Cyrus D. Mehta - Attorney, New York, NY

Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate of Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners PLLC in New York City.  Mr. Mehta represents corporations and individuals from around the world in a variety of immigration matters, including business, employment, entrepreneur and investor immigration, asylum and ethics. Based on over 30 years of experience in immigration law, he is able to comprehend all kinds of problems and provide effective and ethical solutions to clients. Mr. Mehta has  successfully represented clients  before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,  Administrative Appeals Office,   Executive Office for Immigration Review,  Board of Immigration Appeals,   Department of Labor, Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals,  DHS and EOIR Disciplinary Counsel and the federal courts.

Mr. Mehta is the Editor-in-Chief of the AILA Law Journal and conceived of the first ever AILA Law Journal Symposium in 2024.  He is the immediate past Chair of AILA’s  Ethics Committee. While on the Ethics Committee, Mr. Mehta initiated the AILA Ethics Compendium, which is now published as a book. Mr. Mehta is also an active board member of The New York Immigration Coalition and a board member of Volunteers of Legal Services. He is also special counsel on immigration matters to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, New York. Mr. Mehta is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches a course entitled Immigration and Work.

Mr. Mehta is the former Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council, former Chair of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality Law of the New York City Bar,  former Secretary of the New York City Bar, and former Chair of AILA’s Pro Bono Committee. He has also served as a member on numerous national and local AILA committees in the past.

Mr. Mehta received the prestigious AILA 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for advancing the practice of immigration law,  the AILA 2011 Michael Maggio Memorial Award for his outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field and the AILA 1997 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyers Award for outstanding contributions in the immigration field. He has also received three AILA Presidential Commendations in 2010, 2016 and 2020.  Mr. Mehta is ranked highly by Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration Law and also by Chambers USA and Chambers Global  in immigration law, among other rankings.

Mr. Mehta is also a member of the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL), whose members have been recognized internationally in the field of business immigration, and are committed to the highest standards of professionalism. Newspapers, magazines and television constantly seek Mr. Mehta out for his expert opinions on immigration law and policy. Mr. Mehta is a very frequent speaker at AILA conferences on both a national and regional level.   He is also a featured speaker at immigration seminars of the Practising Law Institute (PLI), and has been the Program Chair of PLI’s annual Basic Immigration Law program and the companion  program entitled Asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Crime Victim, and Other Immigration Relief for many years.

Mr. Mehta is also the author of several influential articles that have appeared in professional publications such as Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, Interpreter Releases, Immigration Briefings, AILA Law Journal and  AILA’s Immigration Practice Pointers, as well as weekly posts that appear on the  firm’s blog, The Insightful Immigration Blog, which is archived in the Library of Congress and has provided thought leadership in immigration policy. These posts are republished in LexisNexis Immigration News and Lexology, among other media.

Mr. Mehta graduated with a BA degree from St. Xavier’s College, Bombay University, and subsequently obtained law degrees from Cambridge University, England (BA in Law, MA in Law), and Columbia Law School, New York (LL.M). Mr. Mehta is admitted to the New York State Bar and is also admitted to practice law in India. He is admitted to the US Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals of the Third Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit,  the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

In his spare time, Mr. Mehta plays the violin and is a member of the Broadway Bach Ensemble.