Your initial consultation will also provide you with an opportunity to ask specific questions about UK immigration rules. We will always endeavour to provide you with clear and concise immigration advice based upon your current personal circumstances. All our consultations are totally confidential. What does that mean? It means we cannot discuss your case with anyone you have not authorised us to speak to. You may also like to know that all our consultations remain open for up to two months from the date of your last consultation. What does that mean? It means you can seek further advice from our experienced immigration team of advisers without being charge a further consultation fee (provided you seek further advice within two months from the date of your last consultation).

If you decide to instruct us to represent you then you will be required to pay a 50% deposit of your agreed legal fees. Once we receive your instructions to proceed and your deposit, we will open your file and prepare a detailed client care letter confirming the work we have been instructed to undertake and the agreed fees to be paid. We will also provide you with a comprehensive document checklist in which we will outline all the required and recommended documents needed to ensure your proposed application is granted.

Once we receive all your documents, we will then review them and where necessary, advise you on what further documents would increase your chances of getting a positive decision. Once we are confident that we have everything we need we will then complete your first draft application. Your draft application will then need to be approved by one of our senior Immigration Solicitors. Once they have approved your application it will then be passed to you for approval. You will be invited to review the full draft application and make any changes you feel are necessary. Once approved, you will be required to pay the remaining 50% legal fees and we will submit your application for consideration.

Time Scales

In normal circumstances we should be in a position to prepare and submit your application within 4-6 weeks of your initial instructions provided you have supplied the required documents within a reasonable time frame from initial instructions. We will of course always let you know at the earliest opportunity if it is likely to take us longer than our normal agreed time frame to finalise your application(s).

All our legal fees are agreed in advance and are based upon a fixed fee arrangement that will be discussed during your initial consultation. However, please note if we are unable to complete all the work as a result of you not wishing to continue with the application then our fees will be calculated based upon the number of hours worked and chargeable fee rate of the person working on your application. We also ask that you have regard to the fact that all applications are unique and as such the time frames mentioned can vary. We will of course provide you with a more accurate estimate once we have more information about your specific case.

Please note that we cannot guarantee how long the Home Office will take to process the application. However, you can always review the Home Office current processing time estimates on their website; https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about-our-services.

Estimated Fixed Legal Fees

Details of our agreed fees will be explained to you within the consultation and again made clear within our Client Care Letter that will be sent to you once you have instructed us. The pricing information for the preparing and submission of some of the standard immigration application are as follows:

Naturalisation or registration under the British Nationality Act 1981 between £450 – £650
EEA applications – £600 – £900
Student and work experience visas – £600 – £900
Visit visas – £900
Spouse and partner applications (including fiancé/civil partners) – £1500 – £2000
Work, business or study applications under the Points-Based System – £600 – £1500
Dependent relative and family reunion applications – £1500
Ancestry visas – £900 – £1200
Other categories, such as applications based on long residence – £1200 – £1500

All fees specified above are the legal fees charged by Andrew Williams Solicitors. These prices are case specific and may differ dependent upon the personal circumstances of the applicant(s). Certain factors that may alter the price can be if the client has any dependents that are to be included on the application or if there have been any previous refusals.
Please be aware that our agreed fixed fees are based upon the actual estimated time we believe we will spend working on the file. If for any reason, there are complications which require further work to be undertaken then we will contact you in advance of any work being undertaken to discuss the best way forward and the extra fees involved.

Disbursement Fees

Our legal fees do not include any disbursement costs related to the immigration matter that are payable to third parties, such as visa fees. All Home Office fees will be paid directly to the Home Office by the client as part of the application process.

If you provide documents that require translation and or authenticity verification then additional fees will be payable and should be paid prior to the instruction of the translator or expert. Client instructions will be taken prior to the instruction of any expert or translator.

Invoice and Receipts

We will keep your informed of the amounts owed and all payments you have made by providing you with regular bills and statements of fees.

It is our normal practice to insist that the entire fees be paid prior to the application being submitted to the Home Office. Unless, your matter relates to appeal then in that case we require payment of all fees before your appeal bundle is complete and served on all parties.

All clients are advised that in the event of any payment not being made or made on time, we reserve the right to decline to act further on their behalf.

Post Application Work or Other Work

In the event that further representations have to be submitted following the submission of your application or in accordance with your instructions, you will be advised accordingly of any potential legal or disbursement fee incurred as a result. We will always take your instructions before such fees are incurred.

Contact

Clients will be regularly updated on all aspects of their case via emails and phone calls. We also ensure that our staff are available where necessary to answer any questions you may have about your application.