Vaani Chawla

Vaani Chawla has been practicing immigration law for 30 years in San Diego, California. She is committed to her clients and not only serves them with personal empathy and concern for the outcome of their cases but also with a keen eye on their financial well-being. Recognizing that each individual and each business is unique, she works to find the most appropriate and cost-effective immigration solutions for their particular needs.

Ms. Chawla guides individuals, investors, and businesses toward the right path within the parameters of immigration law based on their individual priorities and circumstances. Her deep personal interest in the results of her client's matters is rooted in her own personal experience. She feels a close kinship with clients involved in the immigration process because she grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, surrounded by a close-knit community of immigrant families. The daughter of immigrants, Ms. Chawla became very familiar with the struggles of these families, their strong work ethic, and their dreams for the future. 

Ms. Chawla represents corporations and individuals in a wide range of business and family immigration matters. Over the past 30 years she has achieved success for her clients in the areas of employment-based immigration with investors, multinational executives, professionals in high tech and biotech fields, as well as outstanding researchers, individual's whose work is in the national interest of the United States, and individuals with extraordinary ability. Ms. Chawla also works with individuals on family-based matters, including good-faith waivers for divorced couples or battered spouses.

Ms. Chawla earned her Juris Doctor degree from Boston College Law School and became an associate at the prestigious law firm of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper). As an associate at Gray Cary, she was introduced to family-based immigration and political asylum. In 1994, Ms. Chawla left Gray Cary, and she has practiced immigration law exclusively since then.

Ms. Chawla is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and is a former Treasurer for the San Diego AILA Chapter. She is a former charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), and she has worked with underserved families as an attorney volunteer for the California Western School of Law's Community Law Project. Ms. Chawla is a member of the State Bar of California, a selected member of "Super Lawyers," a former president of the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego (SABA San Diego), a former board member of Lawyers Club of San Diego, a co-founder of the San Diego Unity Bar, and a board member of California Women Lawyers and Women of Color in the Law. The San Diego Business Journal selected her as one of the county’s “Top 100 Leaders in the Law” in 2022, and the San Diego County Bar Association recognized her with its 2024 “Service to Diversity Award.” Ms. Chawla can communicate in Punjabi and Hindi. She also understands Urdu and Gujarati.