Stephanie Lewin, Partner at Waypoint Immigration: A Three-Decade Journey from Government Officer to Immigration Champion
1st November 2025
Date
Interviewee
Stephanie Lewin
From Journalism Dreams to Immigration Reality: The Making of an Immigration Expert
Stephanie Lewin never planned to become an immigration attorney. In 1995, fresh out of Purdue University with a journalism degree, she had her sights set on making an impact through storytelling. She had even met Brian Lamb, the founder of C-SPAN, whose archives were housed at her university. The path seemed clear: use journalism to change the world.
Then she took a course on First Amendment law, and everything changed.
"I thought, oh, maybe I'll do it through law," Lewin recalls. But she wasn't ready to jump straight into law school. Instead, her father, a longtime federal government employee, suggested an unconventional entry point: becoming a district adjudication officer with what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The role required someone with an outstanding academic record and an interest in law, both of which Lewin had in abundance.
She got the job, and with it, a front-row seat to American immigration that few attorneys ever experience.
The Government Years: Building a Foundation from the Inside
During the Clinton administration's Citizenship USA initiative, Lewin found herself interviewing multiple people each day to determine their eligibility for U.S. citizenship. She administered citizenship tests, adjudicated employment-based and family-based petitions, and even worked overtime at O’Hare International Airport, one of world’s largest and busiest airports. What made her experience truly unique was the enforcement perspective embedded in the role.
"When I was at the INS, it was partially an enforcement role," Lewin explains. Her colleagues carried badges and received training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), including firearms training. This holistic view of immigration benefits and enforcement would prove invaluable throughout her career.
The experience solidified her passion for immigration law. She went to law school and began practicing in 2002. Nearly 30 years later, that early foundation at the INS remains a cornerstone of her expertise. "I was very lucky to do what I did when I did it because of the holistic perspective I got within the U.S. Immigration Service," she reflects.
A London Chapter: Becoming the Immigrant
Lewin's career took an international turn when she discovered an advertisement in a London newspaper seeking U.S. lawyers. More intriguingly, the UK had launched the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, designed for professionals like herself who held advanced degrees and commanded high salaries.
"What was neat about it is you could apply for this program on your own," Lewin notes, drawing a parallel to what she wishes existed in the United States. She had to provide recommendation letters from employers, demonstrate her earning capacity, and prove that her work would benefit Britain. The program granted her a visa that she owned outright, allowing her to work for anyone.
"Wouldn't it be great if the US had a system like that?" she muses.
During her seven years in London, Lewin didn't just practice U.S. immigration law from abroad. She became an immigrant herself, eventually obtaining indefinite leave to remain (the UK's version of permanent residence) and British citizenship. She pledged allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II, becoming a dual national with a deep, personal understanding of the immigrant experience.
Her work expanded beyond U.S. immigration to encompass global mobility, helping corporations navigate immigration systems in Singapore, Brazil, Canada, and beyond. She processed consular applications in London and Paris, worked with Britain's Got Talent winners heading to the U.S. on tour, and assisted bands, corporations, and sports figures with their visa needs.
The Corporate Years and a Crossroads at Ford
When a law firm approached Lewin about expanding their global practice in San Francisco, she repatriated to the United States. Her career trajectory eventually led her to Fortune 500 companies, first at Herman Miller (now MillerKnoll) and then at Ford Motor Company as immigration counsel.
At Ford, a Fortune 20 company, Lewin worked alongside the government affairs department on a truly global scale. The role married all her international experience with complex corporate immigration challenges. It was, by all accounts, an excellent opportunity.
Until it wasn't.
"One of the duties of my role was to review layoffs," Lewin says, her voice carrying the weight of that realization. In a climate where both U.S. nationals and foreign nationals were being impacted by widespread corporate restructuring, Lewin found herself at a moral crossroads.
"I had spent my entire career getting benefits for people, and now I was in the position to take benefits away."
The soul-searching that followed led to a clear conclusion: this wasn't the work she wanted to do. She understood that corporations had to make difficult decisions, but being the person executing those decisions conflicted with her fundamental purpose in immigration law.
A Philosophy Rooted in Service
Throughout her career, Lewin has been guided by a philosophy instilled by her parents: "You can do anything you want to do, and anything is possible." They exposed her and her younger sister to the world, creating the stability and launching pad that allowed her to take risks and pursue opportunities across continents.
"I'm sort of a natural lawyer," she says with a laugh. "I'm like, okay, this sounds really interesting. How can I make that happen?"
That optimistic realism has led her through diverse experiences in immigration, from government enforcement to corporate counsel to individual representation. She jokes that she's "the original millennial" with her varied resume, but the thread connecting it all is clear: a deep expertise in immigration law and an unwavering commitment to helping people.
Now in her early 50s, Lewin sees Waypoint as exactly where she needs to be. "This is what I foresee being my life," she says. "I'm very passionate about engaging with the people who are immigrating. I'm very passionate about immigration. I'm very passionate about the U.S."
Her message to clients is unequivocal: "It's the people who immigrate, not the corporations. I want to be helping people. It is 100% being able to give back. I think America is one of the greatest countries in the world. What better than to help people want to come to this wonderful country legally?"
Navigating the Future: AI and Immigration Reform
As someone who has witnessed immigration systems evolve across multiple countries and decades, Lewin has strong opinions about where U.S. immigration needs to go. She notes that countries like Singapore had fully online immigration systems more than a decade ago, while the U.S. still relies heavily on paper documentation.
On artificial intelligence, Lewin sees tremendous opportunity, particularly in reducing the administrative burden that keeps attorneys from focusing on clients. Form filling, document collection, and data population are areas where AI can make immigration practice more efficient. However, she's cautious about AI scraping unreliable sources like Reddit for legal information.
"There's good uses of AI if it's based on facts and it's based on USCIS and Department of Labor regulations," she says, emphasizing that the technology should enhance, not replace, attorney judgment.
A Message of Hope in Uncertain Times
Despite the current political climate and ongoing policy debates, Lewin offers a message of cautious optimism. She acknowledges the challenges but pushes back against despair.
"I know that we've seen challenges," she says. "But I would say that based on my experience, this administration and the President, he is a businessman and he understands that there is ultimately need for immigration, particularly legal immigration."
She points to the continued approval of cases, the ongoing travel of foreign nationals to the U.S., and proposed programs like the gold card as evidence that highly skilled immigration will remain a priority. "Be very careful not to get into a bubble," she advises. "Immigration is not going to stop, and if anything, there's going to be great opportunities for very highly skilled individuals here in the U.S."
For Lewin, who has lived the immigrant experience herself and devoted three decades to helping others achieve their American dreams, this isn't blind optimism. It's the perspective of someone who has seen immigration systems weather political storms and emerge on the other side, who understands that America's economic competitiveness depends on attracting global talent, and who knows firsthand that the desire to build a life in the United States transcends any single administration.
"The U.S. is built on immigrants at the end of the day," she concludes. "The last thing the US wants is a brain drain for people to go other places."
About Stephanie Lewin
Stephanie Lewin is a Partner at Waypoint Immigration, where she focuses on representing individuals in employment-based immigration matters, career planning, and complex visa cases. With nearly 30 years in the immigration field and experience spanning government service, corporate counsel, and private practice across multiple countries, she brings a unique, holistic perspective to immigration law. She holds both U.S. and British citizenship and is licensed to practice federal immigration law.
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