If you are looking for free immigration advice in the UK, the good news is that there is plenty of information out there.
But the bad news?
There is plenty of information out there.
Google a fairly simple immigration question and within ten minutes you can have six browser tabs open, three different answers, a YouTube video from 2023, somebody on Reddit telling you what worked for their cousin, and a friend confidently telling you that they “know someone who did exactly the same thing”.
Welcome to UK immigration. Free immigration advice can be extremely useful. We provide free initial immigration advice ourselves, so we’re certainly not going to tell you otherwise.
But there is an important distinction between free professional immigration advice, general immigration information, and somebody actually assessing your individual circumstances. And understanding that difference can save you a considerable amount of trouble later.
Is free immigration advice actually available in the UK?
Yes.
There are several ways people obtain immigration information and advice without initially paying professional fees. GOV.UK should generally be one of your starting points when looking for official information about UK immigration routes and application processes.
There are also charities and organisations providing immigration assistance in particular circumstances.
And then there are regulated immigration advisers and solicitors. Some, including ourselves at AHJ Immigration, offer free initial immigration advice. But “free immigration advice” can mean very different things depending on where you get it.
There is a considerable difference between reading a webpage explaining the Spouse Visa financial requirement and speaking to somebody who has looked at your income, your partner’s circumstances, your employment, your immigration history and the evidence available to you.
Both might be useful. They aren’t the same service.
The internet isn’t necessarily wrong
This is an important point.
We don’t want to pretend that everything you read online is rubbish. That would be slightly awkward considering you’re reading this online. But, there is a huge amount of genuinely useful immigration information available for free.
The problem is often not whether a piece of information is correct.
The problem is:
Does it apply to you?
Imagine two people both ask:
“What documents do I need for a UK Spouse Visa?”
It sounds like one question. It isn’t. One applicant’s sponsor might be employed and have been with the same employer for years. Another might have recently changed employment. Another might be self-employed. Another couple might have substantial savings.
One couple may have lived together for five years. Another may have spent most of their relationship living in different countries. One applicant may have a completely straightforward immigration history. Another may have had a previous refusal.
So a document list that was perfectly suitable for Applicant A may be completely unsuitable for Applicant B.
That’s where generic information reaches its limit.
“But my friend got their visa…”
We hear variations of this quite regularly.
“My friend applied and they only submitted…”
“My cousin didn’t provide that…”
“Someone in the Facebook group said…”
This is where immigration advice can become dangerous surprisingly quickly. Your friend’s successful application tells us one useful thing:
Your friend got their visa.
It doesn’t automatically tell us what you should submit.
You may not know everything about their immigration history. Their financial circumstances may be different. Their route may have been slightly different. The Immigration Rules may have changed since they applied.
And sometimes people succeed despite doing something badly, not because it was the correct way to do it. Copying somebody else’s immigration application is a little like borrowing their prescription glasses. They might be excellent glasses.
They’re just not necessarily your prescription.
What does free professional immigration advice give you?
This depends on the organisation and the type of advice being offered. At AHJ Immigration, the purpose of initial advice is to help us understand what you’re trying to achieve and identify what the potential immigration route or issue may be.
Sometimes the answer is relatively straightforward. Sometimes we’ll ask a question and suddenly the situation looks completely different. That’s why the details matter.
A seemingly small piece of information can change the advice. A previous refusal. A period of overstaying. A change of employer. A gap in residence. A previous relationship. A different source of income. A sponsor’s circumstances.
None of these automatically means there’s a problem. But they’re exactly the sort of things that can’t always be dealt with properly by typing a 15-word question into Google.
Free advice and free application preparation aren’t the same thing
This is another distinction worth making. Receiving free initial immigration advice doesn’t normally mean somebody is going to prepare an entire immigration application for free.
Professional application work can involve considerably more than completing an online form.
Depending on the case, it can involve:
- assessing eligibility;
- reviewing immigration history;
- identifying potential problems before submission;
- deciding what evidence should be provided;
- checking documents against the application;
- dealing with inconsistencies;
- preparing representations;
- reviewing the completed application;
- organising the evidence;
- and managing the application through submission.
That’s the work people don’t necessarily see. The form is often the easy bit. Nobody has ever come to us saying:
“Hi, I just couldn’t work out how to type my date of birth into the box.”
The difficulty is usually what the answers mean, what needs explaining and what evidence sits behind them.
Why do people come to us after a refusal?
This is one of the reasons I feel strongly about getting advice early. We regularly speak to people after they have already submitted an application themselves and received a refusal.
At that point we’re no longer discussing how to prepare a clean application.
We’re discussing:
- why it was refused;
- whether the decision was correct;
- whether another application can be made;
- whether something now needs explaining;
- whether there is a right of challenge;
- what the previous refusal means for the next application;
- and how much time and money has already been lost.
Sometimes the applicant genuinely had a good case. The problem was how it was prepared. That’s frustrating because some problems are much easier to deal with before you press Submit.
Can you apply yourself?
Of course. There is no general rule saying you must use an immigration adviser simply because you’re making a UK immigration application.
Some people have straightforward circumstances, understand the requirements, prepare everything themselves and succeed. We’re not going to pretend otherwise.
The better question is:
Should you apply yourself in your particular circumstances?
That’s a very different question.
If you’re uncertain about eligibility, documents, immigration history, finances, relationship evidence, previous refusals or anything else material to the application, getting professional advice before submission can be considerably more useful than looking for professional help after something has gone wrong.
Get the advice before you make the decision
Our view is fairly simple. Use the free information available to you.
Read. Research. Understand your route. Ask questions.
But don’t mistake having read a lot about immigration for having had your immigration position assessed. If you’re considering a UK immigration application, free initial professional advice can help you understand where you stand before deciding whether you want to prepare the application yourself or have it professionally managed.
Getting advice doesn’t commit you to instructing anyone. Sometimes it simply gives you the confidence that you’re heading in the right direction. And sometimes it identifies something you hadn’t considered.
Finding that out before the application is usually preferable to finding it written in a refusal letter.