Sowmya Rao is an Indian-American attorney who has dedicated her entire legal career to the practice of immigration and nationality law in the United States. Ms. Rao is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans School of Law and has been representing immigrants in private practice since her graduation. Ms. Rao has successfully represented a wide array of professionals, including individuals in the medical, business, architecture, construction, education, real estate, and engineering industries, as well as artists in the music, culinary, architecture and interior design, fashion, and performing arts industries. In addition, Ms. Rao has successfully represented clients in family petitions and waiver applications.
Prior to establishing The Law Office of Sowmya Rao, PLLC, Ms. Rao successfully represented clients before U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Immigration Court. In addition, Ms. Rao has volunteered her time to various organizations providing free legal services to some of New York City’s most vulnerable populations, including refugees, undocumented and detained immigrants, and abused women at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, NYC City Bar Justice Center’s NYC Know Your Rights Project at the Varick Street detention facility and The New York City Immigrant Advocacy Initiative, and DWA Fanm. Ms. Rao is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Ms. Rao has been an advocate of workers’ and immigrants’ rights for nearly a decade. At Loyola, Ms. Rao took an active role in the well-regarded Immigration Law Clinic Program, during which she was able to prevent the deportation of a long-term lawful permanent resident. She also participated in the New Orleans Students United for Worker Justice, Student Hurricane Network in New Orleans, Louisiana, and worked summers at the New Orleans Legal Assistance and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) in New York.