Teodora Dentcheva Purcell
Immigration Attorney
An immigrant myself, I have a passion to help people and advise on corporate immigration and compliance. I help companies with work permits and permanent residence to the US for their talented employees. I will guide you through your immigration journey and connect you to other professionals, as needed. I represent companies in a broad array of industries with focus on the science, biotechnology, IT and engineering sectors. I advocate for the rights and opportunities of people of diverse backgrounds. I counsel corporate and individual clients on immigration compliance and devise strategies for bringing and retaining foreign talent to the U.S. Having attorney licenses from both Europe and the USA, I also assist individuals in complex family immigration and citizenship matters.
I obtained my LLM in Comparative Law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and my JD and LLM degrees from the Sofia University in Bulgaria. I am dedicated to pro bono work and am a recipient of the KPBS Local Hero Award (2016), the Casa Cornelia Distinguished Lawyer of the Year “La Mancha” 2015 Award, the Wiley Manuel Pro Bono Award of the State Bar of California (2002, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). I have served the legal community as a member of committees or Boards of various organizations and have been active in several SDCBA, Lawyers Club San Diego, AILA and BIOCOM committees. In recognition of my in depth immigration knowledge and the impact of my work, I am recipient of many professional accolades, among which Top 25 Women San Diego Super Lawyers (2020, 2019), Super Lawyers List, Immigration Law (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016).
I am a faculty member of the UCSD ABA approved paralegal program where I teach an Immigration Law class
- Immigration Law
- California
- State Bar of California
- ID Number: 220058
- Special Counsel
- Duane Morris Llp
- - Current
- Business and family based immigrant
- Senior Attorney
- Tafapolsky Smith Mehlman LLP
- -
- Business and family based immigration
- Senior Associate Attorney
- Fragomen Worldwide
- -
- Immigration law
- Foreign School
- Undergraduate Degree
- University of San Diego School of Law
- Law Degree / LLM in Comparative Law
- California State Bar  # 220058
- Member
- - Current