Fees

Fees

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*On average, this type of work takes between 5-40 hours to complete. We do not charge an hourly rate for these types of matters. We prefer to agree a fixed fee with you so that you are aware of the impending costs from the onset of the case.

The exact number of hours it will take depends on the circumstances in your case. Such as:

• The amount of supporting evidence that we need to consider
• Which language(s) you speak
• Whether you are applying with other dependants

If you are able to provide sufficient evidence at our first meeting and clearly meet the applicable Immigration Rules, the cost is likely to be at the lower end of this range.

What services are included

The work will involve:

• discussing your circumstances in detail and confirming whether this is the most appropriate application for you to make and what other options may be available to you;
• giving you advice about the requirements of the Immigration Rules and whether you meet the criteria.
• if you do not fulfil certain criteria, whether this can be overcome and how, which on average takes 5-7 hours;
• considering the supporting evidence you have provided, which we anticipate will take 6-11 hours*;
• where necessary, helping you obtain further evidence (such as medical records and bank statements), including taking statements of any witnesses;
• preparing your application and submitting it on your behalf, which we anticipate will take 3 hours;
• Attendance at a Home Office interview: if the Home Office ask you to attend an interview, we will give you clear advice (and discuss the possibility of us attending with you) at the appropriate time. This could be between 1 and 6 hours of work.
• giving you advice about the outcome of the application and any further steps you need to take.

In case of Appeal proceedings

• discussing the refusal letter in detail and confirming whether there are merits in appealing the decision
• giving you advice about the requirements of the Immigration Rules and whether Home Office have made a decision based on such rules.
• considering the supporting evidence you have provided, which we anticipate will take 6-11 hours*
• Preparing Grounds of Appeal to be lodged at the Courts takes 1-2 hours
• Preparation of the Court Bundle takes 3 hours
• where necessary, helping you obtain further evidence (such as medical records and DNA reports, of required), including taking statements of any witnesses;
• Attendance at a Hearing: If you are required to attend the hearing, we will give you clear advice at the appropriate time. Advocacy at the hearing. This could be between 3 and 6 hours of work.

*the number of hours depends on the number of documents, whether they need to be translated, whether anything is missing and how long it will take to obtain the missing documents Disbursements (not included in costs set out above):

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as visa fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

• Interpreters fees at an average of £20-£30 per hour. On an average, any application will normally require between 4-6 hours with an interpreter, depending on the complexity of your case. However, you are advised that you are not required to use an interpreter of the firm’s choosing. You are more than welcome to bring along someone who can interpret for you.
• Independent expert reports e.g. medical experts. These are not required in many cases: we will let you know as soon as possible if we consider an expert report is necessary.
• If there is an interview and we do attend with you, there will be additional disbursements in respect of our mileage/travel expenses.

The costs quoted here do not include:

• Any Home Office fees for making the application. You will pay this to the Home Office directly as part of the application process.
• Any Court fees for making the application. You will pay this to the Home Office directly as part of the application process
• Where the Home Office refuse your application, advice and assistance in relation to any appeal
• Any external Counsel of your choice, in case of appeal hearings, whose costs normally will be in region of £350.00 – £1,500.00 based on the experience and availability of the Counsel involved.

How long will my application take?

We cannot guarantee how long the Home Office will take to process your application. Read the current processing times.

We will normally be able to submit this type of application within 1-4 weeks of you instructing us, but we will let you know at the earliest opportunity if it is likely to take longer than this.

Please note the anticipated number of hours and fees are an estimate based on the facts above. All applications are likely to vary and of course, we can give you a more accurate estimate once we have more information about your specific case.

Complaints Procedure

We at Sultan Lloyd Solicitors are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and I am keen to resolve this matter as soon as possible and in order to do this, will follow our complaints handling procedure.

Our complaints procedure is as follows:

Step 1:
If you have not already done so, please let us know the full nature of the problem. Ideally, we would prefer that your complaint be confirmed in writing in order that any scope for misunderstanding can be avoided. However, this is not obligatory and you are welcome to provide the details to us over the telephone or face to face. If you are setting out your concerns in writing then you can do this by emailing Mrs Nighat Sultana at [email protected] or writing to us at 526, Coventry Road, Birmingham, B10 0UN.

Step 2:
We will write to you acknowledging your complaint within five working days. In this letter, we shall confirm what happens next.

Step 3:
We shall then investigate the matter by reviewing the matter file and speaking to the member of staff concerned within five working days of acknowledging receipt of your complaint. If, for some reason, the matter cannot be investigated in this timeframe, then we will write to you notifying you of this together with the reason why and giving a revised timescale.

Once the investigation has been completed, we shall invite you to discuss the issue(s) you have raised and hopefully resolve the complaint. This could be a meeting or telephone call and will take place within fourteen days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

We will write to you within five working days of any meeting or phone call to confirm our discussion and the solution agreed upon and/or any final redress that is offered.

Alternatively, if you do not want to or are unable to attend such a meeting or you would prefer to continue to correspond by letter or email (or if a meeting is not required), we will send you a detailed, written response, including my proposed solution, within fourteen working days of my sending you the letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint.

Step 4:
If you are satisfied with our response following the above steps, that will be the end of the matter. However, if you are not satisfied, you should contact me again and I will review my decision or, depending on the circumstances, will arrange for a member of staff who is unconnected with the matter to review my decision.   We will write to you within fourteen days of receiving your request with confirmation of the firm’s final position in relation to your complaint, outlining the reasons and any final redress that is offered.

Step 5 (other avenues):
You must always try complaining to us first. In most cases you will not be able to take your complaint further without allowing us the opportunity to put things right. If we are unable to resolve your complaint then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.

Legal Ombudsman

We are permitted a minimum of eight weeks to consider complaints. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, then you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

For further information, please contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk. The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

If you think a solicitor might be dishonest or you have concerns about their ethics or integrity, you also have the right to notify our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). There are no time limits for making a report but there are limits on what the SRA will consider. Please note that the SRA is not able to deal with issues of poor service (complaints of this nature should instead be referred to the Legal Ombudsman). For further information about the SRA’s role, please contact the SRA or visit: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page#report

Immigration Legal Team

Our immigration legal team is comprised of:

• Nighat Sultana, supervising solicitor of 29 years’ experience
• Farrakh Rashid, supervising solicitor of almost 20 years’ experience
• Ifat Naaz, senior immigration caseworker with a wealth of experience
• Komica Badhan, immigration caseworker and recent graduate