
Immigration

At Barker Gotelee, our team is ready to assist you with a range of immigration services.
Pricing Information
At Barker Gotelee, we take each immigration matter very seriously and carry out a detailed case analysis before we advise you on the steps to be taken. We provide tailored and bespoke services which best suit your needs and requirements. Our fees are based on different factors, including but not limited to:
- The urgency of your case;
- The complexity of your case;
- Whether you have ever been refused a visa by the UK or any other country;
- Whether you are already living in the UK or are abroad;
- Whether you meet the Home Office’s eligibility, suitability, and good character requirements;
- Whether you can provide the documents necessary for your application in a timely manner;
- Whether it is an in-time or out-of-time application;
- The amount of supporting evidence we have to consider; and
- Home Office processing times, for your specific application.
Charging Rates
While dealing with your immigration matters, we can charge either with reference to our hourly rates or on a fixed fee basis. We will provide you with an estimate of our legal fees before commencing any instruction, based on the expected amount of work and our hourly rates specific to your case.
The quotation will take into account your particular circumstances, the complexity of your case, type of application, number of applicants involved, the urgency of your matter and other relevant factors.
a) Hourly rate charges
If we charge with reference to our hourly rates, we will charge you for the time we spend working on the matter. We will keep detailed and accurate time records and charge you the amount which is recorded at various stages of the matter. The primary hourly charge-out rates which would apply are as follows:
- Dermott Thomas (Member): £350.00 (plus VAT where applicable)
- Emel Kilickaya (Solicitor): £195.00 (plus VAT where applicable)
- The hourly rate of Partners, Directors, Consultant Solicitors, Senior Associates, Associates, Solicitors and Chartered Legal Executives in the firm, should any need to become involved for any reason, is between £185 – £375 (plus VAT)
- The hourly rate for Executives, Assistants, Trainee Solicitors and Caseworkers (not qualified solicitors), should any need to become involved, is between £65 to £250 (plus VAT)
b) Fixed fees
In some cases, once we have reviewed your situation, and explored and identified the availability of your documents that are required for your specific application, we can offer you a fixed fee. This will be the fee regardless of the amount of time we spend completing your work. We will therefore take the risk in that respect. You will have certainty on the amount that will be charged, taking into account the assumptions and exclusions that apply in your specific circumstances and provided that there are no unforeseen complications or significant changes to your instructions.
Most immigration work is undertaken by Emel Dag Kilickaya and supervised by Dermott Thomas.
Emel Dag Kilickaya joined Barker Gotelee in October 2020 after completing her Master’s in Law at the University of Law, Moorgate. She completed the Legal Practice Course with a distinction in June 2022 at the University of Law, Bloomsbury. Emel qualified as a Solicitor in September 2023 and now works within the Business Services Team, specialising in immigration services.
Prior to joining Barker Gotelee, Emel worked as an immigration case worker. She has experience in student visas, visitor visas, family visas, indefinite leave to remain/ settlement applications, long residence applications, British Citizenship by naturalisation or registration applications, ECAA Turkish Businessperson applications, investor visas, entrepreneur visas for individuals, and sponsorship applications for UK businesses.
For further information and contact details for Emel Dag Kilickaya, please click here and for information and contact details for Dermott Thomas, please click here.
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
Value-Added Tax (VAT) will usually be added to our fees and some disbursements. Charging VAT in relation to immigration matters may depend on where you live and what immigration permission you have. For example, if your usual place of residence is the UK, including if you had permission to stay in the UK but overstayed, VAT (at a rate of 20%) is chargeable. On the other hand, if you are not resident in the UK, or you entered the country without permission or as an asylum seeker and do not yet have permission to stay, you are not normally liable to pay VAT.
What Our Fees Will Cover
Our fees usually include:
- A client meeting, either face to face or online to take your instructions;
- Collating and analysing any relevant documents;
- Advising you on additional documents required;
- Advising you on likely application fees and relevant disbursements;
- Preparing the Home Office’s relevant application form on your behalf, and submitting it to the Home Office;
- Uploading the documents required onto the Home Office’s portal;
- Liaising with you regarding the most convenient appointment at the relevant Visa Application Centre for you to provide your biometric information; and
- Advising you on timelines and the outcome of your application.
