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Meg Hobbins

Member

With more than 18 years of experience, Meg Hobbins is a seasoned immigration and international human rights attorney who focuses on resolving complex U.S. immigration issues and politically sensitive global matters. She is nationally recognized for her success in challenging INTERPOL Red Notices and restoring U.S. travel privileges for individuals whose visas have been delayed, revoked, or denied—often due to politically motivated allegations or erroneous derogatory information.

Meg represents a diverse and global client base that includes ultra-high-net-worth entrepreneurs, current and former government officials, international organization employees, academics, and human rights advocates. She is known for her high-stakes legal strategies, successfully removing Red Notices, restoring U.S. travel and immigration status, and securing key benefits for clients facing intense scrutiny or persecution abroad.

Her recent work includes:

  • Representing a prominent entrepreneur targeted in a multi-million-dollar extortion scheme orchestrated by high-level officials in his home country. Over a three period, Meg blocked multiple Red Notices, secured lawful status for the entrepreneur’s family, and obtained the release of his son from U.S. immigration detention—ultimately demonstrating the political motivations behind the charges and achieving dismissal of removal proceedings.
  • Representing a senior government official whistle blower who was charged with the billion-dollar fraud that he exposed after a new administration came into power. Through an expedited, preemptive INTERPOL filing, Meg successfully blocked the pending Red Notice request, which was definitively rejected by INTERPOL as politically motivated and a gross violation of human rights.
  • Obtaining a security-related inadmissibility waiver for a respected business leader whose U.S. visa had been denied due to false derogatory information. Through a collaborative approach with the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security, Meg’s client successfully obtained the visa, allowing him to enter the U.S. and begin rehabilitating his record.

Meg also defends clients in removal proceedings and assists permanent residents accused of abandoning their residency. Her expertise in U.S. citizenship law—including acquisition abroad, derivation, and naturalization—is widely respected, and she has represented numerous diplomats whose children’s citizenship is in question.

She practices before the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, U.S. immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and international bodies such as the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Before entering private practice, Meg served as a judicial law clerk and attorney advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, working at immigration courts in Maryland, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Her global perspective is further shaped by her service in the Peace Corps in West Africa and her legal work with the Refugee Advice and Casework Service in Sydney, Australia.

Practice Areas

Education

J.D., Magna Cum Laude, American University Washington College of Law, Washington DC, 2007
Diploma of European and International Law, University of Paris X, 2006
B.A., Cum Laude, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 2001, Political Science and Anthropology

Recognitions

Washington DC’s Best Lawyers, Washingtonian Magazine, 2020 – present

Named among The Best Lawyers in America® for Immigration Law by Best Lawyers (2024-2025)

Listed in Chambers & Partners USA Up & Coming, District of Columbia: Immigration, 2023-2024

Featured in “Ones to Watch,” Bethesda Magazine, March/April 2019

District of Columbia Bar Association, Project of the Year, “Family-Based Immigration Law: A Lawyer’s Guide” Book Project, June 2014

Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, Outstanding Volunteer, June 2009

Washington College of Law Dean’s Award, Outstanding Student Clinical Program, May 2007

American University Order of the Coif Honor Society, May 2007

Memberships

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association, December 2008 – present
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association, Consumer Protection Committee, 2013-2015
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association, Family Committee, 2011-2012
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association District of Columbia Chapter, Raids Committee, 2010-2011

Languages

Spanish, French

Court Admissions

Maryland Court of Appeals
U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
U.S. District Ct., District of Columbia

Additional Representative Matters

  • Represented the former finance minister of Suriname who became the victim of an illegitimate, politically motivated prosecution after his party lost national elections. Successfully challenged the INTERPOL Red Notice that sought the client’s detention and extradition and submitted parallel filings before the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
  • Represented a Venezuelan entrepreneur and his family who were deported at the airport and banned for five years after arriving on valid tourist visas for a family event while their immigrant visa applications were pending. Secured expedited waivers of inadmissibility, allowing the family to resume their visa process. When the Embassy later incorrectly rescinded the entrepreneur’s employment-based petition, presented compelling new evidence and had the petition reinstated. The family of four went from a traumatic deportation and entry ban to full U.S. permanent residency.
  • Represented a Nigerian engineer mistakenly accused of fraud in a matter that spanned eight years, multiple agencies, and numerous interviews and hearings. Successfully prevailed in immigration court, overcoming the fraud allegations and securing lawful permanent residence for the client.


Publications

Presentations

  • Interpol Pre-General Assembly Panel, Red Notice Monitor, November 21, 2023, Panelist (with Roger Sahota, Bill Browder, Dr. Ted R. Bromund, and Ben Keith).
  • Navigating Complex Waivers of Inadmissability, AILA DC Chapter Annual Conference, November 2023, Panelist.
  • “Navigating the Murky Waters of Complex Waivers,” AILA Washington, DC Chapter Fall Conference, November 9, 2022, Panelist.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Law Basics 2022, January 12, 2022, Course Co-Chair and Speaker.
  • AILA RDC-EMEA Fall Virtual Conference, “Strategies for Returning Residents,” November 17, 2021,
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Law Basics 2021, February 3, 2021, Course Co-Chair and Speaker.
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association Online Course, Consular Processing and the Role of Consular Officers, September 2020, Faculty and Speaker.
  • “INTERPOL, Red Notices, and the Immigrant: Opportunities for Creative Legal Advocacy,” in cooperation with Clark Hill, July, 1 2020, Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Law Basics 2020, February 25, 2020, Course Co-Chair and Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Law Basics 2019, February 20, 2019, Course Co-Chair and Speaker.
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association Annual National Conference, Practice Management, June 22, 2019,
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Law Basics 2018, January 23, 2018.
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association District of Columbia Chapter Fall Conference, Recent Trends in USCIS, November 7, 2018, Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Update on Family-Based Immigration Law, September 28, 2017, Course Chair and Speaker.
  • Federal Bar Association, MyLaw CLE Program, Family-Based Immigration, August 24, 2017,
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association Annual National Conference, Humanitarian Options of Last Resort, June 24, 2017,
  • Maryland State Bar Association Immigration Law Section, New Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers Regulations and Policies, May 17, 2017,
  • Washington College of Law Immigrant Justice Clinic, Immigration Law Career Panel, March 9, 2017,
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association District of Columbia Chapter Fall Conference, Introduction to Hardship Waivers, November 16, 2016, Discussion Leader and Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, The Nuts and Bolts of Naturalization, November 3, 2016, Course Chair and Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Law Practice Clinic: Family-Based Immigration, August 13, 2015, Course Chair and Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Fundamentals of Immigration Law Series: Family-Based Immigration, April 28, 2015, Course Chair and Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, The Nuts and Bolts of Naturalization, November 19, 2014, Course Chair and Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Law for the Family Law Practitioner, January 15, 2014, Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, The Nuts and Bolts of Naturalization, November 5, 2013, Course Chair and Speaker.
  • American Immigration Lawyers Association District of Columbia Chapter Fall Conference, Child Status Protection Act, November 13, 2013,
  • S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman’s Conference, Immigrant Waivers: Provisional I-601A Waivers and I-601s, October 24, 2013, Speaker.
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Advising Clients Facing Immigration Hurdles: Introduction to Waivers of Inadmissibility, January 30, 2013, Course Chair and Speaker.
  • Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition Coalition Forum, Motions to Suppress and Terminate, April 27, 2011,
  • District of Columbia Bar Association, Immigration Court Practice, Beyond the Basics: Preparing a Case for Immigration Court, November 4, 2010, Speaker.

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