Scott Railton

Scott Railton

Scott Railton limits his practice to United States immigration and naturalization law, with an emphasis on advising businesses and human resources departments. His counsel is relied upon by renowned professionals, including business executives, research scientists, and physician specialists. Mr. Railton reserves a portion of his practice for the litigation of admissibility and removal issues, humanitarian matters, and immigration advocacy. Situated near the border, he has substantial experience with U.S.-Canadian border processing and other related admissibility matters.

Mr. Railton has been selected to Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers list, an honor which is limited to no more than five percent of attorneys in any state. The Thomson Reuters website states, “Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. This selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.”

Mr. Railton is a Past Chair of the Washington State Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, as well as a former Governor to the organization’s national Board.  An active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, he has served in leadership roles on several state and national committees for the organization.  He currently serves on the AILA University Advisory Committee. He has chaired committees concerning U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Consular Affairs, State Government, Advocacy, and Consumer Protection, while serving on many more.  Mr. Railton is a member of the International Medical Graduate Taskforce, an organization of legal professionals dedicated to improving immigration law in the physician and healthcare sphere. He regularly travels to Washington D.C. to advocate for immigration reforms with these organizations.

Mr. Railton has taught U.S. Immigration Law and Policy at Western Washington University, as well as other seminars on U.S. citizenship laws. He regularly speaks and writes to a wide variety of audiences concerning business immigration, immigration enforcement, criminality and waivers, and other constitutional matters related to U.S. immigration and border law. He has authored immigration-related articles published by the American Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Lexis-Nexis, Thomson Reuters, the Washington State Bar Association, and other noted publishers.

Border matters are a key part of Mr. Railton’s practice. He was Co-Chair and Business Track Chair of the 2022 American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Border Issues Virtual Conference. He has served as a past liaison to the organization to local ports of entry. He routinely advises on issues pertaining to admissibility, benefits applications adjudications (TNs, Ls, Es), denied admissions, expedited removal, waivers, travel restrictions, documentation, NEXUS, and other issues particular to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

Mr. Railton has extensive experience in healthcare immigration. He routinely assists hospitals, clinics and healthcare workers with their immigration. He has substantial experience advising on J-1 waivers, H-1Bs, O-1s and Physician National Interest Waivers for physicians in the Pacific Northwest; Schedule A petitions for Registered Nurses; and USMCA issues (TNs) related to healthcare occupations. He has substantial experience in PERM labor certifications and merits-based permanent residence applications (EB-1, EB-2). He authored “U.S. Immigration for Health Care Workers” for an American Immigration Lawyers Association conference, and testified at Washington State’s hearing on Conrad 30 rules update. Mr. Railton views immigration as one key to addressing the United States’ healthcare crisis, as it relates to underserved populations in rural areas and specialty care.

Mr. Railton also takes a professional interest in how cannabis legalization impacts noncitizens. He authored “Marijuana and Immigration” for the American Bar Association, testified before Canada’s Parliament concerning national legalization and the border, and is frequently quoted in the U.S. and Canadian media on related developments. He routinely participates on professional panels focused on immigration and cannabis.  Mr. Railton advocates for transparency of law and predictable outcomes for clients, as reflected in his  “Think Immigration” post for the American Immigration Lawyers Association,  “Wait, But Isn’t Pot Legal?” – Immigration Law and Cannabis Present Traps for the Unwary.

Mr. Railton is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and is admitted to practice in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for Western Washington. He is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, where he was an Executive Editor for the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with highest honors from Western Washington University and has served on the Executive Committee of the institution’s Alumni Board of Directors. Mr. Railton presently serves on the Skagit Regional Health Foundation’s Board of Trustees and volunteers with a number of other regional organizations.