Expert immigration solicitors for businesses and individuals

This section applies to our advice to you in respect of the preparation and submission of your immigration application. It does not, however, relate to any application for asylum or otherwise for entry to the UK where you believe that your rights may have been violated.

Our overall fees for immigration matters vary depending on how complex your case is and what you would like us to do. This note provides a guide to how we calculate our charges for immigration work and an indication of how much the typical case is likely to cost. For an estimate tailored to your specific matter, please contact us and we will discuss your matter and needs with you and provide you with a bespoke cost estimate.

Our charges

Our charges consist of:

• Our professional fees for the legal work.
• Costs and expenses paid to others in order to progress your matter, such as fees for a barrister’s opinion or representation. We handle making these payments on your behalf during the course of your matter, either using money that you have given us in advance, or invoicing them to you together with our fees. These payments are called disbursements.
• VAT is charged on our professional fees at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%. Many disbursements also carry VAT, and we will inform you of the VAT on each disbursement as we go along.

Calculating our fees

Our fees will either be agreed with you as a fixed fee at the start of your case OR, be based on how much time it takes to deal with your case and we will usually be guided by your preference here.

The costs of an immigration application can vary according to how complex the case is.

The table below sets out the guideline ranges for the fixed fee costs of a straightforward application under the Immigration Rules:

If we do not provide you with a fixed price, or if we do additional work for you which is outside the scope of our fixed price, please note that our hourly rates may apply. From 1 April 2024, the standard hourly rates for each type of solicitor or other team member who may be involved in your transaction are:

Outside London

London 

The factors which may impact on the complexity of your case and therefore the exact time spent and fees charged, include:

• How straightforward your case is in terms of the law.
• Whether it will be necessary to appeal.
• The amount and complexity of supporting evidence that we need to consider.
• The language(s) that you speak and the need for an interpreter.
• Whether you are applying with other family or dependants.

The cost is likely to be toward the lower end of the price range if you can provide sufficient evidence to support your application at an early stage so that we can make an early assessment that you meet the legal tests for your immigration application. If the case is more complicated or an appeal is necessary, then the costs of your case may exceed the typical price range illustrated above.

Disbursements and other expenses

You may have to pay certain expenses and costs to third parties, which are not included in the fees quoted above.

In an immigration matter, the most common disbursements tend to relate to Home Office fees that need to be paid for your application. You must pay these directly to the Home Office as part of the application process. Further details can be found on the Home Office UK visa fees website (contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0).

On occasion, interpreters may be required. 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 on your behalf. Barristers typically charge at hourly rates which vary according to their seniority. We will however guide you on this as and when such costs need to be incurred.

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 and provide an estimate of the likely cost.

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. We will confirm these to you when the location of the interview is known.

Other costs to consider

There are some costs which are not included in the fees quoted above. These costs include:

• Advice and assistance in relation to any appeal if your application is refused.

Legal work involved in the transaction

The examples of typical fees above cover all of the work we would expect to carry out in relation to the following key stages of an immigration application:

• Discussing your circumstances and advising you on your applications throughout the process.
• Meetings and/or calls with you, the client.
• Advising you on the Immigration Rules and whether you meet the criteria for the application you are making.
• Where you do not fulfil any of the criteria, advising you on whether and how this can be overcome.
• Considering and advising you on the evidence you have provided in support of your application.
• Advising and assisting you with obtaining any further documentary evidence (for example, medical records or bank statements) and taking statements from any supporting witnesses.
• Preparing your application and submitting it on your behalf.
• Advising you on timelines and the outcome of your application.
• Advising you on the outcome of the application and whether there are any further steps you need to take.
• Communicating with the Home Office and other parties (for example, witnesses) throughout and advising you on those communications.

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 if your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.

Timescale and key stages

The timescales for advising on and the processing of an immigration application will depend on various factors, including the type of application being processed and the currently estimated timescales of the Home Office’s UK Visas and Immigration department (UKVI), in addition to our own time in compiling the information we need and advising you.

For example, an application for a skilled worker visa (will take a different amount of time depending on whether the application is made inside or outside of the UK and depending on whether it is made by post or in person. Timescales can be expedited by paying an additional fee in many cases. We can usually advise on a skilled worker visa application and on whether you qualify, within a few days.

Visit visas can vary depending on which country you are applying from and on factors such as the length of the visa.

Our timescales for giving advice vary depending on the type of application and the urgency of the matter. In many cases, it may take around 2-4 weeks for us to obtain information and paperwork from you to assist with your application before it is submitted. In some cases, we may be able to process an application more quickly. In other cases, if the matter is more complex it may take longer. We will advise you of the timescales and we will keep you updated.

For example, if you are applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK (ILR), this can take up to six months from submission, in addition to the preparation time. In some cases, it may be longer.

Although we will progress your application as quickly as we can, once submitted, is not possible for us to have any control over how long the Home Office take to process immigration applications. You can view the current processing times on the Home Office Visa decision waiting times website.

Who will be dealing with your application?

Typically, your application will be handled by a solicitor in our Employment, Pensions and Immigration (EPI) team, supported as necessary by our trainees/paralegals. A solicitor acting for you may be described in correspondence as a “Partner”, a “Principal Associate”, an “Associate” or a “Solicitor”. A Principal Associate is, generally, more experienced than an Associate and an Associate is, generally, more experienced than a “Solicitor”. Our trainees/paralegals are not (yet) solicitors and usually have no other formal legal qualification.

We will always ensure that the solicitor acting for you has the requisite level of experience to handle your case competently. In any event, all work will be supervised by a Partner, being the most senior member of the team allocated to you.

Once you know who will be on the team allocated to your transaction, you will be able to find further details of their background and qualifications by visiting the People section on our website.

If you have any queries, please contact:

• Mandy Higgins on 0151 243 9894, or at Mandy.Higgins@weightmans.com
• Carolyn Bowie on 0141 375 0860, or at Carolyn.Bowie@weightmans.com