Matthew Galati
Matthew T. Galati is the Principal of The Galati Law Firm.
With his extensive experience in immigration law, Matt handles issues relating to nearly every visa type. Over the past few years, Matt has focused his practice on matters relating to EB-5 and E-2 visas, preparing hundreds of investor petitions as well as regularly advising U.S. companies that utilize the EB-5 program. In addition, Matt has creatively applied other visa types to obtain immigration benefits for his entrepreneurial clientele. His client base of the “best and brightest” comprises scientists, medical professionals, musicians, athletes, businessmen and women, as well as numerous other professionals.
Prospective clients call upon Matt when immigration processes do not go as expected. His experience as a litigator predates his law school graduation, and he has represented clients before federal district court, in adversarial agency practice, appellate proceedings and proceedings regarding the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). 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 illegal. Matt has also filed several mandamus / unreasonable delay actions which have successfully “broken the backlog” for aggrieved visa applicants, primarily arising from EB-5 delays.
Matt regularly advises companies in the corporate context, predominantly focusing 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 served as a panelist and moderator on immigration law topics for numerous organizations at both U.S. and international venues, including the American Immigration Lawyers Association, UGlobal, EB-5 Diligence, NES Capital, The Investment Migration Summit, and various investor roadshows and migration agent trainings. He has authored dozens of industry publications, in EB-5 Investors Magazine, The Legal Intelligencer, and The National Law Review, among others.
He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and serves on several national committees. From 2020 to 2021, he was the Chair of the Philadelphia Chapter. In 2022, he won AILA’s prestigious Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award for outstanding contributions made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law.
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Since 2016, SuperLawyers has consistently listed Matt as one of its Rising Stars in the field of business immigration. EB-5 Investors Magazine named him a Top 25 EB-5 Attorney, and granted him 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 two decades working in law firms in various capacities, Matt realized his entrepreneurial goals by founding The Galati Law Firm in 2020.
Alexandra George
Alexandra (Alex) George Santhanam is an Associate Attorney at The Galati Law Firm. At the firm, Alex focuses on mandamus/unreasonable delay litigation, EB-5 litigation, and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation.
Alex is licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois and before the Northern District of Illinois. She is also admitted to litigate in the District of the District of Columbia and the Western District of Texas.
Before joining The Galati Law Firm, Alex worked at private immigration firms and gained a broad range of experience. Alex has experience in employment-based, family-based, extraordinary ability, and naturalization applications. She also has litigation experience in federal court and immigration court, including family-based mandamus/unreasonable delay litigation and removal defense.
Alex graduated from The Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law. She was the only woman in her graduating class to complete the Certificate Program in Legal Innovation and Technology. Through Chicago-Kent, Alex was proud to volunteer with the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project, where she supported women and children seeking asylum in the United States.
Alex is a graduate of DePaul University (B.A., International Studies, concentration in urban and community activism studies in Latin America and the Middle East).
Outside of the office, Alex enjoys painting, yoga, and taking her dog on little adventures.
Halston Chavez
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.
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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.