Our Immigration Team
Our Immigration Team works across all of our office locations in London and the South East of England. We work together to ensure we provide an expert, value for money service, which is tailored to each of our clients.
The team is led by Sacha Wooldridge, a qualified Solicitor and Partner at Birketts, with over a decade’s experience in immigration law.
We are active members of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, the Home Office Business User Forum and the Government Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Immigration Sub-Working group.
What others say about our service
Our practice is ranked in Tier 1 in leading legal directory, Legal 500. Each year they speak to a range of our clients who have provided the following feedback:
‘Birketts are my “go-to” experts for employment immigration advice. Their immigration team are experts in their field, they are responsive, understanding, empathetic to employers’ needs but always professional.‘ (Legal 500 UK 2021)
Our approach
Sometimes you will know what type of visa you wish to apply for, in other cases you will be seeking advice on your options. We always start by discussing your circumstances and ensuring you are making the most appropriate application for your personal circumstances. Please note we do not advise on asylum matters.
We tailor our service to suit each individual client. If you have already prepared your application and just require a checking service, or are preparing it yourself and just have some queries along the way then we will provide appropriate support. However, most of our clients opt for our full service and the information and fees given below are provided on this basis.
Once we have agreed on the type of application you are making, we will set out the options regarding how and where to submit your application. We will provide a breakdown of the relevant Home Office fees and an estimate of the likely timescale to get a decision.
We will give you a list of the information and documents required for your application. We will complete the visa application form for you, check your supporting documents and draft a covering letter to the UK authorities to support your application. We will submit the application on your behalf and book a biometric appointment for you where applicable. We will provide you with guidance on the application process and will inform you of the outcome of your case.
Although we normally will not submit an application until we are happy everything is in order, please note we can never guarantee the success of an application. The fees below do not include dealing with queries from the Home Office, advising on your options if your application is delayed or refused, or advising on any administrative review, appeal or judicial review. They also do not include attending any Home Office appointment or interview with you.
Our fees
We normally charge on a time spent basis, using hourly rates. . Our current hourly rates are set out below. We will notify you should these change during the duration of the engagement.
| Level | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Partner | £350 plus VAT | £425 plus VAT |
| Legal Director | £325 plus VAT | £400 plus VAT |
| Associate | £280 plus VAT | £355 plus VAT |
| Trainee Solicitor | £150 plus VAT | £225 plus VAT |
| Paralegal | £150 plus VAT | £225 plus VAT |
The costs you incur will depend on the complexity and urgency of your matter. We will agree a fixed fee if it is viable to do so.
Set out below are some typical fees for straight forward cases. These cover a range of circumstances and we will always provide you with a more specific fee quote which is tailored to your individual circumstances.
These fees assume that your application meets the requirements of the Immigration Rules. They do not cover more unusual cases, where you are requesting that discretion is exercised, for example on human rights grounds, on the basis of your private life or if you have previous UK visa refusals or criminal convictions. They are estimates, rather than fixed fees.
| Application | Professional fee |
|---|---|
| Initial advice on options | £500 – £1,500 plus VAT |
| UK visitor visa | £1,750 – £2,250 plus VAT |
| Innovator Founder visa | £4,000 – £7,000 plus VAT |
| Global Talent visa | £4,000 – £7,000 plus VAT |
| UK Ancestry visa | £2,500 – £3,500 plus VAT |
| Investor/Entrepreneur / Sole Representative Indefinite Leave to remain (routes closed for new applicants) | £5,000 – £7,500 plus VAT |
| Sponsor licence | £3,750 – £6,000 plus VAT |
| Skilled Worker / Global Business Mobility / Temporary Worker visas | £1,750 – £2,750 plus VAT |
| Fiancé / spouse / civil partner / unmarried partner / dependant child of a British national | £2,500 – £4,000 plus VAT |
| Youth Mobility Scheme visa | £1,750 – £2,500 plus VAT |
| Child Student / Student visa | £1,750 – £2,500 plus VAT |
| Parent of a Child Student visa | £2,500-£3,000 |
| Dependant applying at same time where possible | £650 plus VAT |
| Dependant applying separately where possible | £1,500 – £2,500 plus VAT |
| Adult dependant relative visa | £4000 – £6,000 plus VAT |
| Indefinite Leave to Remain following work visas (via form SET O) | £2,500 – £3,500 plus VAT |
| Indefinite Leave to Remain following visas as family of a British national (via form SET M) | £2,500 – £3,500 plus VAT |
| Indefinite Leave to Remain based on long residence (via form SET LR) | £3,500 – £4,500 plus VAT |
| EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit | £1,750 – £2,750 plus VAT |
| EU Settlement Scheme Settled Status | £2,500 – £3,000 plus VAT |
| Registration as British citizen | £2,500-£4,000 plus VAT |
| Naturalisation as British citizen | £2,500-£4,000 plus VAT |
| British passport | £1,000 – £2,000 |
VAT
If we are providing advice to you within the UK then we are required to add UK VAT to our fees. The current rate of VAT is 20%.
