Kanya Sanders is an Associate in the Immigration and Nationality Practice Group of Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A.  For over eleven years she has represented clients from all over the U.S. and overseas on matters relating to U.S. Immigration Law.  She has assisted a broad range of businesses from small start up enterprises to large multinational corporations, educational institutions, hospitals and non-profit entities including religious institutions in the temporary employment of foreign personnel as well as in permanent residence sponsorship.  She has provided advice and guidance to employers on developing and implementing procedures and policies to ensure adherence to governmental regulations and avoid agency sanctions and guided employers in transitioning foreign personnel during corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions.

Ms. Sanders has assisted individuals with a variety of nonimmigrant visas such as temporary workers, persons of extraordinary ability, multinational executives, specialized knowledge individuals and religious workers and has obtained waivers and temporary work visas for J-1 physicians seeking to work in underserved areas.  She has obtained permanent resident visas for individuals whose work benefited the national interest of the U.S., for those who were considered outstanding researchers/professors and for multinational executives.  She has represented individuals seeking visas based on family relationships as well as those who were battered spouses of U.S. citizens.  Her practice has also included representing individuals seeking asylum in the U.S. and facing deportation from the U.S.  Ms. Sanders has represented clients before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services/Immigration & Naturalization Service, U.S. Immigration Court, Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Ms. Sanders received her B.A. in English with a minor in International Relations from East Carolina University, her J.D. from The American University's Washington College of Law and her Master's in Law and International Affairs from The American University.  Following graduation from law school, Ms. Sanders worked in Sri Lanka on human rights issues, participated in the country's constitution reform efforts and assisted with drafting sections of the human rights and language rights sections of the Sri Lankan constitution.She has also written and published several articles on human rights, minority rights, refugees, internally displaced and humanitarian law issues in internal armed conflicts.