Ryan Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC
401 Union Street, Suite 1500
Seattle, WA 98101-2668
206.464.4224
Ryan Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC
1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3400
Seattle, WA 98101-3034
206.464.4224

Ryan Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC
1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3400
Seattle, WA 98101-3034
206.464.4224

Jeng-Ya (Jen) Chen

Jeng-Ya (Jen) Chen

Associate

Practice Areas:

Jen focuses her practice on business and family-based immigration. She specializes in working with immigrants of all backgrounds to help make their American dream a reality.

Jen handles a wide range of temporary work visas, including, but not limited to, O-1 individuals of extraordinary ability, H-1B and E-3 professionals, TN professionals, L-1 intra-company transfers, E-2 treaty investors, and P-1 for artists and athletes. She also supports employment-based green card applications through PERM labor certification and immigrant petitions for individuals of extraordinary ability and individuals with advanced degrees requesting national interest waivers. She currently serves as the Programs Chair for the Washington Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

While in law school, Jen played an active role in several organizations. She served as the editor of the Pacific Basin Law Journal, a researcher for the UCLA School of Law Library where she worked with Professor Hiroshi Motomura and Professor Daniel Bussel, and as a volunteer at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. Jen was also the recipient of several academic awards, including first place for the Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs where as a member of a three-part team, she obtained $70,000 in first-round funding for a medical startup. In undergrad, Jen was Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Lambda Delta, and Phi Eta Sigma. She also received English Departmental Honors, Highest Honors for The Politicization of Blake’s Postmodern, and the Pamela Weinberger Award at the Academic Conference for English Students for her paper on Northwest author Tom Robbins.

Jen gained valuable experience externing in the chambers of Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud of the Washington State Supreme Court as well as working for boutique firms in Beverly Hills and Seattle.

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, 2022 AILA Annual Conference, The EB-1A, NIW, and Schedule A in Nontraditional Fields
  • Speaker, 2022 AILA Northwest Regional Conference, Recent Trends in RFEs
  • Speaker, Ryan Swanson Webinar, “How to Prepare for the H-1B Lottery and New Electronic Registration System” (February 2021)

Honors and Awards

  • Listed in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch

Languages

  • Mandarin Chinese (native)
  • Taiwanese (conversational)

Articles

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Professional Activities

  • Programs Chair, Washington Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, 2022 – Present
  • Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association

Credentials

Education
  • University of California Los Angeles School of Law
    (J.D., 2017)
  • University of California Los Angeles
    (B.A., English and Comparative Literature, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 2013)
Admitted to Practice
  • Washington
    2017

Hobbies & Interests

Jen was born and raised in Taiwan. As a child, her family spent time in Minnesota where she would make weekly trips to the St. Paul Public Library with her red wagon. Outside of work she enjoys volunteering at local legal clinics, reading fiction, and playing Frisbee with her dog.