Senior Associate
Drilona Breçani
Country / Territory
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Languages
- English
- Albanian
- Italian
Contact information
Drilona is a Senior Associate Attorney at Fragomen’s New York office, where she advises clients on a range of U.S. business immigration matters. She has experience representing multinational corporate clients across many industries including financial services, information technology, engineering and healthcare.
Drilona advises corporations on nonimmigrant visa applications and petitions, including L-1, H-1B, O and TN visas. She also advises corporations on employment-based immigrant visa applications and petitions, including EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and related labor certifications and immigration compliance.
Prior to joining Fragomen, Drilona worked for a national immigration firm in Toronto, Canada as a Manager and Associate Attorney. In this position, she provided U.S. business immigration services to high-volume, multinational clients and represented clients before various agencies including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Labor and various U.S. consulates worldwide. Additionally, Drilona served as one of three attorneys responsible for overseeing one of the firm’s most successful H-1B cap seasons.
After graduating from law school, Drilona practiced immigration law at a local immigration firm in New York, where she focused her practice on EB-1 (Extraordinary Ability) and EB-2 (National Interest Waivers) for renowned physicians and researchers. During law school, Drilona worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and prior to law school, she served as an in-house Senior Specialist for Global Regulatory Affairs at a wealth management company.
Drilona has provided pro bono immigration services for Kids in Need of Defense, CUNY Citizenship Now! and American Friends Service Committee.
Drilona speaks English, Albanian and Italian.
Education
- Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law, J.D., 2011
- Georgetown University, B.A., 2005
More from Drilona
Admissions
Bar Admissions: New York
Practice Limited to Federal Immigration & Nationality Law
Professional accomplishments
Admitted in New York only. Practice Limited to Federal Immigration & Nationality Law.
Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association
Member, New York State Bar Association
Experience
Provided immigration services for high-volume multinational corporations in the finance and technology sectors, including one of the largest professional services companies in the world.
Responded to Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny, and filed appeals and Motions to Reconsider or Reopen.
Advised a mid-sized corporate client on PERM trends and implemented necessary changes, including streamlining internal PERM processes and managing PERM caseload.
Managed high-volume H-1B caseload through cap season for a multinational corporate client, including management and training of local and offshore teams.
Developed strategic responses to complex Requests for Evidence from USCIS for specialty occupation workers and intracompany transferees.
Prepared successful Extraordinary Ability and National Interest Waiver petitions for foreign national physicians and researchers in a variety of scientific fields.
Publications and lectures
Co- author, "The Art of the Possible: Immigration Impacts of Corporate Changes." 23rd Annual AILA New York Symposium Handbook, 2024.
Speaker, "Best Practices for Advising Clients Before, During, and After Corporate Changes." 23rd Annual AILA New York Chapter Immigration Law Symposium, New York, 16 December 2024.
Speaker, "2024 PERM Pathways: How to Navigate Advanced PERM Issues." American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), New York Chapter, 6 May 2024.
Co-author, “Redefining Specialty Occupation: How the Trump Administration is Limiting the Use of the H-1B Visa Program.” The Federal Lawyer, March 2019.
Featured, “From the Clinic to Practice: Penn State Law Alumni Makes Strides in Immigration Law.” Penn State News, Sept. 2015: n. pag. Web.
Author, “The Good Fortune of ‘Winning’ the Diversity Visa Lottery.” AILA’s VOICE, Dec. 2014: 18. Web.
