Manifest Law vs. Alma: How They Compare for Startups

All data sourced from each firm’s publicly available website, as of June 2, 2026. “Not published” means the firm does not publicly disclose this information.

Choosing an immigration partner is one of the more consequential infrastructure decisions a startup makes. This page compares selected aspects of Manifest Law and Alma across service model, pricing approach, visa coverage, technology, and startup fit, so founders and people teams can make an informed decision.  Note that this is not a comprehensive review of all factors affecting which kind of law firm is appropriate for a given case. 

Manifest Law is a technology-enabled immigration law firm focused on employment-based immigration for U.S. employers. Alma is a technology platform that facilitates immigration legal services through its affiliated law firm, Alma Legal Services, P.C. 

What Manifest Law is

Founded in 2024, Manifest Law is a technology-enabled immigration law firm focused on employment-based corporate immigration for U.S. employers, with additional practice in individual employment-based and family-based visas. Manifest currently supports 150+ corporate immigration programs and 3,000 total clients, including startups like Whop and Mach9.

Manifest provides per-case flat-fee pricing with no retainer or hourly billing, a proprietary client portal built in-house by Manifest’s own engineering team, a minimum two-attorney review on every petition before filing, and SOC 2 Type II compliance. Strategy calls and candidate evaluations between filings are not separately billed.

Manifest employs and is advised by several experienced government officials, including former USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez and former USCIS Associate Director of Field Operations Michael Valverde, who spent 28 years at USCIS and oversaw more than 7,500 employees. Manifest also employs senior attorneys to support its business immigration practice, including former USCIS Administrative Appeals Office officer Evan J. Law and Head of Legal Operations, Haesung Kim, a former Partner at BAL with more than 20 years of business immigration experience. Manifest maintains a highly selective hiring process, accepting fewer than 1% of attorney applicants, and its attorneys average more than 11 years of immigration experience. Learn more about Manifest’s business immigration services.

What Alma is

Alma describes itself as “immigration legal services, reimagined.” Alma’s public statements note its transparent flat-rate pricing, a 2-week turnaround guarantee, guided document workflows, and a compliance dashboard.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Staffing and attorney involvement

Manifest Law: Every corporate immigration case is handled by a named Manifest attorney who is the attorney of record. All petitions receive a minimum two-attorney review before filing. Manifest attorneys average 11+ years of immigration experience, selected from fewer than 1% of applicants. Ongoing strategy support , including candidate evaluations and recruiter guidance, is included between filings at no additional cost.

Alma: Alma facilitates legal services through its affiliated law firm, Alma Legal Services, P.C. Growth and Enterprise clients receive bi-weekly status calls with a lead attorney and immigration manager.

Pricing philosophy and predictability

Manifest Law’s pricing approach

Manifest charges per-case flat fees with no hourly billing, no retainer, and no subscription. Consultations, strategy calls, candidate evaluations, and compliance audits are not separately billed. Corporate pricing is provided through custom rate sheets and is dependent on volume of cases.

Alma’s pricing approach

Alma publishes per-case fees on its website. A 50/50 payment plan is available. Volume discounts and custom pricing are available for larger programs. Special pricing is available for founders at partner VCs and accelerators, including Y Combinator. 

Core startup visas

Manifest Law handles the full startup visa mix:

• H-1B cap-subject lottery registration, cap-subject filing, transfers, extensions, amendments, and RFE responses
• O-1 for AI/ML engineers, technical founders, and key hires
• TN for Canadian and Mexican hires
• L-1 and E-3
• PERM and EB-1/EB-2 NIW

Alma covers a broadly similar range, including H-1B (cap and cap-exempt), O-1A, L-1, TN, E-3, EB-1A/B/C, EB-2 NIW, PERM-based I-140, and adjustment of status. Alma also handles some non-employer-sponsored categories including STEM OPT EAD, TPS, and DACA EAD renewals.

