Melina V. Villalobos

*Currently licensed in Indiana only. Practice limited to federal immigration law.

Melina serves as global immigration counsel to multinational corporations as well as small and medium-sized businesses across a broad spectrum of industries including staffing, architecture and engineering, manufacturing, information technology, oil and gas, hospitality, e-commerce, logistics, healthcare, and biotechnology. She works closely with clients to develop streamlined, cost-effective global immigration programs that allow them to recruit and retain global talent and maintain a competitive advantage.

Melina focuses on developing labor certification (PERM) programs; EB-1 petitions for aliens of extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers and multinational managers; as well as EB-2 and EB-3 petitions based either on PERM labor certifications or national interest waivers. She oversees the preparation of nonimmigrant visas, including H-1Bs, L-1s, TNs, E-3s, and O-1s. Additionally, Melina manages corporate immigration compliance, creating I-9 policies and programs for clients.

Prior to joining Ogletree Deakins, Melina was an associate at both a large corporate immigration law firm and a large labor and employment law firm. She served as an Attorney Advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program, where she focused on immigration-related matters for the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Melina is also proud to have served early on in her career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr. of the Indiana Supreme Court.