Breaking Barriers: Katya Stelmakh’s Journey from Belarus to Building a Global Immigration Firm
14th October 2025
Date
Interviewee
Katya Stelmakh
Credit for the image: https://thevertical.la/international-cleantech-meets-us-capital/
On a brisk Ohio morning, 19-year-old Katya Stelmakh walked across the campus of Ohio State University, trying to take it all in—the sprawling green lawns, the buzz of students hurrying to class, the cafeteria with its endless buffet. Just months earlier, she’d been a law student in Belarus, immersed in the rigid systems of a post-Soviet state. Now she was living a dream she hadn’t even known she had: studying in America as an undergrad exchange student sponsored by the U.S. government under the Freedom Support Act, speaking English every day, and seeing for herself what life could be like beyond the borders she grew up in.
“That year was absolutely transformative,” Katya recalls. “I started thinking in English very fast. I absorbed everything. At 19, you’re so curious, and suddenly the world just opens up.”
But as much as America inspired her, returning home was a shock. The program that brought her to the U.S.—a prestigious U.S. State Department exchange scholarship—required her to spend two years in her home country to “help build democracy.” When Katya went back to Belarus, she was struck by how far the country’s politics and economy were from the freedom she had experienced abroad. “I thought, ‘I don’t see myself politically or economically in this country.’ It was becoming more and more dictatorial. I started going to opposition meetings, arguing with professors. I felt like I didn’t belong anymore.”
That restless feeling—combined with her unshakable determination—would define the path Katya took next. Today, she is the founder of a thriving, tech-enabled business immigration law firm with a global team of 25. Her firm helps startup founders, tech professionals, and skilled immigrants navigate complex U.S. immigration systems. But getting here wasn’t easy. It’s a story of persistence, reinvention, and believing that starting over isn’t failure—it’s progress.
A Leap of Faith
Katya was born and raised in Belarus, where she excelled in history, political science, and languages. As a teenager, she dreamed of becoming a diplomat. “My parents told me, ‘Girls cannot be diplomats in Belarus. Study law—it’s more practical,’” she says with a laugh. So she enrolled in the international law program at Belarusian State University.
The exchange year in the U.S. lit a fire in her. When she returned home, she started preparing for the next step: law school in America. After grueling preparation and an overnight train ride to Moscow to take the law school admission test (LSAT), she won admission to prestigious LLM programs like NYU and the University of Michigan. But the reality of paying for them hit hard. “Tuition was $50,000 a year. My parents made $200 a month each. I had no idea how I could afford it.”
That’s when fate—and a bit of love—stepped in. A friend she met during her exchange year, a physics graduate student from Ukraine, helped sponsor her return. “He was so supportive, and eventually, we got married,” she says. “He really believed in me when I wasn’t sure how to move forward.”
Katya returned to the U.S. and earned her J.D. from the Ohio State University. She passed the Ohio bar and quickly landed a position at a boutique commercial litigation firm in Philadelphia. It was a whirlwind start. “My boss loved representing Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs,” she remembers. “We were litigating high-stakes commercial disputes in federal courts. I was the young associate preparing witnesses, writing motions, even traveling for arbitrations in London.”
Career Switch?
With her litigation career on pause, when her husband’s career took them to California, Katya began exploring business immigration law—something she had dabbled in while at her Philadelphia firm. She started helping tech founders and professionals with H-1B and O-1 visas, as well as L-1 transfers. “It started very informally,” she says. “I was 27, financially supported by my husband, but I enjoyed helping people who were going through the same challenges I faced as an immigrant.”
Her first clients were part of her own network—friends and fellow immigrants, particularly from Russia and Ukraine. Word spread, and referrals trickled in. “I’d tell people, ‘I can help you with your visa,’ and they’d tell someone else if I succeeded. It was all word of mouth.”
Still, her practice was far from a business. “When I picked up my own phone, people would ask, ‘Why are you answering?’” she laughs. “It was just me, no employees, no systems, no business strategy.”
Finding Her Business Mind
The turning point came after the birth of her third child, when Katya faced mounting pressure to either scale her practice or give it up. “My husband said, ‘This doesn’t make sense financially. You’re working all night, and we’re spending everything on nannies. Either get a corporate job in a big tech company in Seattle or make this into a real business.’”
