How we operate

 

The office is located in 72 University Street , BT7 1HB Belfast, and we can be contacted over the phone 07897 377702 and in writing both through the contact form, available on the website, of by letter at the above address.Whenever possible and in line with previous work commitment or urgent matter, I shall also be available to advise and assist you. I will keep you informed of the progress of your case within 3 working days from the matter arising or from the development occurring.

We shall do our best to respond promptly to letters or calls made to my office about your case within 5 working days, but ask you to understand that at busy times an immediate reply is not always possible. If you need to see in person, you should telephone first for an appointment as otherwise you may not be seen when you attend my office.

We shall, of course, take great care with any original documents such as passports, which you give to me for sending to the immigration authorities. These will be returned to you immediately once they are returned to us.

If you are on a low income or receiving welfare benefits, you may qualify for Legal Aid to assist you with your case although this will depend on the matter you are pursuing. Please note that my immigration practice does not represent clients free under that scheme. If it is likely that you will qualify for Legal Aid I will advise you of this.

 

Professional Fees, Home Office Fees and other disbursements.

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Immigration & Employment NI does not charge VAT for this financial year.

The professional fees include the assistance in preparing and lodging the application as well as submitting the supporting documents. Also, where compatible with my current advisory capacity and the case requires it, the professional fees include also making representations to the Home Office.  

Our normal policy is to request full payment of the professional fees on account, upon confirmation of the instructions. The amount transferred or otherwise paid will be held in the clients’ account until a substantial part of the work related to the client’s file is carried which normally corresponds to the submission of the application to the Home Office. At the moment, you will be issued with a fee note/invoice and the relevant amount of fees and outlays will be transferred into the business account. However, very frequently, the process of acquiring the necessary documentation and information from the client and reviewing it requires a prolonged time and additional advice to be given, with substantial work carried out before the actual submission of the application. Where this occurs, you will be issued with the fee note/invoice before the actual submission of the application. At times, where due to supervening circumstances or poor representation by the client during the initial consultation, the client’s case requires extensive additional work, the client could incur in extra fees.  For this very reason, and with the aim of full transparency, our fees scale contains an indication of the maximum number of hours devoted to each type of application.

 

Our quotations only  refers to representative fees and do not include:

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•    the fees for initial consultation you might have paid prior to this letter

•    the Home Office fees

•    the Immigration Health Surcharge and other charges for specific applications

•    additional government fees for fast track and premium services

•    translation costs, notarial, legalisation and apostille fees

 

Office Opening times

Please note that my office is open from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm during weekdays but we receive clients on appointment only.

Your file

The OISC requires regulated practice to keep a copy of your case file for up to 6 years after your case is closed. After that this maybe destroyed, unless you make arrangements to collect it from my office.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

The OISC requires every immigration adviser/lawyer to have Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII). The purpose of PII is to cover any compensation you may need to pay to correct a mistake or to cover any legal costs due to negligence, misrepresentation and/or inaccurate advice which may cause, or contribute to, financial or other loss to the client. In line of that we have subscribed a professional indemnity insurance coverange.

 

Complaints procedure

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If at any stage you have any concerns regarding the conduct of your case, please raise them with us, preferably in writing. If were are not able to resolve it to your satisfaction,  we will activate the formal procedure for the resolution of complaints and provide you with information and guidance.