Table Of Contents:
- What a UK Visa and Immigration Lawyer Can Do
- Benefits of Hiring a UK Visa and Immigration Lawyer
- Final Thoughts
When you apply for a UK immigration application, you want a quick, hassle-free, and less expensive process. You also want to avoid any possibility of visa refusals. For all these purposes, you should hire a UK visa and immigration lawyer. An immigration lawyer has the expertise and experience to make your visa application successful. Immigration Lawyers assess your eligibility, offer you strategic guidance, prepare your visa applications, handle appeals (if applicable), and represent you in complex immigration cases. They also help businesses with their sponsorship licences and compliance.
What a UK Visa and Immigration Lawyer Can Do?
UK Visa and Immigration lawyers can give you advice only on things they’re qualified to help you with. They can advise you depending on their ‘level’. There are 3 levels.
Level 1 – Advice and Assistance
A level 1 adviser can advise you on simple cases, for example, getting a UK spouse visa extension when you have no problems with a subsisting relationship and all necessary documents. Level 1 advisers can advise you on:
- Applications for entry clearance
- Applications for leave to enter
- Applications for leave to remain
- Applications for British Nationality and citizenship
- Applications for EU and EEA law
Level 2 – Casework
Level 2 advisers can do all of the things Level 1 advisers can do, plus they can also accept more complicated cases. You may want to seek the services of a level 2 adviser if you’ve had problems with immigration previously and want permission to remain in the UK.
Advisers in this category can also help:
- If you apply to claim asylum and human rights
- Get your visa application decision reviewed
- If you entered the UK illegally or overstayed in the UK
- If you’re being removed or deported from the country
Level 3 – Advocacy and Representation
Level 3 advisers can do all of the things Level 1 and 2 advisers can. They can also appear at an immigration tribunal on your behalf. They can also help you in certain situations where you go to court.
Benefits of Hiring a UK Visa and Immigration Lawyer
An immigration lawyer must be registered with an approved UK body. You should seek the services of registered lawyers only. They can help you apply for various visa routes such as UK Family Visa, UK Work Visas, UK Student Visa, UK Innovator Founder Visa, and UK Indefinite Leave to Remain. They can help you through the entire application process and even after that, if your visa is refused.
1. Personalized Legal Advice
Every individual’s immigration case is unique. An expert legal adviser can give you services tailored to your unique situation. They can help you navigate the complex UK immigration laws and regulations. UK immigration solicitors understand the intricacies of the legal system. Hence, when you hire an immigration solicitor, they ensure you receive guidance specific to your needs.
2. Reduce Financial Burden
This may sound untrue because you have to pay for the services of UK visa and immigration lawyers. But you should consider this from the point of view that if your visa is refused and you choose to reapply or go for an appeal, you may have to pay more than paying to an immigration solicitor. Not only that you also get peace of mind. In most cases, you will find that the cost of handling immigration matters yourself is way more than the cost of professional services.
3. Meeting Eligibility Requirements
Different visa routes require applicants to meet different eligibility requirements. You will often find the wording used in eligibility requirements quite technical and confusing. Sometimes, you will find that UK immigration law and the Home Office guidance on the same matter are inconsistent. Hence, only an experienced immigration lawyer who has dealt with several cases can help you navigate meeting the eligibility requirements. If you don’t meet them, the adviser will tell you this clearly and suggest options in such scenarios.
4. Assistance With Complex Paperwork
Any visa and immigration application requires you to submit supporting documents in the correct format. This simply means you have to go through lots of paperwork. Also, if your documents are not in English or Welsh, you need to get their certified translations. All these often become quite overwhelming for applicants. An experienced UK visa and immigration lawyer helps you gather all the documents ass required for the specific visa application and file them appropriately. This, in turn, helps you submit them on time.
5. Reply to the Concerns Raised by the Home Office
UK immigration applications are often not a straightforward process. Even with the best of your understanding of the law and an attempt to apply carefully, you may still leave some gaps. In such scenarios, where the Home Office finds any discrepancies, they may ask for more information and evidence, which you may find difficult to provide on your own. A UK visa and immigration lawyer may reply on your behalf in such scenarios or help you in preparing the reply that directly addresses the concerns of the Home Office.
6. Represent You In Tribunals
If you choose to appeal a UK visa refusal, you have the option to do it yourself or through a legal representative. Visa appeals are quite a complex, lengthy, and technical process. Answering the questions of the tribunal’s judge or arguing with the representative of the Home Office is definitely not an easy task. If you choose to appeal yourself you may end up losing your case. Hence, it is more appropriate that a UK visa and immigration lawyer appeals on your behalf, represents you in court, and makes the legal arguments in front of a judge.
7. Higher Success Rate
UK visa and immigration lawyers have the expertise to present your case in the best possible way. They help you avoid common mistakes, unclear statements, or missing documents that could lead to a delay or refusal of your visa applications. They might have already handled a case similar to yours. This allows them to handle your immigration application easily. All these put together increase the chances of your visa application being approved.
8. Time Saving
Time is a critical factor in visa applications. For example, if you want to visit the UK, you may already have a timeline for your trip. Another example can be that you want to apply for a UK work visa when you already have a job offer, a certificate of sponsorship, and the starting date of your job. In such scenarios, you may not wish to miss the deadline or face visa refusals. If you take the assistance of a UK visa and immigration lawyer, they will ensure you don’t have to face any of these problems. Thus, you will be able to save crucial time.
Final Thoughts
Immigration matters are not everyone’s cup of tea. It requires expertise and domain knowledge. Depending on your visa, they will guide you through the complete process. They will decipher the immigration matters for you if required. On the other hand, they can help you apply from the beginning till the end and beyond. Sometimes, a visa may be very important and even urgent for you. For example, you want to join your spouse or child in the UK, or you want to study in the UK. You should plan your immigration with your UK visa and immigration lawyer, who will help you avoid delays, handle the questions raised by a caseworker, give false or incorrect information, or even refusals.