Courtney Wachal 

Courtney Wachal is an Immigration Attorney at Colombo & Hurd. Ms. Wachal focuses on employment-based immigration handling a broad range of nonimmigrant and immigrant matters, including EB-1, EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW), L-1, O-1, and H-1B petitions. Specifically, Ms. Wachal has expertise in high-skilled immigration petitions for both individual and employer-sponsored petitions.

Ms. Wachal brings nearly a decade of business immigration experience to her practice. Most recently, as an Associate Attorney at a Chicago-based immigration firm, she managed both nonimmigrant and immigrant filings including H-1Bs, R1s, O1s, L1s, I-140, I-485, and N-400 petitions. Her responsibilities included preparing and filing initial petitions and responses to Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny, as well as counseling clients and representing them at USCIS interviews. Earlier in her career, Ms. Wachal managed business immigration matters, including EB-1, EB-2 NIW, O-1, and I-485 cases, from intake through filing. She has successfully obtained approvals for various EB-1A, O1A, and EB-2 NIW cases for clients from a wide range of industries and expertise.

Ms. Wachal's legal foundation includes experience as a Law Clerk with the City of Chicago Law Department, and as a Summer Legal Intern in the Torts Division, conducting depositions and supporting trial and arbitration preparation. She also spent a summer with USCIS's Office of Policy and Strategy in Washington, D.C., where she supported humanitarian nonimmigrant visa policy work and contributed to regulatory enforcement guidance.