Pricing and service information: Personal immigration

We provide bespoke advice which will be tailored to the specific situation of each client, taking into account their personal situation, immigration history and availability of information from third parties necessary for compliance with the Immigration Rules.

Our pricing model

We will provide our clients with an Engagement Letter at the outset which clearly shows what work will be included in and excluded from the estimate given and what information has been made available to us and the requirements of the client. We will keep clients updated throughout the process if circumstances change and the estimate needs to be revised. 

For the avoidance of doubt, the charges for our services include attendance at meetings and conference calls, assistance in the preparation of documents, liaising with financial institutions on behalf of the client and providing practical guidance in the completion of the process, as well as assisting in the initial compliance with the Immigration Rules after arrival in the UK. They do not include Home Office application fees and third party visa processing fees, which are paid by the client directly to the relevant party. 

Typically, there are no disbursements (e.g. translation fees) included in our costs as the client usually makes payments directly to third parties. We will notify the client if any disbursements are expected.

Our fees

We normally charge only by reference to time and the exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of each case. The hourly rates charged depend on the experience of the relevant team member and the key members of the immigration team are set out below.

We may agree fixed-fees or other bases of charging for discrete pieces of work where the scope is clearly defined.

Our hourly rates

Our hourly rates in relation to immigration work range between:

• £615 and £680 (plus VAT of £123 – £136, if applicable) for a partner
• £540 and £605 (plus VAT of £108 – £121, if applicable) for a director
• £445 and £535 (plus VAT of £89 – £107, if applicable) for a senior associate
• £395 and £510 (plus VAT of £79 – £102, if applicable) for an associate
• £270 and £465 (plus VAT of £54 – £93, if applicable) for a solicitor
• £180 and £200 (plus VAT of £36 – £40, if applicable) for a trainee

Examples of our fees

We have set out below some examples of our fee estimates to illustrate our costs in a number of typical scenarios, although these figures should be taken as a guideline only and will be superseded by any fee estimate(s) set out in our pricing proposal (if any) and/or Engagement Letter.

Tier 1 (Investor) visa (the route is now closed to new applicants)

• Tier 1 (Investor) extension visa for main applicant and dependent spouse should cost between £9,950 and £17,500 (plus VAT of £1,990 to £3,500, if applicable).

EU Settlement Scheme applications

• Application for main applicant (under the EU Settlement Scheme) should cost between £2,950 and £6,350 (plus VAT of £590 to £1,270, if applicable).

Family visa

• Family visa for main applicant should cost between £4,950 and £9,650 (plus VAT of £990 to £1,930, if applicable).

UK Ancestry visa

• UK Ancestry visa for main applicant should cost between £2,950 and £6,350 (plus VAT of £590 to £1,270, if applicable).

Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa

• Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa for main applicant should cost between £2,950 and £6,350 (plus VAT of £590 to £1,270, if applicable).

High Potential Individual visa

• High Potential Individual visa for main applicant should cost between £2,950 and £6,350 (plus VAT of £590 to £1,270, if applicable). 

Innovator Founder visa

• Innovator Founder visa for main applicant should cost between £9,950 and £17,500 (plus VAT of £1,990 to £3,500 if applicable).

Global Talent visa

• Global Talent visa for main applicant and dependent spouse should cost between £9,950 and £17,500 (plus VAT of £1,990 to £3,500 if applicable).

Indefinite Leave to Remain

• Indefinite Leave to Remain application for main applicant should cost between £5,950 and £10,750 (plus VAT of £1,190 to £2,150, if applicable).

British citizenship by naturalisation

• British citizenship by naturalisation application for main applicant should cost between £5,950 and £10,750 (plus VAT of £1,190 to £2,150, if applicable).

Contributing factors and assumptions

Please note, our costs will depend on the level of assistance required from us, in addition to the following (non-exhaustive) factors:

• the complexity of the applicant’s personal circumstances
• the urgency of the matter
• the general workloads and capacity of the team
• the extent of partner supervision (sometimes called ‘gearing’) required
• the location of the work
• the wider client-relationship with the family
• whether the client may need to engage us via a translator or interpreter, and
• the frequency of meetings required by the client.

The estimates set out above are based on the following assumptions:

• The applicant has readily available personal documents and no adverse immigration history.
• The applicant meets all of the requirements of the relevant immigration category.
• The applicant has the relevant endorsement (if applicable).
• We will not be required to attend meetings with the client outside of the UK prior to the application being submitted.

Timeline

We will discuss the relevant timeline with the client at the outset. Broadly speaking, a UK immigration application will usually consist of the following stages:

• Gathering information and supporting documents
• Preparing the online application form
• Submitting the online form and paying the application fees (no earlier than 3 months before the proposed arrival date in the UK)
• Booking an appointment to attend a visa application centre (VAC) in the country of residence 
• Uploading supporting documents prior to the appointment, and
• Attending the VAC appointment in person and providing biometric information (i.e. fingerprints and a photograph).

The timescale for submitting an application will depend on a variety of factors, including how quickly information is provided to us by the client and third parties. 

Home Office processing times can vary (e.g. between 24 hours and six months) depending on the type of application, the availability of expedited services and any case-specific factors. 

The Personal Immigration team

The Personal Immigration team is part of the private client services team in Burges Salmon. It is supervised by Suzanna Harvey and the core team includes Myra Leung and Alice Bailhache.