Sharifa Abbasi is the founder and principal attorney of the Abbasi Law Firm. Her practice is centered around family-based immigration, removal defense, U visas, complex citizenship matters, and business immigration. She regularly appears before USCIS and immigration courts throughout the United States. She holds a law degree from the University of Baltimore, where she represented numerous clients in removal proceedings, while working with the Immigrant Rights Clinic. She is licensed in both the states of Virginia and Maryland.

     Prior to opening her own law firm Ms. Abbasi worked as an associate attorney for over 8 years  with the HMA law firm in Virginia. In her role as an associate attorney, she advised clients on issues involving immigration related adjudications, inadmissibility and deportability grounds, asylum applications, adjustment of status, family-based issues, family law, and citizenship matters. Ms. Abbasi also previously served as the Legal and Congressional Counselor with the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC. In this role, she frequently represented the Embassy’s legal interests before the U.S. Department of State, and managed all legal matters including detainee removal, contractual obligations, and bi-lateral agreements between Afghanistan and the U.S.

     As a first-generation immigrant herself, Ms. Abbasi has been a tireless advocate for immigrants and refugees. In addition to managing her law firm, Ms. Abbasi has dedicated numerous hours assisting and advocating for the newly arrived Afghan refugees on a pro bono basis. She has held numerous legal orientations and assisted in legal clinics where she has provided legal assistance to the Afghan refugees.  She has appeared as the subject matter expert on a multitude of media outlets, including Al-Jazeera and Voice of America. She also appeared weekly on a Dari language channel called “Kabul Tv” where she explained and expanded on important U.S. immigration processes for a worldwide Afghan audience. She continues to share her knowledge and expertise as a guest on several podcasts and social media channels.

     Ms. Abbasi is fluent in English and Dari (Farsi/Persian), and is conversational in Urdu and Spanish. She is also licensed to officiate marriages in the Commonwealth of Virginia.