Any individual can acquire advice on immigration if they require assistance with approvals to remain in the United Kingdom.
An immigration adviser in the form of an immigration lawyer would assist you with a lot of the processes that relate with immigration. Some of these processes would include assisting you in getting the right forms filled as well as serving as your representative at any tribunals or meetings. Most immigration lawyers also provide interpreters for those who do not speak English.
You should note however that the immigration lawyers do not make any decisions on your immigration for you. They basically give you advice and guide you to making the best choices and decisions based on their experience and expertise. A lot of these immigration lawyers are skilled experts who specialize in all matters related to immigration like nationality and citizenship, asylum, or immigration cases.
A key point to take note of would be payment of fees for services rendered by the immigration lawyer. Most of them would require some amount of fees to be paid for their services to you. However, such fees can be quite expensive depending on the pedigree and expertise of the immigration lawyer involved. However, the range of such fees would be as follows:
- Immigration query usually during an initial meeting, after which a detailed written advice is provided – from £200.
- Licensing sponsorship for colleges and businesses – from £1,500.
- Student, family reunion and visa visit applications – from £600.
- Humanitarian and refugee applications – from £1,500.
- Entrepreneur and investor applications – from £1,500.
- Intra-company transfers and sponsored Tier 2 workers transfers – from £700.
In other situations, some immigration lawyers would choose not to charge fees. You would easily know this when you see the phrase “Legal Aid.” What this means is that the individual, organization, or firm listed provides legal advice that is free of any charges. Such immigration lawyers are able to do this because they are being funded by Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission, the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and the Legal Services Commission.
In order to determine if you might be a candidate for free legal advice would be dependent on various factors like the type of immigration advice that you require and the amount of money in your possession (your savings and income). At the website Directgov you can obtain more details about legal aid.
If you require a list of immigration lawyers, firms, and organizations who are contracted to provide immigration advice that is free and funded by legal aid you can call the helpline of the Community legal Advice of the Legal Services Commission on 0845 345 4345. Additional details on Community Legal Advice can be obtained from the website Directgov.
In order to find a good immigration lawyer in the United Kingdom the best resource place to begin would be the OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner). The OISC is the regulator for all immigration advisers and immigration lawyers in the United Kingdom. What this means is that every immigration lawyer has to achieve a certain standard in order to be recognized and listed by the OISC.
Apart from setting standards and regulating the activities of immigration lawyers, the OISC also keeps a list of immigration lawyers in the UK which are also under their regulation.
If you are already based in the United Kingdom, you can easily discover within your particular area any immigration lawyers that are regulated by the OISC. While making your search, confirm if the immigration lawyer charges fees for their services.
The OISC is not the only resource that is available for you to seek for an immigration lawyer in the United Kingdom. You can also find them through the following avenues:
The Law Society of Northern Ireland
The Law Society if you reside within Wales or England.
The law requires that immigration lawyers and advisers in the United Kingdom should either be a member of an approved and recognized professional body, for instance the Law Society, or be registered with the OISC.
If at any time you feel that you have not been rendered any good services by your immigration lawyer, you can always make a complaint.
You can equally be rest assured that the OISC would not allow any potential client to be exposed to bad service. They maintain a listing of persons who are barred from serving as immigration lawyers.