About Sylvia
Sylvia Ontaneda-Bernales is an immigration attorney based in Reno, Nevada — She is licensed to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia. She has also been admitted to the United States Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
She earned her Juris Doctorate from The George Washington University Law School in 2002. Prior to that, she obtained a Master of Arts in Journalism in 1997 and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Social Psychology in 1993, both from the University of Nevada-Reno. In 2010, she founded the Law Office of Sylvia Ontaneda-Bernales in Baltimore, Maryland.
A few years later, she expanded her practice by opening Ontaneda-Bernales LLC (American Immigration & Mediation Services) in Reno, Nevada, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her immigration practice includes relative petitions, fiancé visas, naturalizations, green card applications, business and investor visas, and DACA, among other immigration-related services. She has also worked as a mediator for the District Court of Maryland's Alternative Dispute Resolution Program.
She is a member of various professional organizations, including the Maryland State Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, where she served as president from 2009 to 2010. In 2008, she was named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women by The Daily Record, recognizing her professional accomplishments, community service, leadership, and mentoring.
