Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West has visited the White House to make a star-powered case for prison reform and advocate on behalf of a woman serving a life sentence for drug offences.

Kardashian West has urged the president to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, 63, who has spent more than two decades behind bars and is not eligible for parole.

She arrived at the White House just on Wednesday afternoon, dressed in all black, for a meeting with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, who oversees the administration’s push to overhaul the nation’s prison system.

A rare A-list celebrity to visit the White House since Trump took office, Kardashian West was seen posing for photos in front of the West Wing before entering.

Lawyers Brittany K Barnett, a member of Johnson’s legal team, said Kardashian West also hoped to meet Trump to discuss the case.

In an interview with the website Mic, Kardashian West said she had been moved by Johnson’s story after seeing a video by the news outlet on Twitter and had been in touch with Kushner over the case.

It’s unclear whether Kardashian West will meet Trump, though the president often invites visitors to the White House into the Oval Office for informal meetings and photos.

Trump last week granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than 100 years after what many saw as his racially charged conviction.

The boxer’s pardon had been championed by actor Sylvester Stallone, who brought the story to Trump’s attention in a phone call.

-AAP