Catherine Renshaw

Catherine Renshaw helps employers navigate immigration matters in which timing, compliance, and the strength of the record can have significant business consequences. Based in Boise, she advises businesses on employment-based visa petitions and immigration-related employment matters, including I-9 compliance, and represents clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration court, and the federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Catherine begins by identifying the client’s underlying business objective—whether an employer needs to recruit or retain an employee, address a compliance concern, respond to government scrutiny, or preserve its options in a contested matter. She then develops a practical strategy, explains the available options and risks in clear terms, and identifies the documentation and next steps needed to move the matter forward. Her approach emphasizes responsiveness, realistic expectations, and solutions that account for both legal requirements and operational impact.

FOR EMPLOYERS AND CORPORATE CLIENTS

Catherine advises businesses on immigration-related employment matters, from employment-based visa petitions to I-9 compliance. She helps employers understand how immigration requirements affect hiring, onboarding, continued employment, and compliance obligations. Her guidance is designed to give business leaders and human resources professionals clear action items, reduce avoidable disruption, and keep immigration strategy aligned with the organization’s broader business needs.

Catherine also writes regularly about developments affecting employers and foreign-national employees, including H-1B policy, USCIS site visits, immigration onboarding, adjustment of status, and changes in federal immigration policy. Her work reflects a sustained focus on helping employers anticipate rapidly changing requirements and prepare their teams before an issue becomes urgent.

A LITIGATION-INFORMED, PRACTICAL APPROACH

Before joining Fennemore, Catherine practiced exclusively in immigration law. She previously clerked for Idaho Supreme Court Justice John R. Stegner, where she prepared case analyses, drafted court decisions, and conducted extensive legal research. She also gained advocacy experience through the University of Idaho Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic.

That background informs how Catherine identifies dispositive issues, evaluates evidence, develops the record, and prepares matters for potential agency scrutiny or appellate review. Not every matter requires litigation, but her experience helps her recognize when the factual record, procedural posture, or preservation of an issue may affect the client’s options later. She has represented a detained asylum seeker through the Ninth Circuit Pro Bono Program.

Catherine is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Idaho College of Law, where she teaches legal reasoning and bar preparation strategies. Her teaching experience reinforces a central feature of her practice: translating complex legal standards into clear, usable guidance.

Catherine is admitted to practice in Idaho and Washington, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

• J.D., University of Idaho College of Law, cum laude
  • CALI Awards: Immigration Law & Policy, Immigration Clinic
  • Best Student Brief, Idaho Trial Lawyers Association
  • Best Oral Advocate, Civ. Pro. Subject Matter Jurisdiction Smackdown
• B.A. French, B.A. International Studies, B.S. Political Science, University of Idaho

• Represented businesses in employment-based visa petition matters before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• Advised businesses on I-9 compliance issues, related fine assessment litigation, and other immigration-related employment matters.
• Represented clients in matters involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration court, and the federal courts.
• Represented a detained asylum seeker, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Pro Bono Program

• Co-Author, “Public Charge Is Changing Again: The New Bond Pilot and the September 18th Rule,” Fennemore Blog, August 7, 2026
• Co-Author, “DHS Finalizes End of “Duration of Status” for F, J, and I Visa Categories,” Fennemore Blog, July 24, 2026
• Co-Author, “The New Reality of Consular Visa Processing: More Data, More Screening, and the Need for Better Preparation,” Fennemore Blog, July 10, 2026
• Co-Author, “Proposed EB-5 Changes: What Investors and Regional Centers Should Know Now,” Fennemore Blog, July 9, 2026
• Co-Author, “Supreme Court Immigration Update: Border Asylum Access, TPS for Haiti and Syria, and Employer Next Steps,” Fennemore Blog, July 2, 2026
• Co-Author, “What should HR do when immigration enforcement knocks on the door?,” AZ Big Media, July 1, 2026
• Co-Author, “DHS Clarifies Green Card Processing: Adjustment of Status Remains Available, but Discretion Matters,” Fennemore Blog, June 30, 2026
• Co-Author, “Immigration Site Visits: What Your Team Needs to Know,” Greater Phoenix inBusiness Magazine, June 12, 2026
• Co-Author, “U.S. Site Visits and Employer Compliance Readiness: What to Tighten Now,” Fennemore Blog, June 9, 2026
• Co-Author, “Site Visit Readiness Checklist: What HR, Managers, and Front Desk Should Do,” Fennemore Blog, June 9, 2026
• Co-Author, “Immigration Onboarding Checklist for HR: The First 10 Minutes with a New Foreign National Hire,” Fennemore Blog, June 9, 2026
• Co-Author, “From Access to Advancement: Mentorship and Sponsorship for Women Lawyers in Idaho by Lindsey A. Morgan, Kathleen M. Carr, Alycia Moss, Catherine Renshaw, and Katie Sheftic,” Idaho State Bar Magazine, June 8, 2026
• Co-Author, “Client Alert: Federal Court Vacates $100K H-1B Payment Requirement,” Fennemore Blog, June 8, 2026
• Co-Author, ““Show Me Your Papers” — Do You Have to Carry Immigration Documents?,” Fennemore Blog, May 27, 2026
• Co-Author, “New Rules for H1-B Visas – Employers Take Note,” Greater Phoenix InBusiness Magazine, March 2026
• Co-Author, “Fiscal Year 2027 H-1B Cap Lottery: What Employers Should Know (Quick Guide),” Fennemore Blog, February 26, 2026
• Co-Author, “Mukherji v. Miller Raises New Questions About the Kazarian-Based EB-1A “Final Merits” Step,” Fennemore Blog, February 10, 2026
• Co-Author, “What Canadian Citizens Should Know Before Traveling to the United States,” Fennemore Blog, January 30, 2026
• Co-Author, “How hiring skilled foreign talent just got more complicated for employers,” AZ Big Media, January 19, 2026
• Co-Author, “Hiring Skilled Foreign Talent Just Got More Complicated for Arizona Employers,” Greater Phoenix Chamber, January 16, 2026
• Co-Author, “H-1B Cap Lottery Update: Higher Wages Get More “Entries” Starting FY 2027,” Fennemore Blog, January 13, 2026
• Co-Author, “Business Immigration in 2025–2026: Key Takeaways for Employers,” Fennemore Blog, December 9, 2025
• Author, “Immigration Issues for Employers in 2025 and Beyond,” Firm Newsletter, February 2025
• Author, Reviving the Alien Tort Statute: A Roadmap to Recovery for Asylum Seekers Suffering the Harm of Refoulement, 60 Idaho L. Rev. 207, (2024)

• Adjunct Instructor – Strategies for Legal Reasoning, University of Idaho College of Law, 2023-Present
• Pro Bono Attorney, Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program, 2022-Present
• Member, Idaho State Bar – Young Lawyers Section, 2022-Present

• Idaho Supreme Court
• U.S. District Court, District of Idaho
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• Washington Supreme Court