OUR TOP IMMIGRATION LAWYERS IN PHOENIX
Lilia Alcaraz Tocchini
Board Certified Specialist in Immigration Law by the State Bar of California Department of Legal Specialization.
Ronald Tocchini
Over 25 years of legal experience and licensed as a U.S. Customs Broker by the US Department of Homeland Security.
Awarded Best Immigration Lawyers in Arizona
Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Glendale, Arizona
Our Memberships
Board-Certified Immigration and Tax Lawyers Who WIn
Phoenix-based, serving investors, families, professionals, and attorneys, U.S. and worldwide.
WHAT SETS US APART
Certified and credentialed. Ms. Alcaraz is a Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law (State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization), one of only two practicing in Arizona, and the only one in the nation who also holds an LL.M. in Taxation. Mr. Tocchini is an immigration attorney, a licensed U.S. Customs Broker (U.S. Department of Homeland Security), and a business and international-trade attorney.
We've made federal law. We have made published, precedent-setting law at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — three decisions, including one of the most consequential Child Status Protection Act rulings in the country, now reflected in the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Affairs Manual. Few immigration firms can say that.
Immigration and tax under one roof. Most immigration lawyers never look at tax. We live at the intersection. Ms. Alcaraz plans pre-immigration income, estate, and exit tax, and is a published authority on the U.S. tax consequences of residency and expatriation; with Mr. Tocchini's customs-broker license and international-trade background, we structure the visa, the company, and the tax position as a single strategy.
Forward-practice attorneys. We pair seasoned legal judgment with the best modern technology to build cases with rigor, citation-level accuracy, and speed — and Lilia teaches it, with published work for AILA on technology for immigration lawyers. The technology sharpens the work; the strategy is always ours.
You work directly with Ms. Alcaraz and Mr. Tocchini from the first onboarding call, never a paralegal or junior associate building your petition. They bring complementary strengths and join forces when a case demands both immigration and tax, business, or trade expertise. Ms. Alcaraz is also an active contributor to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), writing for AILA's publications and practice communities — which is part of why, when other immigration attorneys meet their hardest cases, they hire us too.
Worldwide, with deep roots in Mexico and Canada. We represent clients across the United States and around the world, with a deep bench from Mexico and Canada. As a USMCA (NAFTA) firm, we secure TN visas for Mexican and Canadian professionals, alongside E-2, L-1, and the full range of business and family immigration. Ms. Alcaraz speaks, reads, and writes Spanish; Mr. Tocchini speaks conversational Spanish and Italian.
OUR PRACTICE
Individuals and Families. Marriage green cards, fiancé visas, adjustment of status, consular processing, family petitions, and U.S. citizenship and naturalization, handled start to finish by the same attorneys, from your first call to your oath ceremony. The stakes are your family's future, and we treat them that way.
Investors, Founders, and Global Talent. For the people building businesses and careers in the United States. We secure E-2 investor and E-1 treaty trader visas, L-1 intracompany transfers, EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant petitions, National Interest Waivers, and O-1, P-1, H-1B, and TN visas. Lilia is a published author on the O-1 extraordinary-ability visa. With Ronald being a licensed U.S. Customs Broker and having 25+ years of international trade and business experience, we structure the company and the immigration case as one strategy, not two disconnected filings.
Pre-Immigration Tax, Estate, and Exit Planning. For high-net-worth individuals and families, the visa is only half the story. What you own, where you earn, and how you hold it can trigger U.S. income, estate, and exit-tax exposure that most immigration lawyers never see coming, and that becomes far harder to undo once you've arrived. We are among the very few firms in the country that can plan your immigration status and your tax position together, before you move. Ms. Alcaraz is a published authority on the U.S. tax consequences of residency and expatriation, author of "The Tax Trap of U.S. Residency" (AILA Practice Toolbox) and co-author of AILA guidance on citizenship renunciation and expatriation tax. You arrive protected, not surprised.
Waivers. A waiver can be the difference between a denial and a life built here, and we're known for the difficult ones, with particular strength in waivers involving medical conditions and learning differences, where the right evidence, the right experts, and the right argument decide everything.
Appeals and Motions to Reopen. When the first decision is wrong, we know how to challenge it, and we've made law doing it. In Rodriguez Tovar v. Sessions (9th Cir. 2018), we won one of the most consequential Child Status Protection Act decisions in the country; its reasoning was incorporated into the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Affairs Manual and followed by other federal circuits. In Magana-Magana v. Garland (9th Cir. 2024), we widened the scope of federal judicial review over the Board of Immigration Appeals. And in Pelayo-Garcia v. Holder (9th Cir. 2009), we narrowed what counts as an "aggravated felony," protecting immigrants from automatic deportation. Our appeals and motions to reopen are built on that same appellate-grade analysis.
I-9 Compliance and Audits. One I-9 mistake can cost a company everything. We keep employers compliant before the government comes knocking, and we defend them when it does: DHS Form I-9 audits, worksite enforcement compliance programs, and ICE Homeland Security Investigations.
For Attorneys: Co-Counsel, Strategy, and Case Review. Immigration lawyers across the country bring us their toughest matters. We provide case strategy, second opinions, and pre-filing review so the petition that leaves your office is ready to win, and we associate as co-counsel when a case calls for board-certified immigration and tax firepower.
One attorney on your case from the first call to the last filing, and two when your matter demands it, because your future, your family, and your business deserve a strategy, not a form.
WIN WITH GREAT LAWYERS.
