Ayesha has spent the last decade of her practice honing her sought-after expertise in the intersection of immigration and criminal law and has established herself as a well-respected immigration and refugee lawyer and member of the Bar.

After founding Kumararatne Law in 2014 , Ayesha quickly established herself as the go-to person for immigration opinions for individuals charged with criminal offences. She regularly provides advice on a wide range of issues including immigration consequences for criminally-accused persons, making refugee claims in Canada and every day permanent residence applications. Ayesha also represents individuals facing prosecution under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (“IRPA”) or the Customs Act.

Ayesha is passionate about defending the status and rights of vulnerable persons and long-term residents of Canada. She is particularly vigorous in defending persons in detention on immigration holds, refugee claimants, and persons suffering from mental health issues who are at risk of losing their status or being removed from Canada.

Ayesha strongly believes in advocacy that goes beyond her individual cases. As a result, outside of work, Ayesha is a regular speaker at various law conferences. She also frequently speaks at the University of Ottawa’s law school on issues ranging from access to justice to mentorship of young lawyers and law students. Kumararatne Law also offers a practical course to law students on Immigration Law practice at the University of Ottawa’s Common Law program.

Speaking engagements:

• DCAO Annual Criminal Law Conference, Immigration Primer for Criminal Defence Lawyers (2015)

• Criminal Lawyers Association Annual Women in Criminal Law Conference, Running your own practice (2017)

• Testified before the Senate of Canada on Bill C-45 (Cannabis bill) and provided comments on Bill C-46 on the impact of these bills on permanent residents and foreign nationals (2018)

• Presenter and panelist at the Ottawa Immigration Law Conference: Ethics panel (2018), Criminality - New Laws, New Strategies (2019), Immigration and Refugee Law Practice During COVID-19 (2020)

• Panelist at the Law Society of Ontario’s "Annual Immigration Law Summit” on the topic of the Intersection of Criminal and Immigration law (2021)

• In 2021, as an executive member of the Ontario Bar Association (Immigration Section & the Young Lawyers Division - East), co-chaired the Immigration Law Primer and Imposter Syndrome programs

• Presenter at the Canadian Association for Refugee Lawyers (“CARL”) 2023 Fall National Conference, Everything you need to know about Internal Flight Alternatives.

Professional memberships and affiliations:

• Law Society of Ontario, licensed member of the Bar since 2014

• Canadian Bar Association/ Ontario Bar Association, member

• DCAO (Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa), member

• CARL (Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers), member

• RLA (Refugee Lawyers' Association), member