It’s often assumed that the job of the London immigration lawyers begins and ends with making sure you haven’t made any mistakes in your application form. Of course, this kind of proofreading does indeed constitute one of their tasks, but at the same time there’s so much more to the process that must be taken into account. These legal professionals are there to evaluate each and every case brought to them in order to assess the applicant’s eligibility and help them put together the best case possible. Even for those who may tick all the right boxes, it’s never been more difficult to successfully get into the UK by way of visa application.
So, what all of the above adds up to is a scenario where the immigration lawyer you choose will have as much bearing on the outcome of the application as will the applicant’s eligibility in general. Regardless of the type of entry visa you’re looking for, it takes no more than the slightest of grey areas, oversights or unanswered questions to scupper your chances entirely.
So, for those looking to make the very best choice, here’s a quick look at the five golden rules on immigration lawyer hiring from the professionals:
1 – An Extensive Search
First of all, just because there’s a lawyer or group thereof that you actually know the name of doesn’t mean you should limit your search to this and this alone. Right now, there are thousands of immigration lawyers up and down the UK with all manners of different specialisms and experience. Or in other words, no matter who you are, what you need or what kind of budget you have to play with, there’s the perfect lawyer somewhere in the mix waiting to be found. As such, it’s in your best interests to use the web to search the market high and low in order to find the best-suited lawyer for your own case, rather than confining your search to just a few better-known brands.
2 – Insist on Feedback
Before even thinking about going ahead with any immigration lawyer at all you must first find out how they perform when put to the test. This might sound like a rather arduous process of researching their history, but in reality is as simple as checking out a few examples of feedback. There isn’t a lawyer in practice today that won’t have at least some feedback and references you can fall upon for advice – even if it means asking the lawyer directly to provide them, it’s an absolute must.
3 – Choose a Few, Speak to Them All
Rather trying to go the ‘needle in a haystack’ route and select one lawyer from the millions on offer, try instead narrowing them down to a handful or so who seem to fit the bill to a tee. Once you have five or six lawyers who seem to be up to the job, take the time to talk to each one of them and ask them as many questions as necessary. If possible pay them a visit in person, but if not, then contact them online and ask them to outline what they plan to do for you, what they’ve done in the past and how much they’re planning to charge you for working with them.
4 – Factor in Fees
The subject of fees can be rather tricky as while there’s never any sense in paying over the odds, you can’t expect decent representation if you pay pennies. It’s a bit of a balancing act therefore, but what you absolutely must do by all accounts is make sure that you fully understand the lawyer’s fee structure and every charge they’ll be sending your way. From travel expenses to accommodation to standard legal fees and perhaps even document translation, fees rarely tend to be as black and white as they seem and therefore warrant full investigation.
5 – Experience and Education
Last up, a crucial determining factor when assessing the value and merit of any lawyer is that of looking into their education and experience with equal focus. Some will always look at one with greater importance than the other, but in reality it’s a case of finding that ideal balance between the two. The better their standard of education, the more they’re likely to know about legal matters in a theoretical sense. The more experience they have, the more they’ll have practiced implementing this theory in a real-world setting. So really, there’s no place for any lawyer that has one in spades but is totally lacking in the other department – strive for a sensible balance of the two.