Senior Leadership & Immigration Lawyers

Sonia Akilov

Senior Managing Lawyer – Founder

Sonia has extensive experience litigating complex immigration cases at the  Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) and the Federal Court. She also assists corporate clients to obtain work permits for foreign workers.Sonia graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, and gained immigration experience at Green & Spiegel and KPMG law before joining Matkowsky Immigration.

Gina You

Immigration Lawyer - Senior Team Lead

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Gina is the Team Lead at our firm and helps manage the firm's associate lawyers. She represents clients in matters dealing with immigration appeals, CBSA removal orders, criminal, medical and misrepresentation inadmissibility, family sponsorships, economic immigration, study permits, and LMIAs & work permits.

Gina graduated from Windsor Law School and gained indispensable previous immigration law experience prior to joining our firm.

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Mackenzie Stern

Immigration Lawyer

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Mackenzie obtained her Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School and an Honours Bachelor of Sciences degree from the University of Guelph.

Mackenzie has experience in a wide variety of complex immigration matters, including study permits, LMIAs, work permits, spousal sponsorship, citizenship, temporary and permanent residence applications, responses to procedural fairness letters, and judicial review applications.

Mackenzie is passionate about helping clients achieve meaningful changes in their lives. She aims to ensure her clients make well-informed decisions and feel comfortable with the Canadian immigration process.

Ali Abdulreda

Immigration Lawyer

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Ali is an immigration lawyer with experience in various areas of Canadian immigration law, including, but not limited to, temporary and permanent residence applications, sponsorship, procedural fairness letters, humanitarian and compassionate considerations, and Judicial Review at the Federal Court.

Ali obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, and also holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Windsor.

Ali adopts a collaborative approach to ensure clients understand all their options and are able to make informed decisions throughout the process.

Claire Whitty

Immigration Lawyer

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Claire holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton University. She has broad experience across a variety of immigration matters, including assisting clients with both temporary and permanent residence applications, resolving issues of inadmissibility, and representing clients in judicial review proceedings before the Federal Court. 

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Claire worked as a national security analyst with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and later as a litigation advisor at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). These roles gave her in-depth knowledge of inadmissibility on national security grounds, as well as the internal processes that influence immigration policy and litigation strategies.

Natalie Domazet

Senior Immigration Lawyer - Senior Team Lead

Natalie practices in all areas of immigration and refugee law, specializing in litigation at the Federal Court and IRB. Her extensive experience includes representation in admissibility hearings, family sponsorship appeals, removal order appeals, detention reviews, residency obligations appeals, refugee hearings and refugee appeals, along with judicial review and stay of removal matters.

Natalie gained invaluable experience working for CBSA for over a decade at Pearson International Airport, the Enforcement Division and acting as a Minister's Counsel representing the government in IRB hearings.

Shameika Hue

Immigration Lawyer

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Shameika obtained her Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology from Ryerson University.  She has experience litigating immigration matters at the  Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) and the Federal Court. Shameika helps clients with refugee matters, judicial reviews, applications for temporary residence, permanent residence, humanitarian and compassionate applications, and spousal sponsorships.

Shameika is passionate about assisting her clients regarding their immigration matters. Her diverse legal background has allowed her to appreciate how different areas of law overlap which has strengthened her advocacy and has allowed her to adopt unique solutions for her clients.

Yasmin Rahim

Immigration Lawyer

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Yasmin obtained her Juris Doctor from University of Ottawa and practices as an immigration lawyer at our firm.

Yasmin assist clients across a diverse range of immigration cases, including visitor visas, study permits, work permits, LMIAs, spousal sponsorships, express entry, provincial nomination programs, temporary resident permits, humanitarian and compassionate PR applications, responses to procedural fairness letters, and applications for citizenship, criminal rehabilitation and judicial review.

Yasmin is dedicated to helping her clients navigate their immigration journey with the highest level of care and professionalism.

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Clarissa Ratjen

Immigration Lawyer

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Clarissa is an immigration lawyer with experience working on various immigration matters, including study permits, work permits, temporary resident permits, family sponsorships, procedural fairness letter responses, citizenship, criminal rehabilitation applications, cases including humanitarian and compassionate considerations, and judicial review applications at the Federal Court.​

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Clarissa holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Queen’s University. During law school, Clarissa worked in the Refugee and Immigration Division at Downtown Legal Services at the University of Toronto on several constitutional challenges of immigration provisions at the Federal Court.​​​​​​​​​

Rylee Raeburn-Gibson

Immigration Lawyer

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Rylee obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto and holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the same school. He was a student caseworker at U of T’s Downtown Legal Services law clinic, where he found his passion for immigration litigation. 

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Rylee has extensive experience before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) and the Federal Court. He helps clients with refugee matters, immigration appeals, judicial reviews, applications for permanent residence, humanitarian and compassionate applications, and spousal sponsorships. He specializes in complex applications involving inadmissibility concerns. Rylee primarily practices as an immigration litigator but also assists clients across a range of temporary applications for work and study in Canada. Rylee provides a holistic approach to immigration problems, ensuring his clients understand the big picture and can make well-informed decisions at each stage.