That’s when Katya found mentorship in a Facebook group for immigration lawyer moms. One Seattle attorney, who had scaled her own practice into a multi-million-dollar business, taught Katya about client systems, automating and scaling operations. “She told me, ‘You have to truly become a CEO of your law firm, create processes, hire people, and treat this like a business.’ It was life-changing.”
Katya set a bold goal: $10,000 in revenue in one month. “I said, ‘I’m going to hit this number,’ and I did,” she recalls. “That’s when I hired my first paralegal, who worked out of my basement. It was a turning point—realizing that with help, I could grow.”
Scaling Up
From there, the growth was exponential. Katya began hiring domestically and globally—attorneys, paralegals, and support staff from the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. Her collaboration with LegalPad, a startup focused on O-1 and EB-1A visas for founders, accelerated her visibility and expertise. “They put me on strategy calls with startup founders, and my name was on their every petition as an Attorney of Record. That built my reputation.”
When LegalPad shifted its strategy, Katya hired some of their top talent, including attorneys who had been trained under her supervision. “That’s how we scaled. We became a truly global team.”
Today, Katya’s firm focuses on two main client groups: startup founders (often backed by accelerators or venture funding) and senior-level tech professionals, particularly from India, who want to avoid decades-long green card waits. “We’re not just filling out forms,” she emphasizes. “We build highly personal and customized narratives that show why they’re extraordinary and how they benefit the USA. That’s why we win.”
Technology Meets Immigration
A hallmark of Katya’s firm is its use of technology and AI to streamline operations. “We’ve partnered with AI platforms like Parley to draft petitions for EB-2 NIW and EB-1A visas,” she explains. “We customize the language and arguments, but AI helps us to summarize information and save time. It’s the future of legal services.”
Yet, technology hasn’t replaced the human touch. “Most of us on the team are immigrants,” Katya says. “We know how stressful this process is, so we go above and beyond to understand each client’s journey. We’ve helped people as young as 21 get extraordinary ability green cards by telling their story in a compelling way.”
Her firm operates virtually, with team members based in Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, Colombia, Spain, Taiwan, and beyond. This distributed model, which became essential during the pandemic, is now a strategic advantage. “We can find talent anywhere,” she says. “That’s been key to our growth.”
The Challenges of Scaling
Despite the success, Katya is candid about the challenges. “The biggest bottleneck is finding the right talent,” she says. “We require a certain quality in our legal arguments, and training new hires is tough. Some people become independent producers in two months, others need six months of handholding. It’s unpredictable.”
To address this, Katya invests in creating internal training programs and leveraging technology to speed up onboarding. She also works with business coaches and masterminds, spending over $140,000 a year on mentorship and process improvement. “It’s worth every penny,” she says. “I’m a big believer in self-improvement.”
With her husband now serving as COO, Katya is focused on scaling even further. “We’ve grown mostly through referrals and organic traffic,” she says. “But I know with the right SEO and digital marketing, we can 10x our impact.”
She’s also exploring partnerships with startup conferences and tech communities. “We sponsored the Emerge conference in Miami, which brought us clients from Latin America. Next year, we’re looking at San Francisco.”
Above all, Katya remains driven by the mission that started it all: helping immigrants achieve their dreams. “Every time I faced a setback, it pushed me to build something better,” she reflects. “That’s the immigrant story. It’s about resilience and refusing to give up.”
For Katya, entrepreneurship wasn’t a lifelong plan; it was a necessity born from challenge. But she believes anyone can learn to build something meaningful. “If I can start with nothing—no money, no network, just persistence—then others can too,” she says. “The key is to keep going, even when it’s hard.”
Looking back, she says her journey from Belarus to the U.S., from solo attorney to business owner, is proof of one simple truth: “Your story matters. You just have to be brave enough to write it.”
This article is part of LegalBridge's ongoing series featuring immigration law practitioners who bring unique perspectives to the field. Follow us for more insights from legal professionals shaping the future of immigration law.
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This article is part of LegalBridge's ongoing series featuring thought leaders in immigration law. Stay tuned for more insights from industry experts.
Connnect with Katya Stelmakh
