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Dan H. Berger Esq.

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Dan Berger is a Partner at Green & Spiegel, U.S. leading the Academic and Medical Immigration Team. He is an Academic Fellow at Cornell Law School, and on the Legal Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Presidents’ Alliance on Immigration & Higher Education, and on the Legal Advisory Council of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (largest bipartisan congressional caucus). Dan also advises the Talent Mobility Fund on STEM immigration issues, and the new International Student Resource Center.
He is a frequent writer and speaker on immigration, including after the 2020 election for the Brookings Institute on recommendations for the Biden/Harris Administration and also on strategies to support international entrepreneurs. He co-edited an updated edition of Immigration Options for Academics and Researchers. He also wrote an Issue Brief for the American Council on Education (ACE) in 2016 (updated 2021 and 2026), and was a co-author on a “Note” on academic immigration for the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA).
Dan has recently co-authored an essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education on preparing for ICE visits on campuses, and an opinion piece in the Hill about historical trends in immigration policy.
In 2023, AILA awarded Dan the “President’s Commendation” for “exemplary service to the President and AILA,” including on the USCIS Headquarters Liaison Committee, writing practice advisories, serving on the AILA Afghanistan Taskforce (a rapid response effort to help Afghans after the Taliban takeover), and being on the editorial board of the AILA Law Journal.
Dan has a particular focus on DACA and undocumented students, evaluating options for longer term status. He advises thedream.us (nation’s largest private scholarship fund with over 10,000 scholarships in ten years to Dreamers).  Dan co-founded and helps lead an innovative DACA clinic at Cornell focused on employment-based options, as described in this Boston Globe article. Last year, he helped lead a pilot program for President Biden’s waiver program for Dreamers to move into status through employer-sponsorship, as described in this New York Times article. Dan was invited to the White House for the June 2024 announcement as recognition of his role in the process.
He was until recently an immigration law adviser on an NIH grant on the use of DNA technology in immigration, and co-authored a peer reviewed article in Science on the use of DNA technology to address family separation at the border.
Dan developed his interest in immigration in college at Harvard, where he studied immigration history and taught English to adult refugees.  He graduated from Cornell Law School and has practiced immigration law for over 25 years.
  • A.B.. in History, Harvard College, 1989
  • J.D., Cornell Law School, 1996
  • Member, Massachusetts Bar, 1998
  • Member, American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, 1998-present
  • Member, US Alliance of International Entrepreneurs (2015-2022)
  • Honorary Fellow, American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, 2016-present
  • Member, QED-C, The Quantum Economic Development Consortium, 2024
  • Legal Advisory Board, Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) – bipartisan congressional adoption caucus
  • Co-founder, Innovate Here – working group of R1 universities considering uses of the Biden STEM Immigration Initiatives
  • Liaison Committee, US government agencies, 2000-present
  • Liaison Committee, American Immigration Lawyers Association, 2000-present
  • Liaison Committee, National Association of Foreign Student Advisers 2000-present
  • Co-Author, amicus brief for AILA on permanent residence process for university teachers, 2010
  • Co-author, comment for AILA on Extraordinary Ability Request for Evidence template submitted to USCIS, 2010
  • Regulatory Practice Coordinator, National Association of Foreign Student Advisers, 2015-2018
  • Volunteer Attorney, La Posada Providencia Catholic Shelter, San Benito, Texas (ICE check in, detention visits in county and ICE facilities), 2017
  • Legal Advisory Council, Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, 2017-present
  • Consultant, Genomics, Biometrics, and Identity, NIH grant to student use of DNA technology and biometrics in U.S. immigration policy, 2019- 2022
  • Advisory Board, DNA Bridge (formerly 545 Separated Families Working Group), 2020-present
  • Contributor, comment submitted by higher education groups (led by the College and University Personnel Association) on Department of Labor interim final rule, 2020
  • Technical Advisor, Senate office, visa provisions of the International Press Freedom Act of 2021 bill, 2021
  • Data Analyst, study by the National Foundation for American Policy on how H-1B visa proposals will affect international students, 2021
  • Participant, invitation-only Immigration Policy Workshop sponsored by the Center for Houston’s Future and Rice University’s Baker Institute Center for US and Mexico, 2021
  • Legal Consultant, American Council on Education, including legal opinion letter on Safeguarding American Innovation Act, 2021
  • Legal Advisor, American Immigration Council, Biden STEM Immigration Initiatives, 2022
  • Invited presentations on visa options for international students and scholars at Harvard Law School, MIT (postdocs), Eastman School of Music, NYU, Yale University (arts, music, graduate students, entrepreneurs), University of Connecticut Health Center (medical residents and fellows), Brown University (entrepreneurs and international students), Smith College, Amherst College, Mt. Holyoke College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Wesleyan, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Georgia Athens, Bucknell University, Middlebury College, Dartmouth College, University of New Hampshire Durham, Columbia University, Princeton University (graduate students and entrepreneurs) University of Michigan, University of Connecticut, American Museum of Natural History, Marine Biological Laboratory
  • Numerous other invited presentations and panel discussions for Council For Global Immigration (now SHRM), Center for Adoption Policy at Duke Law School, NAFSA, AILA, Federal Bar Association Immigration Section, National Association of College and University Attorneys (including “Ask the Pros” open Q&A after the 2016 election), American Association of Universities Council on Federal Relations, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Williams College Claiming Williams Day, Wellesley College and Smith College School for Social Work
  •  Region XI Sally M. Heim Award, National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA), 2015

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