Attorney Jessica Oliva-Calderin poses for a portrait at the offices of Calderin & Oliva P.A. on Thursday, March 14, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Oliva-Calderin is an immigration attorney and president of the International Business Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.As foreign investment, immigration and international trade has grown in Chattanooga, immigration attorney Jessica Oliva-Calderin and her husband Carlos, also an attorney, were drawn to the region from Miami.
They first opened an office in Dalton, Georgia, in 2005, but a decade later they decided to relocate to Chattanooga where they now live and practice law.
"Chattanooga is becoming more of an international city and we saw a real opportunity here," Oliva-Calderin says of the decision to locate here.
From the couple's office in the Republic Centre office tower, the law firm of Calderin & Oliva P.A. focuses on visas, immigration, business, nationality law and issues before the immigration court.
That international accent of Chattanooga first led Carlos Calderin and then his wife into leadership roles with the International Business Council of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, an 8-year-old council that works to promote and aid international businesses in Chattanooga. Oliva-Calderin is president of the IBC this year.
"I feel like there is an openness you find in other Southern cities, but there is an energy and vibe that seems to be what is driving international companies as well," she says.
In her work representing many foreign nationals coming to Chattanooga to work on the dozens of foreign-owned companies with operations in the Chattanooga and Dalton areas, Oliva-Calderin is interested in helping promote more international diversity in the region.
"At the International Business Council there is a group of us who are very much committed to fostering those initiatives and helping Chattanooga's international presence continue to grow," she says. "As the Gig City, we are being looked at around the world."
A native of Peru, Oliva-Calderin moved to the United States at age 3 and grew up in south Florida where she studied at the University of Miami and worked briefly as an investment banker for Bank of America before deciding to go to law school at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. After getting her law degree, she initially practiced with Catholic Charities and another law firm helping immigrants and others with legal problems in Florida. In one case, the family of one client mistakenly hired two attorneys, which is how Jessica Oliva met her husband, Carlos, in a detention center.
Oliva-Calderin started her law firm in 2003 and later added her husband to the firm. He also was from Miami, the son of Cuban emigrants.
Jessica has handled numerous appeals before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and the Board of Immigration Appeals. These appeals involve a range of different subject matters, including asylum appeals, removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act, visa fraud, and naturalization defense.