Finding a lawyer
There are two main types of immigration lawyer in the UK. The first are solicitors or caseworkers who work at a solicitors office and are affiliated to the Law Society. The second are advisers who are regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. If a lawyer does not appear on the website of either body, steer well clear of them. OISC advisers can be level 1, 2 or 3. Level 1 advisers should only do the most simple, basic, straightforward applications and advice. Level 2 advisers can do a wide range of immigration work. Level 3 advisers can represent clients in the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.
Barristers are employed by solicitors or OISC advisers for specific purposes, like going to court or drafting a document. Barristers are not allowed to give advice directly to the public in immigration law.
There are some bad solicitors. There are some bad OISC advisers. Be very careful when choosing an immigration lawyer. To an extent, you get what you pay for. Good quality immigration advice from a good solicitors firm is not cheap, but it is worth it.
As a guide, a lawyer who has passed the Legal Services Commission accreditation examinations in immigration and asylum law should know what he or she is talking about and will have a certificate to prove it. However, some good lawyers refused to sit them and lawyers who do not provide Legal Aid (means tested government funded legal advice) do not need to sit the exams. Some not-so-good lawyers have passed these examinations. They are not therefore an absolute guarantee of quality.
The first website to mention is the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) directory of members. ILPA do not regulate members so membership is no guarantee of quality, but it does suggest that the firm concerned has more than a passing interest in immigration law. The website of the Community Legal Service, is also worth checking. The website includes a search facility that enables you to look for firms in your own area, including those specialising in immigration and asylum work. You can also search for solicitors by area of speciality and geographical location by the Law Society website (the Law Society represents and regulates solicitors).
Not for profit organisations such as law centres, the Immigration Advisory Service, Refugee Legal Centre, theJoint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Asylum Aid are reputable and fairly reliable, although much depends on the individual caseworker to whom you are allocated. Their staff are certainly well meaning and care about their work, but the most important criterion for an effective lawyer is that he or she is extremely good at his or her job.
There are also some websites that offer basic immigration advice. The Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office both have a series of downloadable leaflets, for applications made inside and outside the UK respectively. You could also try the advice pages of the Immigration Advisory Service, although their leaflets are of slightly variable quality and many are out of date.
Beauty Anwalimobor said
I have just been notified by the Home Office that my claim for asylum has failed and issued with a removal notice. However, I was also advised in the letter that I can only file an appeal from my country of origin if I wish to do so. Unfortunately, I can’t return to my country for reasons of persecution. I believe I should be given the right to appeal in the UK. Kindly advice if I can find a free legal representative to take up my case as I am in no position to afford one and I have very little time left.
I count on your urgent and kind assistance.
freemovement said
This whole page is about how to find good immigration lawyers. There’s not much more I can do I’m afraid.
janet said
i had a bad experience with a lawyer regulated by the law society unfortunately he turned out to be a liar and a cheat giving me wrong and costly immigration advice, i wish to report him to the law society but the problem is, it is my words agaist his, he purposely advise me on things off record and i challenged him on this but he denied it and said i do not have a proof.
freemovement said
Unfortunately this does happen, and I was dealing with a case last week where the previous solicitor had advised the client to lie to the Home Office. You should certainly complain, and even if your individual complaint is not upheld at least it warns the Solicitor Regulatory Authority that there may be problems at that firm so they can keep an eye out in future.
Jonathan said
Thanks for those kind comments! On Iraqi CG, the latest episode is that the appellant was successful: SI (expert evidence – Kurd – SM confirmed) Iraq CG [2008] UKAIT 00094: but to me, as someone who usually practises in other areas of law, it still seems extraordinary that a tribunal which is rehearing a case after the original determination has been overturned should treat the overturned determination as good authority for anything; and indeed ignore a submission that it could not be, presumably because it could not think of an answer. Wouldn’t happen in a real court!
Jonathan said
Sorry if this sounds nitpicking, but solicitors in Scotland and in Northern Ireland are not in the English Law Society and their names will not appear on its website. The Scottish and Northern Irish bars, equally, aren’t on the Bar Council website. The statement “If a lawyer does not appear on the website of either body, steer well clear of them” is not, I am sure, intended to mean what it says! NB also it is SLAB, not LSC or CLS, which provides legal aid, or ABWOR in the AIT, in Scotland.
freemovement said
Extremely good point, and I will make amendments then delete your comment and this reply. Thanks for pointing this out!
Also, I like your blog and I have been very interested to read some posts – the one on the Iraqi CG case was particularly interesting as I am aware of at least one higher court case that lost because of reliance on it, unaware that it had been overturned on appeal.
Satinder said
Can I have a lawyer free of cost by any chance?
freemovement said
The Legal Services Commission fund free legal representation to those who are eligible. There is a means test (i.e. if you earn more than a certain amount you are not eligible) and there is also a merits test at the appeal stage (i.e. your case has to be strong enough to be worth funding). Only certain lawyers in the UK can provide free legal advice through the LSC, though. More details on the LSC website – I can’t help any further than this.