Our U.S. Investor Visa Team
Kyle Barella, Managing Attorney
Kyle Barella is the Managing Attorney at Barella Global’s Brussels and London offices, and an experienced E-2 and EB-5 U.S. immigration lawyer. His practice is focused on investor visa matters, due diligence, business expansion visas, as well as other business and family-based visa categories. As a proud Chilean-American, Kyle celebrates his Latino heritage and has practiced law outside of the United States for nearly a decade.
In the business arena, Kyle assists entrepreneurs and foreign enterprises with their U.S. market entry through various visa categories. These include the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa, E-1 Treaty Trader Visa, L-1 Expansion/Intracompany Transfer Visa, B-1 in lieu of H-1B Visa, and O-1A Extraordinary Ability Visa. He also represents multinational companies in EB-1C permanent residency sponsorship for managers and executives, as well as individuals with extraordinary ability in securing their EB-1A or EB-2 NIW green cards. Additionally, he helps employers sponsoring EB-2 and EB-3 eligible foreign nationals in the PERM process.
Beyond business, Kyle represents U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) in green card sponsorship cases for their foreign national spouses. Kyle particularly enjoys assisting U.S. citizens residing abroad in the UK or Europe with direct filing of their spousal sponsorship petitions through local U.S. consular posts, thereby significantly reducing processing times. He also aids clients seeking entry into the United States who require a waiver of inadmissibility due to criminal convictions, misrepresentation and fraud, immigration violations, and medical issues. He has successfully obtained both temporary (212(a)) and permanent (I-601) waivers for various inadmissibilities, including controlled substance violations and Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT) for his corporate and individual clients.
Kyle has contributed his experience to the legal community as a faculty member for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Annual Conference. Here, he has discussed consular processing at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. He has also presented on U.S. immigration matters at the AILA Rome District Chapter Fall Conference in 2021. Additionally, Kyle is a member of the TRTCLE faculty, lecturing on U.S. immigration and visa topics in Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses.
Prior to establishing Barella Global, Kyle worked for a U.S. business immigration practice based in London and served as External General Counsel for the EB-5 Investment Advisory firm, Choice Investments.
Kyle earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Ave Maria School of Law and holds a B.A. in History from George Mason University. During his undergraduate years, he studied Italian History and Language at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy.
Licensed to practice law in Virginia, Kyle is an active member of both the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and its Rome Chapter. He is proficient in Spanish in addition to his native English.
In the business arena, Kyle assists entrepreneurs and foreign enterprises with their U.S. market entry through various visa categories. These include the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa, E-1 Treaty Trader Visa, L-1 Expansion/Intracompany Transfer Visa, B-1 in lieu of H-1B Visa, and O-1A Extraordinary Ability Visa. He also represents multinational companies in EB-1C permanent residency sponsorship for managers and executives, as well as individuals with extraordinary ability in securing their EB-1A or EB-2 NIW green cards. Additionally, he helps employers sponsoring EB-2 and EB-3 eligible foreign nationals in the PERM process.
Beyond business, Kyle represents U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) in green card sponsorship cases for their foreign national spouses. Kyle particularly enjoys assisting U.S. citizens residing abroad in the UK or Europe with direct filing of their spousal sponsorship petitions through local U.S. consular posts, thereby significantly reducing processing times. He also aids clients seeking entry into the United States who require a waiver of inadmissibility due to criminal convictions, misrepresentation and fraud, immigration violations, and medical issues. He has successfully obtained both temporary (212(a)) and permanent (I-601) waivers for various inadmissibilities, including controlled substance violations and Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT) for his corporate and individual clients.
Kyle has contributed his experience to the legal community as a faculty member for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Annual Conference. Here, he has discussed consular processing at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. He has also presented on U.S. immigration matters at the AILA Rome District Chapter Fall Conference in 2021. Additionally, Kyle is a member of the TRTCLE faculty, lecturing on U.S. immigration and visa topics in Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses.
Prior to establishing Barella Global, Kyle worked for a U.S. business immigration practice based in London and served as External General Counsel for the EB-5 Investment Advisory firm, Choice Investments.
Kyle earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Ave Maria School of Law and holds a B.A. in History from George Mason University. During his undergraduate years, he studied Italian History and Language at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy.
Licensed to practice law in Virginia, Kyle is an active member of both the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and its Rome Chapter. He is proficient in Spanish in addition to his native English.
Sal Gerbino, Attorney
Sal is a preferred referral Immigration Attorney with Barella Global. He received his undergraduate degree from Fordham University in New York City and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida.
Sal is a skilled US business immigration lawyer, expert legal researcher, and a member of the New York State Bar. He has worked on a number of cases with multinational corporations engaged in high profile litigation. Sal is often called upon to provide expert advice on a variety of legal issues. In addition to English, Sal is fluent in Italian.
Sal is a skilled US business immigration lawyer, expert legal researcher, and a member of the New York State Bar. He has worked on a number of cases with multinational corporations engaged in high profile litigation. Sal is often called upon to provide expert advice on a variety of legal issues. In addition to English, Sal is fluent in Italian.
Cheyenne Whitfield, Attorney
Cheyenne is a preferred referral Immigration Attorney with Barella Global. She is a native of Queens, New York and a member of the Florida Bar. In addition to US immigration law, Cheyenne is a skilled criminal defense and business lawyer. She received her undergraduate degree from State University of New York (SUNY) Albany in Political Science and History. She received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida.
Her passion is to help those in her community through the court system with their legal issues and to know they are in good hands. She continues to achieve this goal by being a great advocate on behalf of her clients.
Her passion is to help those in her community through the court system with their legal issues and to know they are in good hands. She continues to achieve this goal by being a great advocate on behalf of her clients.
Anna Sonkina, Senior Paralegal
Anna is Barella Global's Senior Paralegal and Client Services Manager. Anna has worked in the EB-5 industry for nearly a decade in a variety of capacities. In addition to assisting investors as our Client Services Manager, Anna previously worked as a registered investment advisor representative with Choice Investments, and a senior EB-5 investment coordinator for a Florida based EB-5 consulting firm.
Anna received her Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado. She has extensive experience in business, particularly in the securities industry related to the EB-5 Investor Visa. She has communicated with a network of contacts and potential investors around the world, with a focus on Russia and the CIS countries, as well as other Western European countries. In addition to English, Anna speaks fluent Russian.
Anna received her Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado. She has extensive experience in business, particularly in the securities industry related to the EB-5 Investor Visa. She has communicated with a network of contacts and potential investors around the world, with a focus on Russia and the CIS countries, as well as other Western European countries. In addition to English, Anna speaks fluent Russian.