Why I practiced immigration law.

I am a first-generation immigrant to the United States and have experienced firsthand what my clients are going though as new arrivals to this country. I was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to a Lebanese father and a British mother. My father was with the Lebanese Foreign Service and my family moved to a new country every 3-4 years, so I grew up living in different countries, including Lebanon, Brazil, the U.S., Australia, India and Pakistan.

When I was 17, I returned to the U.S. as an F-1 student to attend the University of Michigan as an undergrad. Upon graduating, I returned to New Delhi, India, which was my family’s home base at that time. I spent the next six months backpacking through India and Nepal. About 90% of my clients are from India and I have actually been to many of their home towns.

After working as a Technical Writer in the U.S. for five years, I decided to go to law school. I enrolled in the evening program at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. I attended law school at night for 4 years while continuing to work as a Technical Writer by day. At that time, there was only one 2-credit course on immigration law that was offered at WSU. I took that class and quickly realized that I wanted to practice immigration law. Upon graduating from WSU Law School and being admitted to the Bar, I began working for a large law firm that specialized in immigration law. In fact, it was the firm where my Immigration Law Professor was a partner and we worked together there for several years.

In 2010, I left to start my own law office. In 2025, I decided to take a step back from the day-to-day practice of law, and two senior attorneys in my office formed their own firm, Graham & Ketkar, PLLC, to continue serving the immigration needs of our clients. I now serve in an advisory capacity to that firm.