A guide to immigration lawyers

Immigration lawyers are highly qualified legal professionals who assist people and businesses with applications to either enter or stay in the UK.

Immigration law is one of the most complex and difficult to understand areas of law at the best of time and given that most people who require an immigration lawyer will be making an application for the very first time, their role in supporting and representing them is incredibly important.

Immigration lawyers will help their clients to gather evidence, fill out the appropriate paperwork without making any costly mistakes, and advise them on the best route forward.

If an application to live, work, or remain in the UK is rejected and immigration lawyer can advise you on whether or not they believe an appeal has a chance of being successful and assist you with the process if you wish to proceed.

If you are required to attend an interview with the authorities, commonplace in leave to remain applications, they will brief you on the questions that are likely to be asked and what sort of answers you should give. If you end up with a hearing in court determining if your appeal has been successful, your immigration lawyer will represent you, having carefully compiled all the required evidence and built the strongest possible case on your behalf using their expertise and knowledge of previous cases.

Read on to discover more on what an immigration lawyer does and whether you could benefit from consulting or hiring one on your behalf.

What is the difference between business immigration lawyers and personal immigration lawyers?

Immigration lawyers will work with both businesses and individuals in matters relating to immigration law.

Most immigration lawyers offer their services to either, but some will specialise in one or the other.

Business immigration work does tend to be the more lucrative for the lawyer themselves, assisting companies in hiring highly-skilled migrants by helping them obtain either residency or leave to remain in the UK. Business immigration lawyers will also assist UK businesses looking to expand their operations overseas by helping their employees apply for visas in other countries.

The role of business immigration lawyer will involve:

• Helping businesses and workers with visa applications
• Researching and becoming experts on the latest immigration law, and any scheme available to businesses and highly-skilled migrants.
• Representing businesses and their employees in hearings of appeal tribunals.
• Working alongside barristers and other business lawyers on contractual matters.

On the other hand, personal immigration legal work is some of the most important and rewarding work a lawyer can do, assisting those whose right to stay in the UK is being threatened and who are looking to move to the UK following traumatic experiences in their home or other countries.

Personal immigration lawyers will:

• Provide advice to those looking to stay in or move to the UK
• Help their clients to gather and submit all the evidence and information required for applications and appeals
• Represent their clients in appeal hearings if required.
• Have an in-depth understanding of immigration paperwork and procedures and help to explain it to their client.

What do human rights lawyers do?

Immigration lawyers must have an strong understanding of human rights law as many immigration cases focus around them.

However, the role of human rights lawyer is very different to that of an immigration lawyer. Human rights lawyers provide counsel and representation to anyone who has been the victim of human rights violations. On a daily basis, these individuals challenge discrimination and defend the fundamental human rights that are the cornerstone of a fair modern society.

Just some of the responsibilities of a human rights lawyer include:

• Advising their clients about what their human rights are and whether they may have a claim
• Explaining the sometimes complex process of actually making a claim
• Gathering as much evidence as possible regarding the details of the events in question and using them to build the strongest possible case.
• Representing their client in court if the case proceeds that far.
• Building an extensive knowledge of human rights case law and precedent
• Working and negotiating with other lawyers involved in the case.
• Ensuring that any reparation or agreement made during the case is fully implemented afterwards

Human rights lawyers will often work closely with immigration lawyers, using their expertise to advise them on whether their clients may have been the victim of a human rights violation and representing migrants themselves in certain cases. As mentioned above, there is a significant amount of overlap between the two fields.

Some law firms, such as Aamer Anwar & Co., based in Scotland provide both immigration and human rights legal services, with lawyers who are experts in both areas.