Immigration

Immigration Advice for the Further Education Sector

We have a specialist team of qualified solicitors who can advise you on all aspects of UK immigration law.

We frequently assist with general immigration matters such as Sponsor Licence applications, preparing for a compliance visit from UK Visas and Immigration, ongoing compliance with your sponsorship duties and forming partnerships with other education providers.

Quick Enquiry

Specialist Immigration Law Knowledge

Immigration law is forever changing and you need to ensure that you are up to date with the rules and regulations in order to meet the numerous requirements with which you need to comply.

We can advise you on the requirements for immigration matters which affect students, including Student visa sponsorship and checking whether foreign-national students who you are not sponsoring have the right to study in the UK. We can also advise on immigration issues affecting members of staff, including sponsorship under the Skilled Worker and Temporary Worker categories.

International Students and Student Visa Sponsorship

Our expertise includes:

• assistance with the requirements for sponsoring students under the Student visa route
• Basic Compliance Assessments
• support with sponsorship of individual students
• support for students with their entry clearance (visa) and further leave to remain applications and appeals/administrative reviews against refusals of those applications
• assistance to sponsors threatened with suspension or revocation of their Sponsor Licences
• advice on the immigration options available to students after completing their studies
• carrying out an audit of your international student files to ensure you are complying with your record keeping and reporting duties. We can tailor an audit to your specific requirements.

Sponsorship and Employment of Foreign-National Workers

We can advise on:

• applying for a Skilled Worker and/or Temporary Worker Sponsor Licence or applying to add those categories to an existing Student licence
• requesting and assigning Certificates of Sponsorship
• eligibility of migrants already in the UK to switch immigration categories
• support with entry clearance (visa) and further leave to remain applications
• advice on complying with the UK's laws on preventing illegal working, including employing students who are subject to restrictions on their hours of work

FE Immigration Training

We can provide comprehensive and bespoke immigration law training to ensure that colleges are fully aware of their sponsorship obligations and are up to date with any changes to the Immigration Rules which will impact on the sector.

Immigration Audits

We offer our further education clients an immigration audit service where we review your procedures and processes to ensure you are compliant and ready for a visit from the UKVI's compliance teams.

We know only too well how easy it is for sponsors to get into difficulty complying with their duties as Student sponsors and we have a wealth of experience in advising clients on how to proactively manage those duties so that problems do not arise. For those sponsors who are already having problems we are happy to assist and discuss your options with you.

For specialist immigration advice tailored to the further education sector, please contact Judith Hockin on 0117 314 5302.