Immigration – North Star Law

North Star Law Immigration
Fees and other costs

Please contact us directly for further details of our rates, estimates and funding options.

Consultations

We offer consultations for a fixed fee of £350, plus VAT. This will typically involve meeting with you to:

review the facts of your particular circumstances, and
advise you how best to proceed in respect of your immigration status in the UK, or the options available to you. This may include us recommending that we do further research before we can make any finite recommendations, and if so such work would be charged on an hourly rate.

Fixed fees and hourly rates

We will usually agree a fixed fee with you to assist with an immigration application – see below table below.

In some circumstances we will charge an hourly rate and in such instances the costs are:

immigration solicitors £300 per hour (+ vat)
trainees £150 per hour (+ vat)
paralegals £100 per hour (+vat)

When we are instructed on an hourly rate bases we try to give you a full estimate before you agree to instruct us. VAT is added to the fees stated above when billed.

Our typical fixed fee ranges for immigration applications for one person are (all fees are exclusive of VAT, unless this is chargeable in which case it is added to the bill where applicable):

Application type	Typical fixed fee/range
Skilled Worker applications	£2,000 – £3,500
Applications for Dependants of Skilled Workers	£2,000 – £3,500
Sponsor Licence application for Skilled Worker	£3,500 – £6,000
Global Mobility
Licence application Visa application	£4,000 – £10,000 £2,500 – £5,000
Tier 1 (Investor)	£8,000 – £20,000
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)	£6,000 – £10,000
ECAA Applications
ECAA 1 ECAA 2 ECAA 3 ECAA 4	£1,500 – £2,500 £2,000 – £3,500 £1,500 – £2,500 £2,500 – £3,500
Representative of an overseas business	£3,000 – £8,000
Global Talent
Endorsement Visa application	£3,000 – £5,000 £2,000 – £3,500
Visitor	£1,000 – £2,500
Family visas	£2,000 – £4,000
Naturalisation as a British Citizen for adults	£2,000 – £5,000
Registration as a British Citizen for children under 18	£1,000 – £5,000
Student	£1,500 – £3,000
Graduate	£1,500 – £2,500
High Potential Individual	£1,500 – £2,500
Innovator Founder
Endorsement Visa application	£3,000 – £5,000 £2,500 – £3,500
Settlement applications	£2,500 – £5,000

We are also happy to agree fixed fees in relation to other types of matter, such as Tiers 2 and 5 sponsorship licence matters, and administrative reviews, appeals and judicial reviews of Home Office decisions. These fixed fees will be based on the estimated time to completion of the matter, based on our hourly rate of £300 per hour, plus VAT. They will depend on the particular circumstances of the client, but the factors which are relevant to the level of these fees are similar to those listed below for immigration applications.

What a lower end fixed fee covers

Our fixed fees are based, at the lower end, on work that will be carried out in a standard application, to include:

meeting you or speaking on the telephone to take detailed instructions on your situation
advising you on which is the appropriate immigration application in your circumstances, and whether your application meets the relevant legal requirements
considering relevant documents
advising on the relevant application process
preparing and assisting with the submission of your application, including completing the relevant application form and requesting and reviewing or drafting relevant documents
advising you on timelines and the outcome of the application
liaising with the UKVI about your application, including writing a cover letter for your application

What may require a higher fixed fee?

Our fixed fees may be higher where one or more of various factors make the matter more complicated than a standard application, including:

if there are particular practical aspects to your application that will require additional work to a standard application, eg:
- where you travel frequently
- where there are relevant parties in different countries
- where there is a requirement for urgent/expedited assistance
- whether it is a fast tracked/premium service
if there are aspects of your case which are legally or factually complex/do not clearly meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules or other relevant law
if you have a complex immigration history/you are an overstayer/have a criminal record
the number of supporting documents, statements/letters to be prepared and/or reviewed
if expert evidence is required, which will involve us liaising with a relevant expert and reviewing the report
if the application will require our personal attendance, eg at a UKVI interview or application centre
if there are dependants, their number and if there are any complicating factors in relation to their applications
if a partner is an unmarried partner, as this will require additional evidence, e.g. of cohabitation
bespoke additional services agreed with our client on a case by case basis

What services will not be included in the fixed fee?

Unless we confirm otherwise, our fixed fee will not include:

assistance with document procurement from overseas authorities
advice on whether there are any tax or other fiscal implications of the application; or whether an application may have any implications for other citizenships held*
any work after an application is submitted other than advice on a successful outcome, in particular:
advice and assistance in relation to any rejection or refusal of an application (eg administrative review, appeal or other form of challenge)
dealing with non-standard requests for additional documents or further information sent by the UKVI

*We would be happy to refer you for advice on these matters to the North Star Law private client team, and to relevant nationality lawyers from other jurisdictions.

What other costs may there be?

In most applications, the main additional costs will be:

UKVI application fees, including, where relevant, the Immigration Health Surcharge, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table
third party application processing costs, including priority processing charges:
- for applications made in the UK, see https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/additional-services
- for applications made overseas, see: https://www.gov.uk/find-a-visa-application-centre
interpreters and translation costs; we will advise what these are on a case by case basis
copying/scanning and postage fees; when we are scanning/ copying a large number of documents for you, we will make a one-off administrative charge of £50 to cover our costs relating to scanning/ copying your documents
postage costs
travel costs

All fees and costs shown above are exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) which will be added where applicable to each bill.

How long will the application take?

The time taken to submit your application from the point of initial instruction will depend upon your particular circumstances, and we will confirm the relevant time frames to you.

UKVI decision-making times will depend on the type of application, where it is submitted, and whether any priority services are used. Standard processing times are published by the UKVI:

for overseas immigration applications, on their Visa Processing Times tool: https://www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times
for immigration applications made in the UK, in the relevant category guide: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration

Who will be carrying out the work: team qualifications and experience

Work on your case will be carried out by a solicitor, and potentially assisted by a trainee solicitor or paralegal. Information on the team members can be found on the team website page. For further information please contact us.

North Star Law ImmigrationFees and other costs