Porter Law Office, LLC

Focus and practice areas

This small immigration practice runs out of Columbus, Ohio, under the name Ohio Immigration Counsel, the immigration side of Porter Law Office, LLC. The office sits in Gahanna, a suburb on the east side of the city. The firm practices U.S. immigration law and files matters before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In my opinion, the clearest signal from the firm's pages is scope. It names the specific visa and green card categories it handles, and lists each one plainly.

The firm works with both individuals and businesses. Its clients are in Columbus and across Ohio, and it takes on clients elsewhere in the United States too. Employers make up part of that client base, since several of the visa categories start with a company petition. That reach fits immigration work, where much of the process runs through federal agencies and can be handled at a distance.

The range of immigration cases

The firm splits its immigration work into two broad tracks: employment-based and family-based. On the employment side, it handles H-1B specialty occupation visas, L-1 visas, PERM employment green cards, and National Interest Waiver green cards. On the family side, it handles family-based green cards and K-1 fiance visas. It also files for naturalization, adjustment of status, and change of non-immigrant status.

Each category follows its own path. An H-1B case starts with an employer, who files a Labor Condition Application with the Department of Labor before the petition reaches USCIS. PERM green cards begin with a labor certification and a recruitment test of the U.S. job market. A National Interest Waiver lets a qualifying applicant petition without an employer sponsor. This is general context on how such cases move, and the firm's pages set out the categories it takes on.

An L-1 visa lets a multinational company transfer an employee between a foreign office and a related U.S. office. It comes in two forms, one for managers and executives and one for workers with specialized knowledge. The firm lists it alongside the H-1B, which suits employers bringing staff into Ohio operations.

Family and citizenship matters

Family-based work covers relatives seeking green cards and fiances entering on a K-1 visa. A K-1 case runs through a petition and a consular interview abroad, and the couple then files for adjustment of status after the marriage. Naturalization is the final step for many green card holders, once they meet the residence and other requirements. The firm handles each of these stages.

Adjustment of status turns an approved petition into a green card without leaving the country, filed on Form I-485 with USCIS. A change of non-immigrant status lets someone already in the United States move between temporary categories, for example moving off a student visa and onto a work visa. Both are USCIS filings, which fits a practice built around that agency.

Where immigration meets federal tax

Porter Law Office pairs its immigration practice with federal tax controversy. The footer of the site carries both labels: tax controversy and immigration. Federal tax controversy covers disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, including audits and appeals of proposed adjustments.

The overlap has a practical logic. People who move across borders often carry tax questions with them, such as how to report foreign income or how to establish residency for tax purposes. A firm that runs both practices under one roof can handle those threads together. As a reviewer, I read the pairing as a deliberate niche for a small office.

Tax controversy work tends to begin when the IRS questions a return or proposes a change. The steps may include an examination, a review by the agency's appeals office, and a petition to Tax Court if the matter stays open. For a client who is also managing an immigration case, having one attorney track both keeps the federal filings in step. The firm sets out tax controversy and immigration as its two areas, and Mr. Porter covers both.

Who leads the work

The site names one attorney, Matthew R. Porter. Mr. Porter handles the firm's immigration and tax matters. His immigration work covers both the family-based and employment-based cases the firm lists, including H-1B visas, PERM green cards, K-1 fiance visas, and naturalization.

The firm describes itself as boutique, and a single named attorney fits that picture. A bio page for Mr. Porter appears in the site's navigation. The pages reviewed here do not state his law school or year of admission.

What the pages establish

The firm gives a clear account of its services and its home base. It is a small immigration practice in the Columbus area, run by one named attorney, with a second federal practice area in tax controversy. Prospective clients can see the exact categories it files before USCIS.

For someone weighing a Columbus immigration lawyer, the useful facts are on the table: the practice areas, the location, and the attorney's name. In my opinion, the boutique framing matches what the site shows, one attorney carrying both federal practices. The firm handles the categories it names, and it works with clients in Ohio and beyond.