Speaker

Sharvari (Shev) Dalal-Dheini is the Director of Government Relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a voluntary nonpartisan bar association of more than 15,000 attorneys and law professors practicing, researching, and teaching in the field of immigration and nationality law. In her role, Ms. Dalal-Dheini directs the association’s administrative and congressional advocacy efforts with a focus on employment-based immigration, immigration benefits, and the legal immigration system to develop practice resources for members, review policy developments, regulations, and legislative proposals. 

Prior to joining AILA in May 2019, Ms. Dalal-Dheini worked for eleven years with the Office of the Chief Counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Most recently with USCIS, she served as Special Counsel and was responsible for coordinating the legal review of various policy and regulatory initiatives and providing subject matter expertise and advice to senior agency leaders on employment-based immigration adjudication matters. Prior to this, she served as Deputy Chief, where she delivered on key Presidential objectives and initiatives, advised senior leadership at USCIS, DHS and the White House to guide decision making on important legal issues, projects and policies, and optimized operational efficiency by providing guidance to clients for process improvement and the reduction of litigation risk. Other roles she held at USCIS include Special Counsel to the Chief Counsel, a role in which she developed and spearheaded USCIS implementation of President Obama’s Executive Actions to support high-skilled immigration.  In addition, she served as Associate Counsel on the Adjudications Law Division and the Litigation Coordination Division where she advised on adjudication and litigation matters. As a college student, she interned with legacy Immigration and Naturalization Services Office of International Affairs for multiple summers. She received numerous awards during her service with USCIS, including the USCIS Director’s Award (2016), Secretary’s Award for Excellence (2015), and Manager of the Year Award (2015).  

Prior to joining government service, Ms. Dalal-Dheini worked for several years at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP, in Baltimore, MD as a Labor and Employment and Immigration Associate representing employers, individuals, families and asylum applicants on a wide variety of immigration matters. Ms. Dalal-Dheini holds a J.D. from the American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, DC, as well as a M.A. in International Relations from American University and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Richmond. Prior to law school, she served in the Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa.