Business Immigration

How do we charge?

Our fees cover the legal work required to complete the relevant transaction type, including, but not limited to, the following immigration related matters:

• Applications for naturalisation or registration under the British Nationality Act 1981
• Applications on behalf of European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and their family members to the EU Settlement Scheme (now closed other than for late applications).
• Applications under the Immigration Rules, including:
  • Applications for visas, including Skilled Worker (formerly Tier 2) visas, and Senior or Specialist Workers Global Mobility (formerly Intra-Company Transfer) under the Points-Based System;
  • Global Talent and Investor (extensions only) (formerly Tier 1) visas;
  • Spouse and partners applications, including fiancé(e)s or proposed civil partners;
  • Visit visas (for tourism, or visiting friends / family);
  • Ancestry visas (based on family ancestry); and
  • Other categories, such as applications based on long residence.

Hourly rates

	£ excl VAT at 20%	£ incl VAT at 20%
Partner	£350.00	£420.00
Solicitor	£260.00	£312.00
Trainee Solicitor	£150 to £165.00	£180 to £198.00

Immigration work will generally be undertaken on a time basis. We do not provide advice or assistance on the basis of legal aid.

While we have provided the above hourly rates, the following estimates have been prepared on the basis that the work would be undertaken by a senior employment solicitor or a partner:  

Applications for work, business or study under the Points Based immigration system

 

Work Type	Cost if Senior Employment Solicitor		Cost if Partner		Average time taken
Straightforward visa application for skilled worker*	Excl VAT at 20%	Inc VAT at 20%	Excl VAT at 20%	Inc VAT at 20%	10-15 hours
	£2,600 to £3,900	£3,120 to £4,680	£3,500 to £5,250	£4,200 to £6,300

*For Global Talent or Investor (extensions only) (formerly Tier 1) application you should expect that the costs will be significantly higher owing to the complexity of the financial and business requirements (Investor) and sponsorship requirements (Global Talent).

Application(s) under the Immigration Rules for leave to remain, further leave to remain, indefinite leave to remain or naturalisation as a fiancé or partner, including civil partner

Work Type	Cost if Senior Employment Solicitor		Cost if Partner		Average time taken
	Excl VAT at 20%	Inc VAT at 20%	Excl VAT at 20%	Inc VAT ast 20%	10-25 hours
	£2,600 to £6,500	£3,120 to £7,800	£3,500 to £8,500	£4,200 to £10,500

In each of the above cases the complexity of the matter (and the time that the necessary work will take) depends on circumstances, such as:

• Whether you are applying with other family members or dependants;
• Which language(s) you speak;
• Whether you are able to provide all the necessary original documents necessary as per UKVI requirements;
• Whether any of your documents need to be translated;
• The amount of supporting evidence that we need to consider and / or submit with the application;
• Whether you have any suitability issues, such as previous period(s) of overstaying.

If you are able to provide sufficient evidence at our first meeting and clearly meet the applicable Immigration Rules, the cost is likely to be at the lower end of this range.

What services are included?

The work will involve:

• Discussing your circumstances in detail and confirming whether this is the most appropriate application for you to make and what other options may be available to you;
• Giving you advice about the requirements of the Immigration Rules and whether you meet the criteria;
• If you do not fulfil certain criteria, whether this can be overcome and how;
• Considering the supporting evidence you have provided, which is often the most complex part of the process;
• Where necessary, helping you obtain further evidence (such as medical records and bank statements), including taking statements of any witnesses;
• Preparing your application and submitting it on your behalf; and
• Giving you advice about the outcome of the application and any further steps you need to take.

The overall amount of hours will depend upon the number of documents, whether they need to be translated, whether anything is missing and how long it will take to obtain the missing documents.

Disbursements and other charges:

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as visa fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Please note that further disbursements may be payable and we will be able to advise fully when taking your full instructions.

• Home Office fees – you can see more on the gov.uk website.   
• Certified translation of documents – this generally starts at around £35.00 per page + 20% VAT (£42.00).
• Interpreter’s fees. Should an interpreter be necessary then we will advise you of the additional costs per hour that are involved.
• Independent expert reports e.g. medical experts. These are not required in many cases: we will let you know as soon as possible if we consider an expert report is necessary.

The costs quoted here do not include:

• Any fee payable for a Premium Service Centre appointment. You will pay this to the Home Office directly as part of the application process;
• Any Immigration Health Surcharge. You will pay this to the Home Office directly as part of the application process;
• The biometric enrolment fee. You will pay this to the Service Centre directly as part of the application process (see website);
• Where the Home Office refuse your application, advice and assistance in relation to any appeal; and
• Any other associated costs eg photocopying

How long will my application take?

We cannot guarantee how long the Home Office will take to process your application. You can read the current processing time for all types of visas on the gov.uk website.

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

Please note the anticipated number of hours and fees are an estimate based on the facts above. All applications are likely to vary and of course, we can give you a more accurate estimate once we have more information about your specific case.

Who will be advising you?

A suitably qualified member(s) of our Employment Law team, will work on your matter, supervised by partner and team head Sue Dowling. You can find out more about the member(s) of the team below:

• Andrea Corr
• A trainee solicitor completing a “seat” in our team.

Who to contact for further
information or legal advice?

Please contact us for more detailed and specific information. Return to our main 'How Do We Charge'. page.