Former Consular Officer and Immigration Attorney
Mandy Zhang Feuerbacher
Mandy Feuerbacher has over 7 years of experience working as a career U.S. Diplomat and U.S. Consul (i.e. Visa Officer) for the U.S. Department of State in China, Mexico, and Hong Kong. She is also a licensed U.S. immigration attorney.
During her government career, she interviewed over 100,000 business executives, students, tourists, employees, investors, and immigrants. She realized while working as a Visa Officer that many people were failing at their visa interview because they did not know how to communicate effectively with the Visa Officer, and not because they didn't qualify. She knows firsthand how international citizens can succeed in the U.S. visa process.
After retiring from her career with the U.S. Government, Mandy decided to start her own immigration law firm to specialize in the visa process, also known as “consular processing.” She was also the Executive Vice President of a company where she trained a team of over 20 former Visa Officers on how to help international citizens succeed at their visa interviews, before leaving in 2023 to return to private practice.
She has helped citizens from over 67 countries (and counting) conquer the U.S. visa interview!
U.S. Government experience
- Former career U.S. Diplomat and Consul, U.S. Department of State
- Consular Commission
Education
- Pepperdine School of Law, Malibu, CA
- J.D., May 2008
- Admitted to the State Bar of California
- University of California, San Diego
- Bachelor of Arts, Communication, Law & Society, 2005
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice Law
Admitted to the State Bar of California
Practices U.S. immigration law in all 50 states
Publications
- “Remote work & foreign nationals: how to avoid common mistakes,” The Daily Journal, Jan. 30, 2023
- “The Layoffs Are Here: What it means for Employees Holding H-1B Visas”, Corporate Counsel Magazine, December 9, 2022
- “What you should know about visa interviews”, The Daily Journal, Sept. 22, 2022
- “A bona fide relationship doesn’t always mean K-1 visa approval”, The Immigration Lawyers Toolbox Magazine, Issue 5, Summer 2022
- “Questions an ex-Visa Officer wished you would ask”, The Immigration Lawyers Toolbox Magazine, Issue 1, Winter 2021
- Co-Author, “U.S. Citizen Filings from Consular Posts”, American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Consular Practice Handbook, February 2020, with Audrea Golding, Claire D. Nilson and Jeremy A. Weber
Speaking Engagements
- Panelist Speaker, “Inadmissibility Issues,” 2022 EMEA American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Conference on Immigration Law, November 2022 – Paris, France
- Panelist Speaker, “Aloha! (Goodbye!): Inadmissibility Issues” 2022 American Immigration Lawyers Association Fall Conference & WebCast, September 2022 – Maui, Hawaii
- Panelist Speaker, “L Visas: Border, Blanket, and Other Consular Issues,” 2022 National American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Conference on Immigration Law, June 2022 – New York, New York.
- Keynote Speaker, “Top 10 Tips for the U.S. Visa Interview after COVID,” The Mayo Clinic Research Fellows Seminar, May 2022
- Keynote Speaker, “Preparing for your international students for their F-1 interview post-COVID,” Kansas International Educators Virtual Conference, April 2022
- Panelist Speaker, “Advanced TN Visa Issues,” American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Border Issues Virtual Conference, March 2022
- Panelist Speaker, “Expert Consular Interview Advice & More,” 2021 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Iowa-Nebraska Conference on Immigration Law, October 2021
- Panelist Speaker, “Nonimmigrant Visa Consular Processing 101,” 2021 National American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Conference on Immigration Law, June 2021
- Speaker, “Consular Officers and the I-601/ I-601A waiver,” AILA Connecticut Chapter, March 2021
- Speaker, “Life in the Foreign Service in China,” hosted by the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), January 2020
- Speaker, “Expert Visa Interview Preparation for International Students,” hosted by Study Illinois Consortium, November 2020
- Panelist Speaker, “F-1 Student Visa Demystified,” Los Angeles County Bar Association, Aug. 19, 2020
- Panelist Speaker, “Breakfast with the Consular Officers,” 32nd Annual American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) California Chapters Conference, November 2019 – Monterey, California
Panelist Speaker, “Behind the Visa Window,” AILA Southern California Chapter, February 2019, Los Angeles, California
- Winner, AILA Dreams Speech Contest, 2019 National AILA Conference on Immigration Law, June 2019, Orlando, Florida