Susan Im earned her B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and her J.D. degree from Wayne State University Law School. Following graduation, Susan worked as litigator in a large firm but left to build a successful solo immigration practice and thereafter a boutique immigration and employment law firm with labor and employment law colleagues, which eventually merged with a larger multi-practice firm in Grand Rapids.
Although repeatedly pursued by national and regional law firms over the years, in late 2010, Susan founded ImLaw to offer clients the benefits of a personal level of service, backed by over 25 years of experience resolving complex immigration cases for clients that include small to medium-sized employers, Fortune 100 and 500 companies, individual and corporate investors, professionals and essential workers, students, families, and individuals.
Founder Susan Im possesses more than 25 years of experience in immigration law. Practicing exclusively immigration law, Susan Im possesses in-depth experience preparing and advising on the full spectrum of nonimmigrant/temporary work visa applications (H-1B, L-1, TN, E-1/E-2/E-3, O-1, R-1, and H-3); investor visa applications; F-1 student visa issues; J-1 cases including waivers of the two-year home residence requirement; employment-based permanent residency (“green card”) including PERM labor certification applications, I-140 immigrant petitions (including Schedule A Physical Therapist and Registered Nurses, and labor certification-exempt categories such as extraordinary ability aliens, outstanding professors and researchers, multinational transfers of managers and executives, Schedule A Group II, and national interest waivers); I-9 compliance and counseling for employers; family-based permanent residency petitions for spouses, children, and parents, and naturalization/citizenship applications.
As a recognized expert in immigration law, Susan has provided thought leadership on immigration issues to legal and other professional associations in Michigan and throughout the United States. Susan has presented nationally and locally on employment-based immigration and family-based immigration topics for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the AILA Michigan Chapter, and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, where she has been a faculty member, to educate other attorneys in immigration law. She has also authored an Immigration Initiative and Policy Document for the Office of the Governor of Michigan.
Susan Im has served in leadership positions for key organizations focused on immigration and advocacy. AILA is the premier national association of over 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. For two years, she served as the elected Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) Michigan Chapter and member of the AILA Board of Governors from June 2011 to May 2013. Susan served as the elected Vice Chair of AILA’s Michigan Chapter from June 2009 to June 2011. Thereafter, Susan was appointed by AILA National’s President to the AILA-USCIS Nebraska Service Center Liaison Committee from June 2013 to June 2017 and served as the AILA NSC Committee’s Vice Chair from June 2015 to June 2017. Susan was appointed by AILA National’s President to serve on the AILA USCIS Ombudsman Committee from June 2015 to June 2017. She served as Vice Chair of AILA’s USCIS Service Center Operations Liaison Committee from June 2017 through June 2019.
In 2019, Susan Im was appointed by AILA National’s President to serve as Chair of AILA National’s USCIS Service Center Operations Liaison Committee (SCOPS) from June 2019 to June 2020. In 2020, the AILA USCIS SCOPS Committee was renamed the USCIS Case Assistance Committee (CAC), and Susan served as Chair of the CAC from June 2020 to June 2021. Susan received the 2021 AILA National President’s Commendation for Outstanding Volunteer Service.
Susan is a current member of IMMLAW, a national consortium of prominent, highly experienced immigration lawyers and the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce (APACC). She is past President of the Asian Professionals Organization (now the West Michigan Asian American Association) and past Immigration Chair of the Michigan Governor’s Advisory Council on Asian Pacific American Affairs (ACAPAA). Susan’s volunteer and charitable work also included serving on the board of directors of In the Image, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving families and individuals in need of clothing, shoes, and household goods.
Susan Im has the AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating. In 2019, Susan received the “Best Lawyers” designation by U.S. News & World Report. Susan has consistently been named one of Grand Rapids Magazine’s “Top Lawyers” as voted by her legal peers in 2024, 2023, 2021, 2020, and 2019. She has earned the “Leading Lawyers” distinction in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, and 2014.
