Shiva Karimi
Director, Corporate Department, and Chair, Immigration Practice Group and Managing Director Boston Office
Office617-523-7937
45 School Street
2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02108

Shiva develops creative strategies for navigating the complex U.S. immigration system.  She advises businesses on hiring key personnel, structuring global entities to facilitate talent mobility, and addressing immigration compliance issues.  She creates immigration solutions for immigrant investors and entrepreneurs, as well as other specialized foreign nationals such as athletes and entertainers, religious workers, and expats.  She represents clients across a range of industries including staffing, technology, healthcare, independent schools, and start-ups.

Shiva currently serves as a Trustee of the Boston Bar Foundation. Shiva is also chair of the firm’s Immigration Law Practice Group, managing director of the firm’s Boston office and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. In addition, she is also a chair of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.  Shiva is a long-time member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Previous to McLane Middleton, Shiva established and directed Karimi & Associates, PC for fourteen years. She has served as chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Immigration Law Committee, co-chair of the BBA’s Immigration Law Section, and was a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Immigration Law Steering Committee. She also served as a Council member of the Boston Bar Association and contributed to the authorship of the BBA’s Immigration Principles. She was a board member of the Lawyer’s Weekly Board of Editors, and Suffolk University Law School’s Law Alumni Board.

Shiva earned her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, and is currently admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. She received her B.A., cum laude, from Northeastern University.

Area of Focus

  • Immigration Law

Admissions

  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit

Involvement

  • Boston Bar Foundation, Trustee (2024 – present)
  • Boston Bar Association, Council Member (2019 – 2023)
  • Boston Bar Association Finance Committee (2021 – present)
  • Boston Bar Association Law Firm Leaders (2021 – present)
  • Boston Bar Association Women of Color Attorney’s Leadership Forum (2022 – present)
  • Boston Bar Association Amicus Committee (2019 – 2024)
  • Boston Bar Association Immigration Law Section, Co-chair (2017 – 2020)
  • Suffolk Law Alumni Board (2017 – 2020)
  • Boston Bar Association, Beacon Award Steering Committee co-chair, 2019
  • USA 500 Clubs, Woburn Host, International Roundtable Member (2014 to present)
  • ProVisors, Boston II Executive Committee, M&A Group, Transitioning Business Advisor Group (2013 – 2022)
  • Boston Bar Foundation Beacon Award Steering Committee, Co-chair (2019)
  • Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Women’s Leadership Program
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association

Awards

  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Top Managing Partners 2024
  • Best Lawyers in America 2024 (Immigration Law)
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers 2023 (Immigration; Business)
  • Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers of 2021, 2022, 2023 (Immigration)
  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Top Women of Law 2019
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2005 – 2014 (Immigration)

Additional Publications

  • Immigration Practice Manual, MCLE New England, co-author – chapter 30: Current I-9 Employment Verification Procedures, Best Practices for IRCA Compliance, and Preparing for a Government Investigation
  • Boston Bar Association, Immigration Principles

Speaking Engagements

  • Enrollment Management Association, Tuesday Talks, Student Visa Trends (2024)
  • Transaction Talk Podcast, Immigration Options for Investors (2024)
  • Boston Bar Association, Career Path (2022, 2023)
  • University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce Law School, Immigration Practice (2023)
  • Business NH Magazine’s NH Futurecast: Immigration (January 23, 2020)
  • ProVisors DEI Panel, Resilience and Women Leaders (2021)
  • Babson College, regular guests lecturer (2022 – present)
  • 2018 Human Resources Conference, Recordkeeping and the Form I-9 (June 15, 2018)
  • McLane Middleton’s NH Employment Law Update, Immigration Law in the New Administration (May 16, 2017)
  • New England Broker’s Association, Investor’s Visa E-2 and EB-5 (March 1, 2017)
  • International Business Series, New Administration Expectations, (January 31, 2021)
  • McLane Middleton’s MA Employment Law Update, Updates to the H-2B Temporary Worker Program (November 20, 2016)
  • International Business Series, Crossing the U.S. Border Inbound and Outbound (November 4, 2016)
  • New Hampshire Bar Association, Immigration Law 2016 CLE (May 19, 2016)
  • Baystate Business Brokers, Investor’s Visa E-2 and EB-5 (May 17, 2016)
  • Murphy Business, Investor’s Visa E-2 and EB-5 (March 2, 2016)
  • International Business Series, Businesses with Foreign Branches (January 21, 2016)
  • McLane Middleton, Immigration Issues for Businesses (February 17, 2015)
  • Boston Municipal Court Department Judge’s Conference, Landlord/Tenant Law (2011)