Strategic immigration counsel with deep public and private sector experience

Rukayya Gitau advises employers on the full spectrum of immigrant and nonimmigrant issues. Having worked several years for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State, she has extensive experience handling matters related to visa and consular processing, employment-based and family-based immigration, and naturalization.

Before joining Quarles, Rukayya served as an attorney adviser to the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the Department of State, where she worked on cross-cutting immigration policies and advised senior leadership in the Visa Office and at the National Security Council on high-level legal and policy matters, under two administrations. She also worked directly with consular sections worldwide and partnered with other federal agencies on a wide range of immigration issues.

Prior to her role at the Department of State, Rukayya served as an immigration officer with USCIS's Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, where she gained valuable experience in immigration enforcement and compliance. She also worked as a USCIS asylum officer, adjudicating asylum claims.

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Maryland

Education

• American University Washington College of Law (J.D., 2010)
  • American University International Law Review, articles editor
  • The Human Rights Brief, junior staff writer
  • International Human Rights Law Clinic, student attorney
  • Black Law Students Association

• Duke University (B.A., 2006)

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