Associate
Maria Eduarda Alonso Chaves
Country / Territory
Get in touch
Languages
- English
- Portuguese
- Spanish
Contact information
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP
800 NW 62nd Avenue, Suite #590
Miami FL 33126
United States
Maria is an Associate at Fragomen’s Miami office, where she assists individuals, families, entrepreneurs and employers with a wide range of employment-based and family-based immigration matters. Her experience spans every stage of case preparation, from client intake and strategy development through petition drafting, evidence gathering and response preparation.
Maria first joined Fragomen as a law clerk and returned to the firm after law school. She has worked extensively on employment-based immigration matters, including EB-1, NIW, O-1, H-1B, L-1, E-2 and PERM-related cases. She has prepared complex immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions, drafted support letters and legal arguments and developed responses to Requests for Evidence in high-profile and complex cases. Her experience includes assisting professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, researchers and multinational companies across a variety of industries.
In addition to her employment-based practice, Maria has significant experience with humanitarian and removal defense matters. Through her work with the University of Miami School of Law Immigration Clinic, she assisted individuals with asylum, withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture (CAT) proceedings, representing clients from initial intake through final merits hearings before the immigration courts. She successfully authored an appellate brief before the Board of Immigration Appeals that resulted in a client obtaining protection under the Convention Against Torture. Maria also helped secure bond and release for detained individuals facing complex criminal and immigration challenges and supervised detainee intake and case assessment efforts conducted in both Spanish and Portuguese.
Education
- University of Miami School of Law, J.D., 2026
- University of Florida, B.A., cum laude, 2023
More from Maria
Admissions
Bar Admissions: Florida
Practice Limited to Federal Immigration & Nationality Law
Professional accomplishments
President, University of Miami School of Law, Student Association for Immigration Law
President, University of Miami School of Law, Brazilian Law Students Association
Fellow, University of Miami, Immigration Clinic
Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association
Member, The Florida Bar Association
Publications and lectures
Quoted, "Law students win major immigration cases through appellate and courtroom advocacy." University of Miami, 24 February 2026.
Quoted, "School of Law Immigration Clinic students secure major appellate victory." University of Miami, 6 November 2025.
