Overview
Ralph Hua is a member of the firm’s COVID-19 Taskforce, a cross-disciplinary team of attorneys dedicated to advising employers on the many workplace law aspects of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Ralph Hua is a partner in Fisher Phillips’ Seattle office. His practice focuses on business immigration. Ralph helps employers and their foreign national employees navigate the complex U.S. immigration system from temporary worker status all the way to permanent residency. He helps employers of different sizes and industries build and improve their customized immigration and compliance policies. Ralph’s clients include household names in information technology, retail, gaming, art design, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing.
In addition to business immigration, Ralph also handles a wide range of immigration cases including family-based petitions, naturalization, waivers, and removal defense appellate practice. He has extensive experience handling complex issues arising in immigration context, such as immigration consequence of criminal offenses and allegations of immigration violations.
Ralph represents clients in appeals of adverse agency actions both at the agency level and at the federal court. He successfully litigated mandamus lawsuits against immigration agency adjudication delay, and lawsuits under the Administrative Procedure Act against arbitrary decisions in immigration cases.
Ralph also has extensive experience in employer I-9 compliance. He advises employers in I-9 best practice, and represents them in defending I-9 audits and litigations at the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO).
Ralph is a native Mandarin speaker.
Experience
Experience
- Successful mandamus lawsuits to push the immigration agency to adjudicate delayed immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions and employment authorization applications.
- Successful lawsuits under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against agency delay and improper withheld of information in public record requests.
- Obtained I-9 fine reduction of over $80,000 at OCAHO
- Sustained Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) appeal, finding that client’s managing three subordinates in a company with five employees sufficient to meet the managerial definition for multinational manager visa category.
- Sustained AAO appeal, finding that client’s military service during the Bosnian War did not constitute persecution of civilians.
- Obtained derivative US citizenship for client facing wrongful deportation on drug offense
- Obtained EB-5 investment visa approval involving alleged violation of Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) money transfer rules
- Obtained naturalization for client who failed to disclose Communist Party membership in green card application
Honors & Leadership
Professional Activities
- Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Volunteer Immigration Lawyer, King County Bar Association
Insights
News
- New Partners Span 13 Offices With Over 40% Representing a Diverse Cross-Section of the Firm12.22.20
- 9.25.18
Seminars & Speaking Engagements
Blog Posts
- Cross Border Employer Blog8.5.20
- Cross Border Employer Blog2.3.20
Education
- American University, Washington College of LawL.LM 2010
- Seattle University School of LawJ.D. 2009
- Nanjing UniversityB.A. 2005
Bar Admissions
- Washington
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Languages
- Mandarin Chinese