It is our aim to charge fees for our services which are fair to our clients, in that they are clear and reasonable, and are also fair to us, in that they reflect our professional skill, expertise and experience and enable us to run a sustainable business.

We appreciate that immigration advice is not a ‘one size fits all’ area of law and different clients may want different levels of advice at different points in their immigration journey.  We therefore offer a range of services and packages and aim to be as flexible as we can in responding to your needs. 

Start with an Initial Consultation

For new matters, we offer an initial half an hour to one hour consultation.  This can be face to face, telephone, email (or a combination of these).  It might include us reading documents before the consultation.

We do not offer an initial free consultation, which are usually used just to set out the costs, rather than for advice.  We have found that this is not a good use of anyone’s time.

In the initial consultation, we will give you clear advice on the case, your options, the costs and what needs to be done.  You are then free to choose whether to instruct us to assist you further (in which case the initial fee will be taken off our overall fee quote) or to continue with the case on your own.

We generally offer a Fixed Fee for the consultation ranging from £50 – £200, depending on the nature of the issue, the amount of preparatory work to be undertaken and the seniority of the person who will be providing the advice. 

Application Checking Service

If you have prepared an application yourself and are fairly confident that you have everything right but want the reassurance of a second (expert) pair of eyes, we offer a Checking Service where we will review your completed application and the supporting documents.

Where we identify errors or omissions in the form or in the supporting documents, we will bring these to your attention and also identify any matters which might give rise to a refusal.

A checking service involves reviewing applications ranging from the complete and ‘ready to go’ through to applications which require a lot of work and/or rectification.  The responsibility for ensuring the application is both appropriate and complete is a very serious one, as we are effectively taking responsibility for an application which we have not prepared ourselves.   For these reasons, we usually provide the checking service on the basis of an hourly rate.  The hourly rate charged will depend on the seniority of the person who will be undertaking the checking service.

Full Representation

For how we charge where we are providing full representation, see here: How We Charge

For a description of the work we will do for you and time scales, see here: The work we will do for you and time scales

For illustrations of our fixed fees and the likely costs where we charge hourly, see here: Fixed fees and the likely costs where we charge hourly

How We Charge

Fixed Fees

In some cases, where the work we are going to do can be reasonably defined in advance, we can offer a ‘Fixed Fee’ for the work to be undertaken.  The benefit of a Fixed Fee Agreement is that you know at the beginning of the case what your legal costs will be. 

Hourly Rates

In other cases, our fees will be based on the amount of time we spend working on your case, at an hourly rate.  We will try to estimate the likely costs in your case at the beginning, or as soon as possible afterwards. We can provide no guarantee that the final charge will not exceed the estimate because there are many factors outside our control that affect the level of costs. If it becomes clear that the costs will be greater than the amount estimated, then we will give you a revised estimate and the reason for the revision. 

Our hourly rates vary according to the seniority of the team member and the nature of the work. VAT will be charged where appropriate:

Solicitors

£250-£400

Consultants

£165-£250

Caseworkers

£100-£160

Trainee solicitors

£100-£160

Discounted Fee Agreement

If we are assisting you with Judicial Review proceedings or other court litigation, we might be able to offer you a Discounted Fee Agreement (DFA).  This involves us charging at a discounted hourly rate if your case is not successful.

We will tell you if we believe that your case is suitable for a DFA.

Disbursements

The fees quoted are the legal fees, paid to Wildan Legal Solicitors.  There might be other fees you will have to pay, sometimes called ‘disbursements’.  These are costs such as visa or application fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge, court fees, fees for medical reports or translations, and courier or Special/Recorded Delivery fees.  We will advise you at the beginning of the case of any anticipated disbursements.

The work we will do for you and time scales

For full representation, the fees quoted will generally include the following:

Initial instructions – face-to-face, email or telephone, either directly with you, or with a family member or other trusted person if you are outside the UK;

Checking your eligibility for the proposed application;

Providing you with a detailed client care letter confirming your instructions, our advice, the steps we will be taking on your behalf and the costs involved;

Advising on any areas of difficulty with your application;

Providing a checklist of the documents which you will need for your application;

Assistance with setting up and completing online applications;

Providing template letters where required;

Checking all supporting documents;

Providing a detailed covering letter to UKVI;

Assistance with submitting your application;

Written advice on receipt of decision, including advice on steps to be taken in the future.

Where we offer a fixed fee, it will include all work up to the date of submission of the application and any routine steps taken thereafter.  Where the application generates UKVI enquiries, requests for interviews or other responses requiring additional work, we will charge for that work on an hourly basis which we will confirm with you.

