About Gerard Chapman

Gerry Chapman has been a Board Certified Immigration Specialist since 1997. He graduated from UNC-CH in 1973 with a BA in International Studies and received the UNC Educational Foundation Award the same year. In 1978, he received his JD, cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law.

He is a past Trustee of the American Immigration Law Foundation (2004-2008). He served as Chair of the Carolinas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), as a member of AILA’s Board of Governors from 1998-2000, and as Chair or Co-Chair of three national AILA Committees: Immigrant Investor Visa Committee (1990-1993), Committee on Intracompany Transferees and International Managers and Executives (1993-1994), and Essential Worker Committee (1999-2004) (2007-2008). He has served as a Mentor for AILA from 2003 to present in the areas of Business Immigration: Employment Based Immigrants: Labor Certification, and Business Immigration: Employment Based Non-Immigrants: E treaty Categories and Ethics. He also served on the 2008 Strategic Planning Committee to evaluate Missions, Goals and Programs for AILA National. He has been a member of AILA’s H-2B committee, and he moderated AILA Silver Circle in 2012. From 2008 to 2009, he served on AILA’s Liaison Committee with the DHS Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

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In 2016 he represented Dr. Dhanasar, the appellant in Matter of Dhanasar.  In the Dhanasar case, the AAO vacated its earlier precedent decision in Matter of NYSDOT (AAO 1998), and established a new standard for National Interest Waiver employment-based cases.  The Dhanasar standard created the basis to allow entrepreneurs, among others, to pursue the green card, even though they might not have an independent sponsor. In 2009 he served as counsel in Matter of Garcia-Arreola, in which the BIA overruled a long-standing precedent and significantly changed the rules of Mandatory Detention. Mr. Chapman has authored articles in several AILA publications, co-edited the 2007 AILA Handbook on Workplace Enforcement, has lectured at immigration seminars in the United States and abroad, and served as Immigration Commentator for Triad Business Journal in 2011. He has been heavily involved in AILA’s efforts to secure immigration reform on a national level, and was co-founder of the North Carolina Legal Immigration Coalition.

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Mr. Chapman is included in the 2007-2021 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, in the specialty of Immigration Law, and he received Martindale Hubbell’s 2021 AV Preeminent Judicial rating—the highest honor awarded. He also has been chosen for inclusion in the Super Lawyers list for immigration specialists in North Carolina every year since 2007. The Super Lawyer designation is restricted to the top 5% of attorneys in each state. He was one of only eight immigration lawyers in North Carolina to be chosen in 2016. He is also included in the 2013-2021 editions of The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers, and Chapman Law Firm was designated a “Tier 1” law firm by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms rankings in 2021. Mr. Chapman was recently appointed to serve a three-year term on the NC State Bar Specialization Committee for Immigration for North Carolina (2016-2019). He was a member of this committee when it first convened in 1997, and co-wrote the specialization exam with the other committee members during his tenure then. Most recently, Mr. Chapman also achieved Thomson Reuters’ Lead Counsel Verification for his work in Immigration Law. 

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Mr. Chapman was Co-Captain of the Men’s Varsity Swimming Team at the University of North Carolina from 1971-1973. He qualified and competed in the 1970 and 1973 NCAA Swimming Championships (best finish; 17th in 1650 freestyle, 1973, Knoxville, TN). He was also an ACC Champion, 400-yard Individual Medal, 1970. He was a High School All-American, 200-yard Individual Medal. He also competes in US Masters Swimming on the state and national levels (best finish: 4th in 1000-yard freestyle at 2012 and 2016 Masters Nationals Championship 60-64 age group). In 2012 he placed in the Top 10 at the US Masters Swim National Championships in three events. He is conversant in Spanish. Mr. Chapman and his wife, Linda, have two children and five grandchildren.