Immigration solicitor or and Immigration adviser, who to choose?

By 1st 4Immigration - #1 UK Immigration Experts -
If you are looking for help with your UK visa application you'd generally find these 2 types of professionals. 

1) Solicitors, ie lawyers in a traditional meaning on the profession. They have formal legal training and are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and also have a listing on the Law Society website. 

2) Immigration advisers, like myself and others at our company, who are not solicitors in the traditional meaning of the profession but who are nonetheless fit to advise people on the Immigration Rules and who are regulated by The Office of Immigration Services Commissioner ( OISC). 

What do we have in common? 
We both can advise on the immigration law, we are both appropriately regulated (just by the different regulators) , both have to abide a Code of Practice, have professional insurance, both face penalties and being struck-off for acting against the regulations etc. In fact, most OISC rules are written to be very similar of those of the Regulations for solicitors. we both can do the same work, except perhaps there are no high- reaching positions like QCs for immigration advisers, although for most day-to-day clients it is not necessary anyway. And if an adviser or solicitor gets everything right from the 1st time then there would be no need to go further and argue a case on appeal, for example. 

How do we differ? 
The main difference would be the fact that solicitors can practice all areas of law (many specialise, out of choice) while OISC-regulated immigration advisers can only practice immigration. We, immigration advisers, do not offer help with buying a property or registering a company, for example. If you are buying a property you'd find a similar system: there are solicitors who can practice all areas of law (though many specialise) and there are conveyancers who only practice property law. 

Simply, I would put it this way: solicitors know a bit of everything while immigration advisers know all about one thing (ie immigration). 

Who to choose? 
Of course each would advocate their own system, solicitors would say they have more legal training. While we, immigration advisers, would say we specialise in immigration only on a day-to-day basis and perhaps have lower fees due to a less formal manner of work (we don't post legal letters but email instead and we don't have legal secretaries). 

The proper answer, like with many things, lies "in the middle": there are good and bad professionals in each category. There are good and bad solicitors and there are good and bad immigration advisers. The challenge is to find a good professional, in either category. It depends on a person, his/her talent, experience and also work ethic. 

Perhaps I have not made your choice any easier! But hopefully, I have clarified a few things about this matter. Recommendations of friends is a good source. I estimate about 50% of our custom comes from the word of mouth. We also have a relatively high percentage of returning clients who come back for a next visa, such as an extension or ILR and then Citizenship. 

For advice or to make an application please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com 

If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our CDP training website: www.1st4immigration.com/training 

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