Platform, integrations, and visibility

Manifest’s platform for employers

Rather than licensing a third-party tool or retrofitting legacy software like traditional immigration law firms, Manifest Law is powered by Manifest OS,  a venture-backed technology company built from the ground up specifically for immigration. Manifest OS has raised $60 million from Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital, and Quiet Capital—the largest venture capital investment in the history of the immigration industry — to build the infrastructure that makes a genuinely modern client experience possible.

In practice, that means HR teams and employees get real-time, task-level visibility into every stage of the process: document collection, milestone tracking, deadline alerts, and case status, all in one place. The result is a straightforward experience, whether HR teams are managing immigration for the first time or running a mature program, from initiating a case and uploading documents all the way through to filing.

Manifest maintains live HRIS integrations with Rippling, Workday, Gusto, Deel, Greenhouse, Ashby, and Lever (Justworks coming soon). The platform is SOC 2 certified. And because Manifest continuously tracks USCIS adjudication trends (approval rates, RFE patterns, denial data) your attorney is always working from current intelligence, not last year’s playbook.

Alma’s platform

Alma’s platform provides real-time dashboards covering case status, approval rates, and immigration spend. Alma lists integrations with Workday, ADP, UKG, Gusto, BambooHR, and Rippling, among others.

Alma describes its compliance dashboard as including proactive alerts, built-in trackers, and audit-ready records. Alma is SOC 2 Type I compliant. 

Compliance, risk, and governance

Manifest’s compliance approach

• SOC 2 Type II compliant
• Free I-9 advisory for corporate clients and immigration programs Manifest manages
• Ex-USCIS officer review on select plans
• No separate charge for compliance audits or consultations

Alma’s compliance approach

• Compliance tracking dashboard with proactive alerts, built-in deadline trackers, and audit-ready records
• Formal legal compliance advice provided through Alma Legal Services, P.C.

Here are some questions startups may wish to ask before hiring an immigration law firm

• Is the provider a licensed law firm, or does it connect clients to an independent attorney network? What does that mean for liability and attorney-client privilege?
• What is included in the quoted fee, and what triggers additional charges, and what happens on a denial or RFE?
• What does the provider’s timeline usually look like from engagement to filing for common startup matters?
• How does the provider handle founder O-1s, key-hire O-1s, or non-traditional H-1B profiles?
• What compliance support is included, and does it cover I-9 advisory, audit response, and policy guidance?
• What reporting, integrations, and stakeholder visibility are available for HR, recruiting, and leadership?
• Is the technology platform built in-house or licensed? Does the firm own the product roadmap?

Build a Smarter Immigration Program With Manifest

For high-growth startups and scaling employers whose answers point toward predictable pricing, real-time case visibility, accountability-driven engagement, and modern technology, Manifest is a great option.

Immigration is a core component of how companies hire, retain, and move talent in a market where adjudication is slower, scrutiny is higher, and a single delayed case can cost a critical hire. The firm you choose will shape that experience for every employee whose case it touches.

Manifest combines immigration attorneys averaging more than 11 years in practice, a leadership bench that includes former USCIS officials and a former BAL Partner, a minimum two-attorney review on every petition, SOC 2 Type II-compliant technology built in-house, per-case flat-fee pricing, and a Visa Approved or Money Back guarantee on eligible plans. The result is an immigration partner designed for how companies actually want to operate in 2026.

Attorney Advertising — Please Read

This page is comparative attorney advertising published by Manifest Legal Services LLC, an Arizona Alternative Business Structure authorized by the Supreme Court of Arizona. 

This material is general information only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Quoted flat fees are for legal services only and do not include government filing fees or other third-party costs.

Information about other providers, including Alma, is taken from publicly available sources as of June 2, 2026 and may be incomplete or out of date; we make no representation as to its current accuracy. Manifest is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any other provider named here.

Manifest’s named advisors, including any former government officials, provide strategic and policy guidance only. They do not participate in, and cannot influence, any government agency’s adjudication of a client’s matter.