If you are outside the UK when we provide our advice, then VAT will normally not be added.
Home Office fees
In addition to our fees you will also need to budget for the Home Office application fee for your particular type of application. The latest fee rates can be found here.
The table list fees in UK£. You need to bear in mind that if you are applying outside the UK you will be paying in a different currency and so you need to allow for exchange rate fluctuations and bank charges. The Home Office policy on exchange rates is here.
This table also includes details of the optional priority fees which apply if you wish to obtain a faster decision on your application. The availability of priority processing will depend on what type of visa you are applying for and where you are submitting your application. As part of our service we will let you know what the options are in your individual circumstances.
If you are applying for a visa to come to the UK for over six months, you will also normally be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge. For more information see here.
Other costs
Depending on the type of application you are making and your personal circumstances, you may have to incur further costs in order to meet Home Office requirements. Those requirements may include completion of a tuberculosis test, an English language proficiency test, or the Life in the UK test for Indefinite Leave to Remain applications. We will let you know what is needed in your individual circumstances.
You may also find that particular fees apply for submitting your application at a particular visa application centre, at a specific time, or that a courier service is required. Again, we will let you know what is needed in your individual circumstances.
The documents used to support your application must normally be submitted in English. If your documents are written in another language, then you may also need to factor in the cost of obtaining an official translation. We do not offer a translation service, but can put you in touch with translators if needed.
Whilst our team speaks a range of different languages, we normally provide our advice in English. If you are not able to communicate with us in English you may wish to seek help from a friend or family member, or you may need to engage an interpreter/translator as appropriate.
Becoming a client
If you wish to instruct us, we will need some personal contact details in order to set you up as a client. We will send you a client care letter, which will include a tailored schedule for your matter and a copy of our terms of business. This will also contain details of our identity checking process.
When taking on a new client, we normally require a payment on account, in anticipation of our fees. We will confirm the details in our client care letter, but typically it is a minimum £500. If we are to incur any costs on your behalf, for example, Home Office fees, we will also require a full, upfront payment on account for those.
If you are based outside the UK, but have a family member who is in the UK, we may ask them to act as a guarantor for our fees.
Timescales
We will always discuss with you at the outset what the timescale is to submit any relevant application. This may be driven by your personal plans and preferences, or by the expiry date of an existing visa.
Generally speaking the more notice you can give us the better, as we can then ensure your work is done at the most appropriate time and at the most cost effective level. We may be able to deal with urgent cases in as little as a week, but this is likely to result in higher fees.
Depending on your visa category and your ability to provide the required documents and information, we would suggest that you plan in a minimum of 2-4 weeks for the document gathering process. Extra time will be required where your circumstances or application type are complex.
The time taken by the Home Office to process your application is outside our control. We will advise you on typical processing times for your individual circumstances, but these will be a guide and are not guaranteed. Please check official visa processing times here.
Typically it is not possible to travel internationally whilst an application is pending so this should be factored in when considering the timing of your application submission. Travel can lead to the automatic withdrawal of your application. We recommend that travel is not booked until your visa is issued.
Accreditations
Legal 500
Top Tier
Very approachable, so helpful, could not fault.
Legal 500 [UK 2023]
