Sylvia G. Cano Fortes has practiced U.S. Immigration Law since 2013.

Prior to co-founding CANO FORTES IMMIGRATION LAW, she served as a Managing Partner and Associate Attorney at private immigration law firms. Her early practice focused on employment-based immigration, including work visas, investor visas, and student visas.

As her practice evolved, she expanded into humanitarian visas, with a particular focus on U-Visa and VAWA petitions. In recent years, her work has concentrated on family-based petitions, including marriage-based green cards, removal of conditions applications, waivers, and consular processing. Additionally, she provides comprehensive support for citizenship and naturalization applications, guiding clients through the process and helping them prepare for their interviews.

Ms. Cano Fortes’ passion for helping immigrants stems from her own experience. She was born in Lima, Peru and moved to the United States with her family when she was 11 years old. As an immigrant, Ms. Cano Fortes experienced the difficulties of moving to a new country as well as the struggle to become a U.S. Citizen. It would take her 10 years after moving to the U.S. to finally obtain her green card. Her personal experience with the immigration process in the U.S. inspired her desire to become an immigration attorney.

Ms. Cano Fortes graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida Atlantic University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, along with minors in Philosophy and Spanish for Native Speakers. She went on to earn her Juris Doctor degree from the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University in 2013. In 2024, she completed her Master’s in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Ms. Cano Fortes was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2013. Her practice is limited to Federal Immigration & Nationality Law in the United States.

During law school, Ms. Cano Fortes was awarded the Florida Bar Foundation Fellowship to help low income immigrants obtain immigration relief through VAWA Self Petitions and U-Visas at LegalAid Service of Broward County. She was awarded the fellowship a second time to conduct mediation for juvenile offenders in restitution cases. She also co-founded the Immigration Law Organization at NSU Law wherein she helped organize volunteer programs such as the Citizenship Day Clinic and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Clinic.