Immigration
Immigration solicitors for founders, executives and their families
Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Skilled Worker and sponsor licences. Settlement, citizenship, and refusals worth appealing.
Where the routes actually differ
Most people arrive at this decision having been told they need a visa, without being told which one is better for them. The difference is substantial and it is rarely about eligibility alone.
Global Talent
Usually the best route if you qualify
Requires endorsement by a recognised body rather than a job offer or investment. No sponsorship, no minimum salary, no requirement to run a business, and it permits changing employer, starting a company or doing both. More people qualify than realise it. The route now includes a pathway for the design industry, and peer review is simplified for PhD-level researchers at approved UK institutions.
Innovator Founder
Endorsement is the real barrier
Requires an endorsed business that is new, innovative, viable and scalable, with ongoing contact with the endorsing body. The formal investment threshold was removed, but endorsers apply their own standards and those standards are demanding.
Skilled Worker
The most common and the least flexible
Requires a sponsoring employer and ties your permission to that job. From March 2026 employers must meet the required salary in every pay period rather than on average across the year — a compliance change that has caught out sponsors who pay variable hours or use annualised salaries.
Choosing between them is a strategic decision with consequences for the next decade, not a form-filling exercise. It is worth an hour of advice before anything is submitted.
Where we act
Nine kinds of immigration matter
01
Global Talent visa
Endorsement applications across the arts, digital technology, academia, research and now design.
02
Innovator Founder visa
Endorsement, business plans that survive scrutiny, and the contact-point requirements that follow.
03
Skilled Worker and sponsorship
Applications, changes of employment, and the salary and skill requirements as they now stand.
04
Sponsor licences and compliance
Applications, and the compliance audit you should run before the Home Office runs it for you. Revocation removes every sponsored worker’s permission at once, which is a business continuity problem rather than an immigration one.
05
Spouse, partner and family visas
Including where a relationship is under strain, which has consequences that are not obvious and which most family solicitors do not spot.
06
Indefinite leave to remain
Continuous residence, absences, and the English and Life in the UK requirements — including the rise from B1 to B2 on 26 March 2027.
07
British citizenship and naturalisation
Naturalisation, good character, and the questions that arise when the residence history is not straightforward.
08
Refusals, appeals and administrative review
When a refusal is worth challenging and when it is faster to reapply — a judgment that turns on the refusal’s reasoning rather than on how unfair it feels.
09
Immigration judicial review
Where there is no right of appeal and the decision is unlawful, unreasonable or procedurally unfair. Short deadlines, and a permission stage before the claim is heard.
Settlement
What has changed and what has not
There is a great deal of alarming and inaccurate information about settlement. Here is the position as it actually stands.
What follows from all of this is straightforward: do not let avoidable delay accumulate. Gaps in continuous residence, absences that breach the limits, and applications made late are all within your control, and they matter more under any version of these rules than they did before.
Why clients instruct us
When immigration is not only immigration
This is why clients instruct us rather than an immigration adviser who does nothing else.
Your status depends on a job that is ending
A Skilled Worker whose employment is being terminated has an immigration problem and an employment problem at the same time, and they interact: the date of termination, the notice period and the terms of a settlement agreement all affect how long you have and what you can do next. Advice on one without the other is how people lose their status unnecessarily.
Your status depends on a marriage that is ending
A spouse visa is tied to a subsisting relationship. The timing of separation and divorce proceedings has consequences for status and for settlement.
You are being discriminated against and you are worried about your visa
This is the most common reason good discrimination claims are never brought. Being sponsored does not remove your protection under the Equality Act — and there are ways to run a claim that account for your status rather than ignoring it.
Fees
What it costs
Fixed fees
Most immigration applications are handled on an agreed fixed fee, quoted before we begin, because the scope is predictable. Judicial review is charged hourly at £400 per hour plus VAT.
Government fees, the immigration health surcharge, court fees, barristers’ fees and translations are not included in our fee, and we set them out separately so you can see the total before committing.
Questions
Questions people ask us
Is the settlement qualifying period now ten years?
No. Five years remains the standard qualifying period on the usual routes. A ten-year baseline has been proposed and consulted on — the consultation closed on 12 February 2026 — but it has not been enacted and no implementation date has been confirmed.
I am three years into a five-year route. Am I protected?
Nobody can tell you that yet. The government said in February 2026 that transitional arrangements remain subject to the consultation outcome. What you can do is make sure nothing in your own history gives rise to a problem: keep absences within the limits, avoid gaps in your permission, and apply in good time.
What is changing that is definitely confirmed?
From 26 March 2027 the English language requirement for settlement rises from B1 to B2 across Skilled Worker, Scale-up, Global Talent, Innovator Founder and several other routes. Separately, from March 2026 sponsoring employers must meet the required salary in every pay period rather than on average.
Global Talent or Skilled Worker — which is better?
If you qualify for Global Talent, almost always Global Talent. It needs no sponsor, ties you to no employer, imposes no minimum salary, and lets you change job or start a business freely. The barrier is endorsement rather than eligibility, and more people meet the standard than assume they do.
My employer is making me redundant and I am on a Skilled Worker visa. How long do I have?
Less time than most people think, and the details matter: the date your sponsorship is curtailed, your notice period, and the terms of any settlement agreement all affect it. This is a situation where immigration and employment advice have to be given together, and quickly.
Should I appeal my refusal or just apply again?
It depends on why it was refused. Where the decision misapplies the rules or ignores evidence, an appeal or administrative review may be right. Where evidence was missing or weak, a fresh application is often faster and cheaper. The judgment turns on the refusal letter’s reasoning, not on how unfair the outcome feels — send it to us and we will tell you which it is.
Can I be discriminated against at work if I am on a visa?
No, and being sponsored does not reduce your protection under the Equality Act 2010. Fear of losing status is the most common reason strong discrimination claims are never brought. There are ways to pursue a claim that take your immigration position into account rather than ignoring it.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Immigration rules change frequently — take advice on your own position.
Start with a conversation
A free 20-minute call. Tell us your situation and we will tell you which routes are realistic and what they involve.
No charge
A free 20-minute call
Tell us what has happened and we will tell you whether we can help, what it would involve and roughly what it would cost. No advice is given on this call and there is no charge for it.
£350 plus VAT
A paid strategy session
One hour with a partner, followed by a written summary of your position and options. For people who want proper advice without instructing a firm yet. Credited in full against your fees if you go on to instruct us.
Or reach us directly
We answer enquiries the same working day.