Vedder Price

Vedder Thinking

Sara B. DeBlaze

Shareholder

Chair, Business Immigration Group

222 North LaSalle Street Chicago, Illinois 60601

+1 (312) 609 7534

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Sara B. DeBlaze

Shareholder

Chair, Business Immigration Group

Sara B. DeBlaze is a Shareholder in the Chicago office of Vedder Price and is Chair of the firm’s Business Immigration group.

Ms. DeBlaze has a broad range of experience developing and executing global immigration policy, process and strategy and has worked extensively with every facet of both nonimmigrant (B1, E1/E-2, F-1, H-1B, J-1, L-1, O-1 and TN) and immigrant (Family-Based, EB-1, Labor Certification and Naturalization) matters as well as the permanent residency process.

She has experience providing training and functional know-how to recruiters and hiring managers to better equip them to recognize and proceed with candidates who have immigration needs.

Ms. DeBlaze came to Vedder Price with more than 20 years of business immigration experience. Prior to joining the firm, she served as Assistant General Counsel and Global Immigration Director to a large, multinational corporation, where she oversaw the global immigration program for over 1,200 foreign nationals in the United States, Australia, Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UAE and the United Kingdom.

Additionally, she was responsible for managing the immigration consequences for acquired companies and collaborating with other departments to coordinate staffing needs with immigration considerations.

Ms. DeBlaze has extensive experience advising corporations regarding Form I-9 and E-Verify requirements and obligations, including the federal contractor provisions. Ms. DeBlaze regularly presents on human resource- and immigration-related topics.

In 2015 and 2017-2021, the Legal 500 United States recommended Ms. DeBlaze for the Labor and Employment – Immigration category. Ms. DeBlaze was also selected as a Leading Lawyer for the Immigration Law: Employment category from 2017 to 2023. In 2023 and 2024, Ms. DeBlaze was selected by Best Lawyers in the category of Immigration Law. 

Sara B. DeBlaze

Shareholder

Chair, Business Immigration Group

Education

  • IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., 1999
  • Western Michigan University, B.B.A., 1991

Sara B. DeBlaze

Shareholder

Chair, Business Immigration Group

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois, 1999

Sara B. DeBlaze

Shareholder

Chair, Business Immigration Group

Sara B. DeBlaze

Shareholder

Chair, Business Immigration Group