Immigration Lawyers: directory of firms

GOV.UK puts it simply: all immigration advisers must be registered with the IAA or be a member of an approved professional body. Solicitors and barristers are outside the IAA register because their own regulators already cover them, and their conduct, insurance and complaints routes sit with those regulators instead.

The IAA describes itself as protecting people seeking immigration advice through regulation, enforcement and the promotion of best practice, and it can prosecute people who provide immigration advice or services illegally. It was established under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 among other statutes, and it publishes an Adviser Finder so you can check whether an organisation or individual is actually registered.

Check before you pay, not after. The register is the only reliable test. A smart office, a long client list and a confident manner tell you nothing about authorisation.

Most applications are decided on the papers you submit, so the quality of the evidence bundle largely determines the outcome. An adviser's real work is usually assembling and explaining that evidence against the specific rule being relied on, rather than writing a persuasive letter.

If an application is refused, the letter tells you what, if anything, you can do about it. Some decisions carry a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber, some carry only administrative review, and some carry neither, leaving judicial review as the route. Deadlines are short and are stated in the decision letter. Read the date on it the day it arrives and get advice immediately; missing the deadline usually ends the option.

IAA registration is not one-size-fits-all. Advisers are registered to work at defined levels, and an adviser registered for straightforward applications is not permitted to take on appeal work. An adviser who offers to do everything, regardless of complexity, is either registered at a higher level or is acting outside their authorisation.

Ask which level someone holds and for the appeal stage ask who will conduct it. If the answer is vague, the Adviser Finder and the regulators' registers will give you a firm one. Charging for immigration advice while unregistered is a criminal matter the IAA can prosecute.

Detention and removal move on a different clock from ordinary applications. If someone is detained or has been given removal directions, the first call should be to an immigration solicitor or a suitably registered adviser who does detention work, not to a general adviser who will call back next week.

Bring everything: the Home Office reference, every letter received, passports, and any previous adviser's details. An adviser cannot assess whether a challenge is possible without the decision documents, and in a removal case the time available to read them is measured in hours.