Matthew Galati
Matthew T. Galati is the Principal of The Galati Law Firm. With his significant experience in immigration law, Matt has handled matters relating to nearly every visa type. Over the past few years, Matt has focused the majority of his practice on EB-5 and E-2 related matters, resulting in the preparation of hundreds of investor petitions, as well as regularly advising U.S. companies utilizing the EB-5 program. In addition, Matt has creatively utilized other visa types to obtain immigration benefits for his entrepreneurial clientele. His client base of the “best and brightest” consist of scientists, musicians, athletes, medical professionals, businessmen and women, and many more.
Prospective clients regularly call upon Matt when immigration processes do not go as expected. His experience as a litigator predate his law school graduation. Matt’s previous representations have included representing clients before federal district court, in adversarial agency practice, appellate proceedings and EOIR. Most notably, Matt served as counsel pro hac vice in the seminal EB-4 Religious Minister case Shalom Pentecostal Church v. Beers, No. 11-4491 (D.N.J. Sept. 16, 2013) which resulted in the elimination of two USCIS regulations that the court held to be illegally published. Matt has also filed several mandamus / unreasonable delay actions which have successfully “broken the backlog” for aggrieved visa applicants particularly arising from EB-5 delays.
Matt also regularly advises companies in the corporate context, with a focus on immigration compliance. This includes Form I-9 practice, E-Verify onboarding and practice, and adversarial matters against the Department of Homeland Security.
Matt has been a panelist and moderator on immigration law topics for numerous organizations at venues across the U.S. and around the world. These include the American Immigration Lawyers Association, UGlobal, EB-5 Diligence, NES Capital, The Investment Migration Summit, and in various investor roadshows and migration agent trainings. Matt is a frequent author with dozens of publications in the industry, including in EB-5 Investors Magazine, The Legal Intelligencer, and The National Law Review, amongst others.
He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and serves on its EB-5 National Committee and High Impact Litigation Committees. In 2020-21, he served as the Philadelphia chapter’s Chair.
Notably, Matt has been listed as one of SuperLawyers Rising Stars from 2016-Present in the field of business immigration. He was named a Top 25 EB-5 Attorney by EB-5 Investors Magazine and won its “Rising Star” award in 2018. In 2019, The Legal Intelligencer named him one of its prestigious “Lawyers on the Fast Track.”
Matt is a 2007 graduate of The University of Virginia (B.A., Politics and History) and a 2010 graduate of the George Washington University Law School (J.D., with honors). Following nearly two decades working in law firms in various capacities, and in realization of his own entrepreneurial goals, Matt founded The Galati Law Firm in 2020.
HalstonChavez
Halston A. Chavez is an Associate Attorney at The Galati Law Firm. At the Firm, Halston has primarily focused on mandamus / unreasonable delay litigation and EB-5, extraordinary ability, and family immigration matters. She has also prepared Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and assisted in FOIA lawsuits. Additionally, Halston has worked on O-1, naturalization, adjustment of status, and consular processing cases.
Halston is licensed to practice law in the state of North Carolina and before the Western and Middle Districts of North Carolina. She is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Halston was first hired at the Firm in January 2022 as a Law Clerk while she finished her last semester of law school. Halston graduated summa cum laude from Temple University Beasley School of Law, where she was awarded The Faculty Award for Academic Achievement and The TASA Prize for Outstanding Performance in Evidence.
As a law student, Halston advocated on behalf of immigrants through various immigration matters including asylum, DACA, family petitions, U-Visas and more. She also gained experience in drafting appeals with the Administrative Appeals Office and Board of Immigration Appeals. In her first year of law school, Halston traveled to Tijuana, Mexico to serve asylum seekers at the U.S. – Mexico border.
Before attending law school, Halston graduated summa cum laude from the University of Cincinnati (UC) with a B.A. in International Business and Finance and a minor in Spanish. During her time at UC, Halston founded the University’s first Latino Mentorship Program, which is flourishing today.
Halston’s passion for serving the immigrant community began when she went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in high school. Thereafter, she dedicated herself to learning Spanish which she is now fluent in. Halston has also served abroad in Honduras and studied abroad in both Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Outside of practicing law, Halston enjoys traveling, dancing salsa with her husband, trying new food, and watching sports.