SMA is a specialized U.S. immigration and consular law boutique firm based in St. Petersburg, Florida, managed by Steve Maggi, Esq. a Georgetown University Law Center graduate and former associate at the international law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. After several years working in international corporate and finance practice, Mr. Maggi decided to start SMA Law Firm, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a specialized focus on U.S. immigration and consular law. Over the course of eight years in the Buenos Aires office, SMA prepared petitions processed at U.S. consulates in South America and around the world, including investor visas, tourist and business visas, while simultaneously handling all employment-based visas and green cards for its U.S.-based clients. The consular practice included the sub-specialty of waivers, which help lift legal bars to entry to the U.S. SMA has represented clients at approximately 50 U.S. embassies. In 2011, Mr. Maggi set up the New York office of SMA, which he currently manages, to maximize SMA’s ability to help individuals and companies worldwide with their version of the American dream. SMA works with franchisees and service-oriented businesses in order to create investment opportunities for foreign nationals to obtain investor visas and EB-5 green cards and assisting foreign companies who want to expand their businesses into the U.S. and send management and specialized personnel to undertake those expansions. As a former immigrant and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Mr. Maggi understands the legal immigration processes on both a personal and professional level and has the experience and know-how to assist clients both in the U.S. and abroad. If you have any questions, please e-mail him at smaggi@smalawyers.com. SMA – “Building the bridge to your American dream”

Steve Maggi was born in Bariloche, Argentina, and raised in New York City. A graduate of Stuyvesant High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Mr. Maggi received his Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2001 and subsequently worked at law firms in Miami, Florida, where he gained experience in corporate, finance, real estate, and immigration law. However, his passion for immigration law was born in the summer of 1999, while still a student at Georgetown, when he worked at Ayuda, Inc., an immigration clinic in Washington, D.C. Four weeks into his first legal job, Mr. Maggi presented and won a political asylum case for two citizens from Togo. The following summer, as a summer associate at a law firm in Miami, Mr. Maggi gained ample experience in business immigration.

In 2004, Mr. Maggi moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and started SMA, with a specialized focus on business and family visas, and preparation of petitions processed at the U.S. consulate, including investor visas, tourist and business visas. At the consular level, Mr. Maggi assisted many clients in removing inadmissibility due to criminal records as well as immigration infractions in the U.S. through a legal instrument called a waiver, enabling them to legally enter the U.S. again. Some of these waivers included extreme hardship waivers which enabled U.S. citizens to be reunited with loved ones who had been deported from the U.S.

In 2011, Mr. Maggi moved permanently to New York City to expand SMA’s reach to matters in immigration court, including removal and deportation matters and legal remedies including cancellation of removal and asylum. He is also working with franchisees and businesses in order to create investment opportunities for foreign nationals to obtain investor visas and green cards, and assisting foreign companies who want to expand their businesses into the U.S. and send management personnel to undertake those expansions. As a former immigrant and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Mr. Maggi understands the legal immigration processes on both a personal and professional level.