Resources and Guides

How To Find A Good Immigration Lawyer

UK Immigration Law is complex and whether you want to obtain a visa to visit, work, study, join or remain with family in the UK, or a sponsor licence to enable your UK business to employ overseas staff, we recommend you find a good Immigration Lawyer to expertly guide you through each process ethically and legally. With such high stakes either personally or commercially, the decision to appoint an immigration advisor should be carefully considered and not made in haste.

From specialist independent Immigration Law Firms to huge full-service Solicitor Firms, there are plenty of options to choose from when trying to find a good Immigration Lawyer. In this article, we’re sharing guidance and tips to help you choose the best UK Immigration Lawyer for your individual or business immigration needs.

What does an Immigration Lawyer do?

Immigration Lawyers interpret immigration law to analyse your own rights or those of an employer, to identify possibilities and devise strategies that help realise your immigration goals, and expertly guide you through every step of the complicated immigration process. Immigration Lawyers may also be referred to as Immigrations Solicitors, Immigration Advisors, or Immigration Consultants.

Good Immigration Lawyers provide proactive advice tailored to your unique circumstances and create a solution to meet your immigration needs. Given their experience in UK immigration Law they know what to expect from the Home Office and what’s required from individuals and employers; this means they know how to minimise or avoid inevitable delays and most importantly, they guide you strategically through every step in the process with ethical and legal advice.  In addition, they can save you hours establishing what information and supporting documentation you need giving you peace of mind that no unnecessary mistakes are made.

Why seek professional immigration advice?

Immigration matters, whether personal or for a business, are notoriously demanding and time-consuming; giving the responsibility to a good Immigration Lawyer can make the overall immigration process a lot less stressful and save you a lot of time. You may already feel that you don’t need an Immigration Lawyer, however, it’s always worth seeking professional advice via a one-off consultation to identify the best way forward and flag-up any possible issues.

Specialist Immigration Law Firms vs Full Service Law Firms

Good immigration advice is typically found in two types of law firms:

1. Immigration Law Firms
2. Solicitors

Immigration Law Firms are usually regulated by the OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) and must be registered with them in the UK. Look out for the OISC accreditation on their website and their marketing collateral, and then verify their member using the Find An Immigration Advisor tool on the UK government’s website. Immigration Lawyers at these kinds of firms specialise in UK immigration law and are licensed to support your business, employees, prospective employees, students and family with any kind of immigration need.

Solicitor firms tend to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Law Society and consist primarily of Solicitors, only a few of which will be immigration specialists or have a good knowledge of UK immigration law.

8 tips to find a good Immigration Lawyer

A good immigration advisor can make all the difference to your case and help it progress as smooth as possible. To help you avoid costly and time consuming our immigration experts have compiled a list of their top tips to ensure you choose a good immigration lawyer:

1. Define your brief – Write down in a few sentences what kind of immigration support you need, what you’d like to achieve and by when. If you’re seeking business immigration advice your brief may need to be more detailed. Now is a good time to organise all your documents too.
2. Do your research – Use Google to find immigration advisors local to you or those who specialise in a specific service you are looking for, take your time going through their websites and making a shortlist of the ones you instinctively like. The Government website lists all legitimate UK immigration firms, and it has a handy online search tool which we recommend you use to validate your shortlist of firms.
3. Ask for referrals from your network – friends, family and colleagues are a great source of information and can speed up your search for a reputable Immigration Lawyer.
4. Read recent reviews – Savvy and successful firms will share recent client testimonials on their website and Google my Business profile; reading these can give you a good idea of their style of service, both good and bad.
5. Check their accreditations – Ensure that your Immigration Lawyer is registered with the OISC; they may display the logo on their website but always double check their membership. Solicitors who are not a member of the OISC can also practice UK Immigration Law if they are part of an approved regulating body such as The Law Society or SRA.
6. Have a consultation – This should ideally be with the person who will deal with your immigration case rather than a sales or customer service representative. It’s likely you’ll be working closely with your Immigration Lawyer for a few weeks, months or even years! Meeting in person isn’t essential, a phone call or video chat is just as effective and less time consuming for you.  A few useful questions are:
   • Is there style of service is one that you like?
   • Do you feel comfortable with them?
   • Will they work “with you” and “for you”?
   • Are personable/approachable/knowledgeable/professional?
   • Have they handled a case like yours before?
7. Clarify their fee structure – Agreeing a fixed fee or ongoing fee before you instruct is wise; if that’s not feasible, ensure you are clear about any additional charges or hidden fees. The firms you speak with may have different fee structures so ensure you understand each one.
8. Compare a few firms – Always speak with at least three firms to get a feel for how they work and if they could potentially support you. Finally, list your thoughts about each firm you’ve spoken to identify the one which is the best fit for your immigration needs.

Unhelpful ways to choose an Immigration Lawyer

A bad immigration lawyer can overcharge you, fail to provide the promised services, and/or damage your case in a way you might never recover from. To avoid this kind of pitfall, we recommend you do not choose your immigration advisor solely because:

• Their office is located closest to you: convenient but it doesn’t demonstrate expertise.
• They claim amazing success rates: this does not demonstrate expertise, perhaps they only take on straightforward cases?
• They boast decades of combined years of experience: this should only be considered as an individual merit.
• They showed up first in Google search results: this means they understand SEO not Immigration Law.
• They have the most competitive fees
• They speak your language: its most important that they are fluent in English for UK immigration matters.

Book a consultation to discuss your individual immigration needs

Depending on your situation you may need a visa to enter/remain in the UK to live, work, study or even visit. Our immigration experts can help you navigate the complex landscape of UK visas and guide you towards the best options for you, your partner, your family or your business. We specialise in straightforward individual immigration advice and can offer competitive rates with no compromise on expertise, ethics or quality of service. Please get in touch to discuss your individual needs and book your free 30 minute consultation with our immigration experts.

Book an audit to discuss your business immigration needs

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, business leader, HR professional or educational establishment, the recruitment and management of your overseas staff is a complex issue requiring expert guidance. We empower UK businesses with proactive immigration advice: from sponsor license applications to long-term strategic immigration compliance and training, we’ll tailor our comprehensive range of business immigration services to your exact needs. Our business immigration experts will assess your current situation and future goals to recommend a no-obligation solution that meets your immigration needs. Please do get in touch and schedule a complimentary immigration audit with our expert team.