IMMIGRATION 

Our service

Our Immigration Team offers a comprehensive service to many different types of businesses, both in the UK and internationally. Wherever you are based in the world, we can help. We specialise in urgent and important immigration matters and as such our service is highly bespoke and will be tailored to your needs. This page deals with general visa applications and appeals to the First and Upper tier Tribunals. We provide advice on all other types of visas and all other immigration services, other than asylum cases. We can provide an estimate for the costs of those other services on request.

All work is supervised by a senior lawyer, who may be a Partner or Consultant Solicitor. At the beginning of your matter we will tell you who will be working for you and who to contact should you have any concerns with our service. We will also explain the scope of our services. This page gives an example immigration matter and sets out what would be included in such a service. We routinely deal with matters very much more complicated than this example matter.

What is included

The key stages of an immigration matter include:

• Discussing your circumstances in detail and confirming what is the best application for you to make and any other options available to you.

• Giving you advice about the requirements of the immigration rules, the likely outcome and timescale of your application.

• Advising you on what supporting evidence you need to provide and then reviewing it and further advising as to its adequacy.

• Preparing your application and submitting it on your behalf.

• If the Home Office asks you to attend an interview, explaining to you what questions you are likely to be asked and the reasons behind such questions so you are prepared to present your case in the best possible manner.

• Discussing the Home Office’s decision with you and introducing what (if any) further action you can take if you are not satisfied with the decision.

What is excluded

The fees set out below would not include any further work, such as:

• Applications for your dependants.

• Attendance at and travel to/from Home Office interviews.

• If the Home Office refuses your application, advice and assistance in relation to any appeal.

Appeals

If your application is refused, additionally we can assist you with an appeal or administrative review. This is a bespoke service and it will be determined by the rejection you have received. The key stages of an appeal or administrative review will be:

• Reviewing your initial application and the response from the Home Office.

• Analysing and determining the grounds for an appeal.

• Submitting the appeal or administrative review request.

• Representing you at the appeal hearing.

Discussing the Home Office’s decision with you and introducing what (if any) further action you

What we charge

Our Partners and Consultant Solicitors charge hourly rates from £300 to £475. All rates depend on the seniority of the individual and the practice area. In many cases, if requested, we can offer to work on a fixed-fee basis. In these cases, fees are discussed and agreed before we start work.

We offer a bespoke service and each matter is unique. We can only estimate the likely costs of our immigration services once we have discussed the matter with you and seen the papers. However, we can provide an indication of our likely fees associated with work of varying complexity as set out above under the heading “What is included”.

• Low complexity – from £2,500 to £6,000

• Mid complexity – from £6,000 to £12,000

• High complexity – in excess of £12,000

Examples of Low, Mid and High complexity case are:

• Low complexity – Naturalisation applications and straightforward Skilled Worker visas

• Mid complexity – straightforward Global Mobility cases

• High complexity – complicated business or family cases

The following factors will increase the complexity of the matter:

• Our needing to gather a large amount of supporting information.

• Where your application is linked to the applications of others (e.g. your dependants).

• Where your application has been refused previously or if you are challenging a refusal of your application.

• Where you have had a complicated UK immigration history.

In addition to our fees, you will need to budget for the following:

• Fees charged by experts to prepare any necessary reports to support your application. These are typically only required if the application is not straightforward and/or you are challenging a decision to refuse your application (from £1,500 to £20,000 per expert, depending on the type of expert and the nature of the report required).

• Instructing a barrister/advocate to represent you at an appeal hearing or to advise and draft grounds of appeal. It is difficult to estimate fees for counsel since this depends on the complexity of the matter, experience of the advocate required, and if the matter reaches an appeal. A junior barrister will cost somewhere between £250 to £300 per hour for advice on a case, and between £1,800 to £2,500 per day in tribunal. A senior barrister will cost somewhere between £600 to £800 per hour for advice and between £3,000 to £6,000 per day in tribunal.

• The fees of an interpreter where you do not speak perfect English, which are in the region of £120 an hour.

• Any UK Visas and Immigration or Home Office fees for making the application at the prevailing rate. You will pay this to the Home Office directly as part of the application process.

Where we incur additional third-party costs and services on a client’s behalf as its agent (a “disbursement”), then that is passed on to the client without any addition. We would usually discuss these disbursements with you in advance and incur those costs on your behalf when necessary. You are responsible for these costs, though we would usually handle their payment for you to ensure a smoother process and add these costs to your invoice.

In relation to appeals to the First and Upper tier Tribunals, our fees will range from £5,000 to £15,000.

Examples

Our fees can range widely depending on the type of application to be dealt with and the complexity of any case.  Please see the table below which details the types of support we offer and our fee range for each matter. These are for illustrative purposes only and a fee estimate will be provided to you once we have undertaken an initial consultation to understand the scope of work involved.

Rates and VAT

Where VAT applies, then we add this to our charges at the prevailing rate. The figures quoted above all exclude VAT at 20%. Most disbursements attract VAT at the prevailing rate. This will be added to the bills we receive. We pass the total cost on to you. We do not add VAT on to disbursements where VAT has already been added by the relevant third party. Certain disbursements, such as official fees, are not subject to VAT. Where our services are not a vatable supply, then we do not charge VAT and the quote above is reduced by 20%.

How long it will take

Regrettably we cannot control how long it takes to hear back from the Home Office as to your visa application. The process is run by the Home Office which deals with applications in the order in which they are received. The Home Office publishes guidance on its current processing times which you can review. This is only an indication and it may take longer to review your application.

We will normally be able to submit this type of application within 4 to 6 weeks of you instructing us, but we will let you know at the earliest opportunity if it is likely to take longer than this.

Appeals to the First-tier Tribunal take much longer. You should allow up to 18 months to complete the appeal.