Dependants

The fees below do not include applications for dependants unless otherwise stated.

If a dependant is applying at the same time as the main applicant, we will generally charge an additional fee of 40% for each adult dependant and 20% for each minor dependant. This covers time spent identifying and checking the additional forms and documents required for each dependant.

Administrative Review

Certain decisions of the UKVI can be challenged by way of an application for Administrative Review.

We will advise you whether there is any merit in making such an application.  The legal costs for preparing and submitting an application for Administrative Review will depend on the reasons for refusal, the mistake made by UKVI and the complexity of the arguments to be presented.

The costs are likely to be in the range £600 – £1000.

Appeals

There are now very limited Rights of Appeal against UKVI decisions. Generally our charge for an appeal will range from £2000 – £3000, not including the costs of the advocate (barrister or solicitor) on the day/s of the hearing.

The costs of the barrister will depend on the nature of your case and how experienced the barrister is. 

The fixed fee or the estimate you are given for appeal work will generally include the following level of service:

Completing and submitting Notice of Appeal with grounds of appeal;

Preparing witness statements for you and anyone else who will be attending the appeal on your behalf;

Advising on evidence in support of your appeal;

Considering the ‘Respondent’s Bundle’ of documents which UKVI will prepare in advance of the appeal;

Preparing a complete, indexed and paginated ‘Appellant’s Bundle’ of statements and other documents (including country information and case law);

Submitting your Bundle to the Tribunal and to UKVI in advance of the appeal;

Meeting with you to plan for the appeal, go through your evidence, answer your questions and describe the procedure on the day;

Arranging for you to be represented at the hearing of your appeal by a barrister, experienced in immigration law;

Providing the barrister with detailed instructions regarding your appeal;

Considering the written decision of the Judge following the hearing of the appeal and advising on next steps.

Time Scales

The time it takes an application to be prepared and submitted will depend on the type of application, the complexity of the application, the time taken to assemble all the supporting documents, and in some cases the time needed to meet various requirements of the rules (such as a requirement to hold a certain amount of money for a fixed period prior to the application).

The time taken by UKVI to make a decision on an application will also vary greatly.  The average times for applications made outside the UK can be seen in the UKVI visa processing times. The service standards for applications made within the UK can be seen in the UKVI Service Standards.

The time it takes for an appeal to be listed for hearing and for a decision to be made by the Judge varies according to the nature of your application, whether you are inside or outside the UK and which court is dealing with it. In general, appeals about visa applications (from outside the UK) take longer to be listed for hearing than in-country applications.  Judicial Reviews and other litigation can take many months.

Example fixed fees and likely costs where we charge hourly

Visit visas

£1000 – £1500

Partner – application for Entry Clearance as a Fiancé/e or Partner

£1000 – £1500

Partner – application for further leave or indefinite leave to remain

£1000 – £1500

Entry Clearance as a child to join a settled parent

£1000 – £1500

SET/FLR (LR) Long Residence under the 10 year rule

£1500 – £2000

Naturalisation as a British Citizen

£1000 – £1500

Registration of a child as a British citizen (section 1(3))

£1000 – £1500

Registration of a child as a British citizen (section 1(4))

£1000 – £1500

Registration of a child as a British citizen (discretionary)

£1000 – £1500

Tier 1 (Investor) – Further leave and ILR applications

£3000 – £5000

Innovator Founder Visa – Entry Clearance, further leave and ILR applications

£3000 – £5000

Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) – Entry Clearance, further leave and ILR applications

£3000 – £5000

Sole Representative – Further leave or ILR

£3000 – £5000

Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) – Further leave and ILR applications

£3000 – £5000

Skilled Worker/Tier 2 – Entry Clearance, further leave and ILR applications

£1000 – £1500

Student/Tier 4 – Application for Entry Clearance or further leave

£1000 – £1500

Temporary Worker/Tier 5 – Application for Entry Clearance

£1000 – £1500

UK Ancestry application for Entry Clearance or ILR

£1000 – £1500

Further Discretionary Leave or ILR at the end of 6 years

£1500 – £2000

Asylum claim (including a fresh claim)

Price on application

Application for Indefinite Leave on completion of 5 years as a refugee

£1000 – £1500

Travel Document Application

£500 – £800

Refugee Family Reunion

£1500 – £2500

Application under the European Settlement Scheme

£700 – £1000

These are examples of some of our more common applications, but we are experienced in the full range of immigration and asylum work and will give you a fixed fee quote wherever possible.

Please note all of our fees and any disbursement (where applicable) attract VAT.