he remembers. Employers dismissed his international credentials. "We don't care about this master's certificate from some place we've never heard of, in some country we're vaguely familiar with," seemed to be a recurring sentiment amongst would-be employers.
With limited options and family pressure to pursue a professional career, Staller turned to law school. He'd already taken the LSAT during college, hedging his bets even while pursuing international opportunities. Temple Law School in Philadelphia became his next destination.. His family had always prioritized education and steered him toward traditional professional paths: doctor or lawyer.
Initially, Staller envisioned himself as a trial attorney. "I'm very extroverted. And I thought that I would enjoy the challenge of advocating in that sense, thinking on my toes," he explains. He even completed Temple's trial advocacy program and took immigration coursework, including a clinic semester with the Nationality Services Center, a nonprofit organization providing immigration services.
But Staller didn't leave law school convinced he wanted to be an immigration lawyer. He was still thinking about employment law and trial work when he contacted a firm where he'd been a summer associate. They needed someone in the business immigration practice, a subspecialty Staller admits he didn't even know existed at the time.
His response was pragmatic: " I'm taking it." In his mind, he'd pivot to another practice area once he got his foot in the door. That pivot never happened.
Finding Purpose in Business Immigration
Business immigration suited Staller in ways he hadn't anticipated. His language skills, international experience, and multicultural perspective all became professional assets. "Multiculturalism is a thread throughout my tapestry," he reflects. The work allowed him to help employers fill critical workforce needs while assisting foreign nationals in achieving their American dreams.
"It's less common in the practice of law, where you know, you're not forced to grapple with a moral issue, like maybe my client did do this bad thing," he notes. In his practice, there's no moral ambiguity. "The antagonist is the government. So, you know, we will rage against the machine as needed."
Staller also discovered the importance of what immigration practitioners call "cultural competency," understanding that people from different countries have vastly different relationships with attorneys, government authorities, truth-telling, and documentation. "That's something that you have to learn over time through experience and interacting with folks from different places in the world and from different walks of life," he explains.
The majority of his visa applications serve people in science, technology, and engineering fields, reflecting a broader reality: the United States isn't graduating enough domestic STEM professionals to fill available positions, and those who do graduate often pursue more lucrative careers in finance.
Navigating Crisis: Immigration Law in Turbulent Times
Since joining his new firm, Staller has watched the immigration landscape become increasingly unpredictable. He recently made a lateral move with his three-person team, and the transition came with natural anxieties about leaving the familiar for the unknown, but also excitement about growth potential.
That growth is needed. "Clients need immigration lawyers more than ever right now," Staller observes. Yet historically, many businesses have viewed immigration as an ancillary service rather than a core function. He's curious whether the current climate will shift that perception, forcing companies to recognize how indispensable immigration attorneys are when they have sizeable visa-dependent workforces.
The challenges are multifaceted. Staller notes sharply increased enforcement actions, with government officials appearing at business premises, requesting documents, and issuing audit notices. Most companies, he's found, haven't properly completed their I-9 forms, the employment eligibility verification documents required for every US employee.
"Every company is in need of immigration lawyers, at minimum for compliance," he emphasizes. His advice to corporate clients is straightforward: have a plan in place now. Designate a point person to interact with authorities. Understand your rights and what government officials are permitted to do.
He's also discouraging non-essential international travel. "Everything is so in flux," he explains, recounting how a recent presidential proclamation about H-1B visas sent foreign nationals scrambling over a weekend to return to the US before a potential fee took effect. The ambiguous language created panic, though the administration later clarified the policy.
"Your experience is going to vary widely depending on the type of visa status you have, the color of your skin, your country of nationality," Staller says bluntly. "It's not supposed to be that way, but in practice it is."
The American Immigration Paradox
Staller sees a fundamental contradiction in American immigration policy. The United States maintains its reputation for world-class universities, with many foreign nationals paying full tuition to attend them. Yet the immigration system lacks clear, accessible pathways for these graduates to start businesses or build careers in America.
