Ann C. Barcher, Esq., has practiced  Immigration Law for over 25 years in New York State, principally in her native Dutchess County but also in New York City as the managing partner in Barcher & Imam, P.C.  She started this professional corporation in 2008 with a distinguished Pakistani attorney and law school colleague, Syed Hasan Imam (now on medical leave).  In 2011 she returned to her home town, Poughkeepsie, NY, where she has  since maintained a solo practice, almost exclusively in Immigration Law, as the Law Offices of Ann Barcher.

Ann graduated as valedictorian of the Poughkeepsie High School Class of 1966 and was awarded a four-year National Merit Scholarship.  She attended Harvard University (Radcliffe College) in Cambridge, MA, majored in Government, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree (A.B.) in 1970.  She subsequently attended New York University School of Law, where she received a J.D. degree in 1977 and an LL.M. degree in 1992 in International Legal Studies.  In June 1979 Ann was admitted as an attorney in New York State, a status that she still proudly maintains.

In 1974-75 Ann spent a fifth year in Cambridge at the Harvard Divinity School, where she studied comparative religion, Judeo-Christian ethics, and Buddhism.  She has also lived for seven months in Germany and for a year in Canada.  Her work experience includes eight years as an attorney for the Port Authority of NY and NJ (prior to 9/11) and two years as the elected Supervisor of the Town of Poughkeepsie.

She attributes her dedication to immigration law to the 1979 arrival of a family of Chinese refugees from Vietnam (so-called "boat people") who lived with her family for eight years.  Ann's mother, a high school English teacher, helped the new arrivals to learn English and to adapt to American customs.  Ann, then freshly admitted to the NY Bar, assisted all of them to become U.S. Citizens.  She is very proud of the accomplishments of this former refugee family, which has now produced two medical doctors and other successful members of this society. 

Ann currently belongs to the Bar Association of the City of New York, where she has served two terms on the Immigration Committee, and is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Migration Service, Inc., (CMS), Archdiocese of Brooklyn and Queens.  She keeps up to date on the frequent changes in immigration law as well as the various proposals for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and advises clients on changes that may affect their future immigration strategies.