In a world with a globally mobile workforce, navigating the legal aspects of business immigration remains a pressing concern for organizations across dozens of industries. Companies want to tap into the global talent pool to fill their labor shortages, but immigration policies change across borders and feature varying levels of complexity in every region. This makes the process of hiring foreign nationals frustrating and tedious. HR departments are not adequately equipped with the core skills to manage business immigration, and the sheer amount of paperwork involved in applying for visas is enough to overwhelm them.

One way for companies to overcome these hurdles is to seek support from immigration law firms. Time is of the essence and every detail matters when it comes to moving through the immigration process and getting foreign nationals on the job on time. Unfortunately, not every immigration practice can meet client needs and expectations in this area. Delayed responses and lack of transparency around the immigration process lead to stress and uncertainty for HR departments and foreign workers. This is where global immigration law firm BHLG makes a world of difference. The firm lightens the workload for HR by stepping in to manage all the intricacies and red tape of business immigration with industry-leading responsiveness, a streamlined workflow, and full visibility into the entire process.

As a single source legal solutions provider for global workforce mobility, BHLG houses an experienced team of attorneys to ensure a high level of personal service and timely communication essential throughout the immigration process. “We offer an intelligent immigration platform that harnesses the full capabilities of digital technology to streamline the immigration process, enabling companies to grow and scale by hiring talents worldwide without having to stress about immigration laws,” says Jean-Noel BenHamou, Executive Managing Partner of BHLG. The BHLG platform also provides much needed transparency in terms of pricing and single-source billing, allowing clients to better predict and manage their budget for immigration services.


Building a Better System Based on Experience


By the time he founded BHLG, Jean-Noel BenHamou had gained over thirteen years of experience in the field of corporate immigration. While working for several large practices, BenHamou was astonished to find that it was common for large firms to make strong promises of quality and service responsiveness yet never deliver. The root cause was often lack of infrastructure to follow through on these commitments.

BenHamou’s idea for BHLG was formed as he focused on engineering an entire platform to address inefficiencies and inconsistencies in traditional full service law firms. Rather than merging legacy IT systems to try to create something workable, BHLG built everything from scratch to architect a seamless, highly efficient solution. The result is an extremely user-friendly platform that most other immigration law firms, with their patchwork of legacy systems, simply cannot match. Because of streamlined follow through on service promises and guarantee a response for clients within one to two business hours for most questions and requests.

Personal experience also informed BenHamou’s approach to improving business immigration processes. Growing up, he traveled and moved across several countries. First-hand encounters with the complications of immigration have helped him relate to the struggles of foreign nationals trying to advance their careers and build a better life for their families. He is passionate about doing what it takes to help businesses and employees get the job done.

As an example, BenHamou advised a major automotive manufacturer in the U.S. and Canada that workers that crossed into Canada from the U.S. should have complete documentation. However, this process of ensuring all the paperwork was in order for thousands of employees had not been completed when the Canadian immigration officials began closing off the entire Canadian border. This sudden closure prevented the easy movement of workers from the U.S. to Canada and back. When the client contacted him for assistance, BenHamou’s out-of-the-box thinking led to the creation of a systematic, compliant plan where they could process nearly 2,500 work permits in a span of only two and a half weeks. A major disruption was averted, allowing the company to stay on track for production. His system is still in place for the client fifteen years later, even after his engagement with the manufacturer reached its conclusion.

This scenario demonstrates BHLG’s ability to solve problems using ingenuity while working within the legal requirements of strict immigration laws. Creativity and clarity came to the rescue. “We have the ability to translate in very simple language the complex legal situation that we are dealing with, and what potential possible solutions we have to offer for every given situation,” says BenHamou.
Delivering Responsive Service at Every Level
BHLG’s commitment to providing sound advice for every client challenge while ensuring a highly responsive service is vital for organizations that are poised for growth. For example, the firm’s guidance helped a large financial institution in the U.S. in growing its Canadian workforce. The bank was seeking an immigration partner with strong Canadian experience, and turned to BHLG to help build a program that would be efficient and streamlined at scale.

True to form, BHLG customized a platform for the client with a set of reusable template applications that could be used on an ongoing basis to standardize the immigration application process and increase efficiency. They embedded electronic signature technology in the process, eliminating the need to print, sign, scan, and ship overnight documents. BHLG also provided guidance and one-on-one interaction to educate foreign nationals about all aspects of the border crossing process. This greatly relieved the stress for workers and helped avert common immigration issues at the border. “By combining standardization and personal attention, no one gets lost in the process regardless of the volume of hiring. From entry-level to CEO, everyone gets white-glove service from BHLG,” says BenHamou.

BHLG’s continued growth stems from its ability to retain 100 percent of its clients over nine years, with 99.99 percent of all their work in the pipeline derived from referrals. The company has maintained the same level of intensity, expertise, and attention to detail, backed by the technology to assist them in their immigration practices. BHLG aims to keep investing heavily in technology internally to further refine business processes. This focus on continuous improvement will help BHLG remain the most efficient business immigration practice in the U.S. and Canada. Above all, BHLG will keep its commitment to removing the stress from HR teams and helping organizations hit their growth goals by getting the right talent in the right place at the right time.

Looking forward, the firm plans to continue sharing with new clients about better, easier ways to handle business immigration. In BenHamou’s words, “We want to show the world how it is done at BHLG, why clients are so excited to join and never leave us.”