About

I have been practising immigration law for over 22 years and I am top ranked in Chambers, Legal 500 and Spears 500. I'm deeply committed to helping my clients navigate a complex and sometimes challenging immigration system, and approach cases with creativity and determination, looking for practical and innovative solutions that deliver results for clients.

I take the time to develop strong, trusting relationships with my clients to understand their objectives and business needs, before providing commercially sensible and accessible legal advice.

Clear communication is a core part of how I work; I make sure my clients understand their options and feel informed and supported.

I collaborate regularly with the Home Office at a senior level and take part in their consultations. I believe open dialogue with the Home Office is a good way to resolve issues, but I am prepare to litigate when necessary and have experience of appeals before the First Tier and Upper Tier tribunals as well as of judicial reviews. I am known for my work on complex cases and I am often asked to provide second opinions by other law firms and legal advisers.

My experience covers the full spectrum of business immigration from the complex to the straightforward, for businesses, entrepreneurs, high net worth individuals and families.

Experience

Business Immigration

  • Helping a company set up UK operations, apply for a skilled worker sponsor licence and move their CEO and founder to the UK with his family, navigating the Home Office's complex restrictions on self-sponsorship
  • Advising a Family Office on setting up in the UK using Expansion Worker and then moving to a skilled worker sponsor licence
  • Assisting an entrepreneur with their endorsement and visa application under the Innovator Founder route
  • Advising clients with sponsor licences ahead of changes to the skilled worker route, and helping them assess their future recruitment needs and eligibility for the route. This included spending time on the "shop floor" observing operations and what the roles involved to gain a better understanding of the client's business
  • Advising on an urgent global talent visa for an AI tech entrepreneur moving to the UK, obtaining endorsement and the visa within 2 weeks

High Net Worth Immigration

  • Advising a Hollywood Design Director on his move to the UK with his family using global talent and advising on adding his dependent children who were living separately and studying abroad
  • Advising a client on adding an overaged dependent child on their visa, despite this route not being available to children over the age of 18, due to her severer disabilities and dependency on her parents
  • Advising clients on a move to the UK and arranging for extended family members to reside in Europe on a golden visa to be closer to the clients, which involved coordinating with their overseas lawyers

Complex Cases

  • Successfully managing a Home Office right to work audit for a busy restaurant chain with minimum disruption for the client and ensuring their right to work practices were compliant prior to the Home Office audit. I arranged for the audit to be undertaken at my offices so as to minimise disruption for the client by avoiding having Home Office staff on their premises
  • Acting for a sports governing body in successfully judicially reviewing a Home Office decision to suspend endorsements under their sporting licence at the commencement of their season
  • Advising a high net worth philanthropist with a criminal conviction from their past when they were suffering from mental health issues, on applying for a UK visitor visa
  • Advising a client on regaining their sponsor licence after the client let the licence lapse without realising and had sponsored workers. We worked with the Home Office to submit the licence application as a priority and the client was then able to re-sponsor the migrant workers immediately and their applications were prioritised and approved

Family Immigration

  • Advising a client who obtained permanent residence prior to Brexit apply under the EU Settlement Scheme after they were refused. The judicial review pre-action protocol was followed and I discussed the matter with senior contacts at the Home Office
  • Applying for citizenship for a client with disabilities using a waiver on the knowledge of life in the UK and English language requirement and asking for discretion on capacity
  • Complex applications for citizenship using ancestry and the recent change in law on correcting historical unfairness where citizenship could not pass through the female line

Services

Sectors