Our Charges

Our overall fees vary depending upon how complex your case is and what you would like us to do. For a free quote specifically tailored to your circumstances please contact us. We would be more than happy to discuss your case.

To give you an idea of how we charge however, and to comply the SRA price transparency rules, we have set out below details of our typical hourly rates and fees.

Our charges are made up of:

• Our fees for the legal work
• disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to other people, such as fees for a barrister’s opinion or help at Court. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Where VAT is referred to below please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.

Our Fees

Our fees will either be agreed with you as a fixed sum at the start of your case or based on how much time it takes to deal with your case. Our standard hourly rates are £300 plus VAT for one of our solicitors and £400 plus VAT for a Partner. Fixed fees would typically fall within these ball park estimates also.

On average, an immigration application for example takes between 6-24 hours to complete. This means that on average, costs are between GBP £2160 and GBP £8640 (including VAT). All figures include VAT unless specifically stated otherwise.

The exact time spent, and fees charged will depend on the circumstances in your case. Such as:

• How straight-forward your case is in terms of the law;
• Whether it is necessary to appeal;
• The amount of supporting evidence that we need to consider;
• Which language(s) you speak;
• Whether you are applying with other dependants.

If you are able to provide enough evidence early on in the case and it is obvious that you meet the legal tests for your immigration application then the cost is likely to be at the lower end of the price range given above. If the case is more complex and proceeds to an appeal then the costs of your case will likely exceed this price range.

Disbursements

You will need to pay for disbursements in addition to our costs as described above. In an immigration matter the most common disbursements tend to relate to interpreter’s fees. Interpreters are not needed in many cases but if an interpreter is needed the hourly rate charge is normally about £35 including VAT. This is in addition to our fees as set out above. It is difficult to estimate what overall interpreter fees would be without knowing about the detail of your case. Please contact us for more information.

In most cases we do not need to instruct a barrister (specialists in attending and arguing at Court) on your behalf. If a barrister is needed then the hourly rate is likely to be in the region of GBP £180 including VAT to GBP £720 including VAT per hour, depending on the experience of the barrister. Immigration applications will normally require between 3-6 hours of the Barrister’s time (if applicable), depending on the complexity of your case.

We do not normally need to incur the cost of preparing a medical report on your behalf but should this be required we will tell you straight away.

If there is an interview with the immigration authorities and you ask us to attend with you, there will be further disbursements for our travel costs.

Other costs to consider

The costs quoted here do not include:

• Home Office fees for making the application;
• Advice and assistance in relation to any appeal if your application is refused.

Key stages of your case

The examples of typical costs above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of an immigration application:

• Discussing your circumstances and options throughout the process;
• Giving you advice about the requirements of the Immigration Rules and whether you meet the criteria;
• If you do not fulfill certain criteria, whether this can be overcome and how;
• Considering the supporting evidence you have provided;
• 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;
• Giving you advice about the outcome of the application and any further steps you need to take.

It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur other costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.

How long will my case take?

Unfortunately, we do not have control over how long the Home Office take to process applications. However, you can view the current processing times online [Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)].

In terms of submitting your application to the Home Office we can normally achieve this within 2 to 4 weeks of you instructing us.

Who will be dealing with my case?

We have a number of qualified lawyers in the team as well as experienced paralegals specialised in this area of law. Once we know who will be handling your case for you we will introduce you to them and provide you with full details of their background and qualifications. Full details of the experience and qualifications of our team are available on our website including the types of work normally undertaken.

Regardless of who is working on your case the matter will always be supervised by a Partner.