"What we do is we bring them here, they pay a lot of money to come to our schools for top-tier education… a common pathway is for someone to come for graduate school, then they have a great idea for a startup," he explains. But then, depending on their country of origin, they might face only one or two visa options, including the H-1B lottery, which offers no guarantee.
"We basically are telling them to essentially take their great ideas somewhere else," Staller says. "And, you know, we're losing out on that development. We're losing out on the economic impact, we're losing out on the job creation. So it's really, it's like biting your nose to spite your face."
The largest countries of origin for US immigration, China and India, aren't parties to bilateral treaties that support the E-2 investment visa, further limiting options for entrepreneurs from those nations. Staller predicts companies will increasingly offshore operations to locations with lower barriers, a trend already underway.
His advice for companies interested in hiring foreign nationals? Consult with an immigration lawyer early, just as they would with a corporate attorney when forming an entity. Immigration processes take exceedingly long, making last-minute needs nearly impossible to accommodate.
The One Thing That Needs to Change
When asked what single element of the immigration system he would change, Staller doesn't hesitate: processing times.
Green card processes through the PERM system currently take over two years. When the government identifies an error or technical deficiency after that lengthy wait, applicants may have run out of time on their underlying temporary work visas. For someone who's been in the US for a decade, whose children were born here and have never lived in their parents' country of origin, this creates devastating situations.
"It's not that immigration law is so intellectually advanced or sophisticated. It's that it's very complex and esoteric. So it's impenetrable if you are most laypersons," Staller explains. The complexity is magnified for those who aren't culturally Americanized or proficient in English. "It's just nebulous and difficult to manage."
Faster processing times would allow attorneys to be more nimble in their interactions with the government, potentially salvaging cases that currently fail due to timing issues alone.
AI and the Future of Immigration Practice
Despite the proliferation of AI tools marketed to immigration attorneys, Staller hasn't yet adopted them in his practice. His larger law firm maintains restrictions on open-source AI due to confidentiality and privilege concerns. While he sees promise in technology that could digest hundreds of pages of documents and generate summaries, he's also cautious.
"As a lawyer, I don't know, I'd have a hard time letting go, frankly. I have a hard time relying on the veracity and the completeness of the content that was generated," he admits. During any learning period, he believes AI would create extra work as he'd still need to manually verify everything.
Still, he acknowledges the inevitable trend: "It's the inevitable direction that practice is going to trend in some measure, using it to some degree or for some purposes."
Standing Strong in Difficult Times
Staller's closing thoughts return to the human element that drew him to immigration law in the first place. "Things feel tougher and thornier right now, but the need for advocates and lawyers and smart global mobility managers and practitioners is higher than ever," he reflects.
He's finding ways to contribute beyond billable hours, offering free consultations to individuals who need guidance. Fifteen minutes of his time can put someone at ease or provide instructions that streamline their process. "To me, it just feels like a small like local way for me to be able to give back."
His message to colleagues in the immigration field is one of solidarity and resilience: band together, share information and experiences, stay strong, and remain resilient. "You're not going to push us around and we're here to stay," he says firmly.
Limiting immigration, Staller argues, contradicts the tradition and history of America's origin story. "The multiculturalism, melting pot, and ongoing immigration have brought way more benefits and positive impacts to the United States than it has negative ones." In today's globalized world, he views attempts to close borders as an exercise in futility.
For Staller, the work ultimately comes down to something both simple and profound: managing people's lives. "It makes the risk high, but it also makes the reward high." And when a grateful family drives hours just to say thank you over breakfast, those rewards become tangible proof that the hard work complexity, and chaos are worth it.
About Shaun Staller
Shaun Staller is a business immigration attorney based in Philadelphia who recently joined a new firm with his team. A first-generation college graduate and University of Pennsylvania alumnus, Staller holds a master's degree in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and a J.D. from Temple Law School. He specializes in employment-based immigration, helping both corporate clients and foreign nationals navigate America's complex immigration system. His practice focuses on visa applications for professionals in STEM fields, compliance matters, and green card processes. He also works in the family-based immigration space.
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