A Bridge to Your Future

The U.S. immigration system is complex.

Choosing the right person to guide you through the process is important. Attorney Nick Harling leverages a unique combination of personal and professional experiences to help individual and company clients achieve their immigration goals. As a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, Nick is a zealous advocate when litigating immigration issues in federal court or responding to government immigration investigations. This experience challenging the U.S. government in adversarial proceedings compliments his ability to prepare a wide range of immigrant and nonimmigrant employment visa applications and educate employers on their immigration compliance obligations. Nick advises clients to select the best visa option for each situation and works closely with them to prepare a thorough application. 

Your Advocate

Nick has exclusively practiced U.S. immigration law for his entire legal career. In 2008, he joined the U.S Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. For more than a decade he litigated a wide range of issues on behalf of the federal government. Nick now draws on that experience to help clients whose visa petitions have been arbitrarily denied or unreasonably delayed. He also represents companies subject to government immigration compliance investigations.

Prior to law school, Nick spent four years teaching English in Japan, where he developed a firsthand understanding of the challenges and rewards that come from working abroad on an employment visa. Since entering private practice in 2019, Nick has worked with clients, both individuals and companies, to prepare and file a wide range of immigrant and nonimmigrant employment visa petitions and applications. Nick has experience representing established companies, startup entrepreneurs, academia and nonprofits. 

attorney nick harling
Nick regularly presents on immigration law topics at bar association CLE programs, universities and civic organizations. He is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, South Carolina and the District of Columbia and is admitted to appear in numerous federal courts. He is a graduate of Davidson College, with honors in Political Science (2001) and the Charleston School of Law, magna cum laude (2008). He is an adult volunteer with Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America) and an Eagle Scout.
Immigration Litigation

Litigation can be an effective tool to reverse an arbitrary visa denial or motivate federal agencies to resolve an unreasonably delayed adjudication. Suing the U.S. government in federal court sounds scary, but it should not be, especially when you have an experienced litigator leading you through the process. When advising clients on whether and when to pursue litigation, Nick draws on his 11 years of experience as a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney and five years representing clients in private practice litigating against the federal government. Nick has filed immigration cases in federal district courts across the country challenging U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ denial of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. Similarly, he has filed lawsuits against USCIS challenging the delayed adjudication of green card and naturalization applications as well as against the U.S. Department of State challenging administrative processing delays of visa applications refused under Immigration and Nationality Act § 221(g). If you think the U.S. government denied your visa because it ignored critical evidence or misstated important facts or is taking too long to make a final determination, speak with Nick about whether litigation is an option worth pursuing.

Representative matters include:
Immigration Compliance & Investigations
As a business owner, company manager or human resources representative, learning your organization is the subject of a government immigration investigation is stressful. Depending on the type of investigation and the number of potential violations, your organization may be liable for tens of thousands of dollars in civil fines and, in extreme cases, criminal penalties. Therefore, it is important to consult a knowledgeable attorney not only to represent you once a government immigration investigation commences but also to proactively review your hiring procedures and train your staff to understand compliance obligations. Nick has experience both representing companies facing immigration investigations and training company staff to ensure they understand and meet their immigration compliance obligations.
Representative matters include:
Employment Visas
Does your company need to hire or transfer a foreign national to work in the U.S. temporarily (non-immigrant visa) or sponsor an employee for a green card (immigrant visa)? Are you an entrepreneur needing work authorization to start a business in the U.S. or an individual wishing to file a self-sponsored green card petition? If so, Nick can help. After meeting to discuss your credentials, professional experience and specific immigration goals, Nick will work with you to determine the best visa category for your situation. Often, this will include a combination of a near-term nonimmigrant visa option to provide you or your employee with temporary U.S. work authorization while the more lengthy immigrant visa process is pending prior to a final adjudication. Nick has experience preparing a wide range of nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions for review by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Department of State including:
Immigrant Visas (Green Cards)
Non-Immigrant Visas

Get in Touch

Please be advised that the information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. Contacting this law firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send confidential information until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established by a signed contract for specific legal services.

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.