Immigration System Challenges And Reform: Tahmina Watson

Jul 3

In this conversation, Tahmina Watson discusses her journey from the UK to the US and her work as an immigration lawyer. She highlights the challenges in the immigration system and the need for reform. Tahmina emphasizes the importance of love and leadership in creating positive change. She also shares her experiences with volunteering and the impact it has had on her life. Tahmina offers advice to her younger self and discusses her future plans, including her passion for bird photography. She recommends books and podcasts that have influenced her.

Tahmina Watson is a nationally recognized expert in US immigration law. Her specialization in the visa needs of global entrepreneurs has resulted in hundreds of successful startups and millions of dollars of business investments in the US.

She founded ⁠Watson Immigration Law ⁠in Seattle in 2009, bringing to her practice a unique qualification for representing international entrepreneurs, of Bangladeshi heritage, Watson is a naturalized US citizen who emigrated from her native England, where she first practiced law as a barrister.

Watson is among the immigration attorneys that The New York Times has tapped for informed perspective on the state of immigration visas in the US. She is a sought-after industry expert, speaker, and media spokesperson who has appeared in numerous major outlets including Bloomberg, Forbes, NPR, and CNN. She is a member of the Forbes Business Council and is a columnist for Above the Law, which covers the legal profession for business readers. She has also been a speaker at the annual conferences of SXSW and SelectUSA, a Department of Commerce initiative for US business investments.

Watson has received honors from the Puget Sound Business Journal and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, for whom she has served as national spokesperson. She chairs the Response Committee of the Association’s Washington chapter. Watson served as the 2022-2023 president of the King County (WA) Bar Association.

Watson hosts a dedicated podcast on US immigration law for startups and founders seeking visas. This is her second book devoted to the topic. She is also the author of the bestselling Legal Heroes in the Era of Trump.

Her work in family immigration has succeeded in uniting many spouses, parents and children so that they can enjoy stable, cohesive family units.

Tahmina’s volunteer work has always been integral to her professional life. She points to the work she did as an undergraduate helping children with special needs as the spark that later led to offering her knowledge of the law to their parents, as they sought educational opportunities for their children. She led a human rights group in law school and has volunteered with numerous nonprofits since coming to the US.

Tahmina is a national spokesperson for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the chair of the Response Committee of the Washington Chapter of AILA. Among her honors, she is a recipient of the 2019 AILA President’s Commendation Award.

She is a trustee of the Board of King County Bar Association in Washington, a past president of King County Washington Women Lawyers, and a former board member of both the Asian Bar Association of Washington and Washington Women Lawyers. She is also a former member of the Mercer Island School District Superintendent’s Diversity Advisory Committee

Tahmina helped found the Washington Immigration Defense Network, which trains lawyers and facilitates legal representation in the immigration courtroom.