Terms of Instructions
We expect to continue to act until your matter is completed. Either you or we may terminate instructions at any time. Usually, we will not do so unless a conflict of interest arises or if we consider that it is not in your best interest that we continue to act or if we believe that there has been a breakdown of the relationship between you and us. We may also terminate the contract if we think that to continue with instructions will breach any immigration rules or regulations.
Upon termination of instructions, you will be liable only for fees and payments to the date of termination as per our hourly rate charges, including any fees or payments for work necessary in order to transfer the matter to another adviser. If a matter is terminated before completion (for example if you are unable to provide documents requested or you withdraw your instructions, or we terminate our services) we will charge for the time spent at our usual hourly rates. Any additional work required outside the scope of any fixed fee will be charged on an hourly basis unless otherwise agreed. If such work is required, we will inform you and provide an estimate.
We will also charge you for any out-of-pocket expenses that we may have incurred on your behalf.
The Outcome of the Matter
We charge for the work carried out on your matter irrespective of the outcome. We try our best to get a favourable outcome on all matters. However, success is not guaranteed, and the outcome is dependent upon the merit of your case.
Initial Consultations
To understand your circumstances better and decide the type of application required to resolve your immigration matter we offer an initial consultation meeting of up to 45 minutes for a fixed fee of £150 plus VAT (where applicable). We can then give you an estimate for your case or quote you with a fixed fee as appropriate before we take your formal instructions.
Likely Legal Fees for Different Types of Applications
All fee ranges below are estimates and our actual fees will depend on the circumstances of your case. The ranges below are for guidance purposes only.
Our likely fees for:
- Consultations (after initial consultation): between 2-4 hours at the relevant hourly rate
- Naturalisation or Registration as a British citizen applications: £1,200 – £3,000
- Visitor visa (family/ tourism/business/student/academic): £500 – £1,500
- Student visa (long term): £800 – £2,200
- Family visa, such as a fiancé, spouse, partner (civil or unmarried), child, adult dependant relative: £1,500 – £3,800
- Settlement applications (Indefinite Leave to Remain) : £1,500 – £3,500
- Skilled Worker visa or Specialist Worker visa: £1,500- £3,500
- Seasonal Worker visa: £700- £1,200
- Long Residence/Private Life applications: £2,000 – £5,000
- Electronic visa waiver applications: £700- £1,000
- Surrogacy applications: £2,500 – £6,000
- Ancestry visa: £1,200 – £3,000
- Applications under the EUSS: £400 – £3,500
- Sponsor Licence Applications for UK businesses and charities: £4,000 – £12,000
- Charity worker visa: £700- £1,500
- Religious worker visa: £1,200- £2,000
- Innovator founder visa: £5,000 – £13,000
- Start-up visa: £5,000 – £13,000
- Scale-up worker visa: £2,000 – £6,000
- Representative of an Overseas Business visa: £3,000 -£10,000
- UK Expansion Worker visa (Global Business Mobility): £2,000 – £5,000
- Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility): £2,000 – £5,000
- Service Supplier visa (Global Business Mobility): £2,000 – £5,000
- Secondment Worker visa (Global Business Mobility): £3,000- £6,000
- Global Talent Visa: £1,800 – £6,000
- Creative Worker visa (Temporary work): £2,000 – £3,000
- Graduate Visa: £1,500 – £2,800
- High Potential Individual visa (HPI): £1,200 – £2,500
- Administrative Review: £1,000 – £3,000
- Advice and representation at the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in relation to appeals against Home Office visa or immigration decisions: £4,000 – £30,000
The estimates given above do not include:
- Any Home Office fees for making the application. (You will pay this either to the Home Office directly as part of the application process, or to us in advance of submitting your application.)
- Where the Home Office refuses your application, advice and assistance in relation to any appeal.
Disbursements and Third-Party Charges
Our fees will not include any disbursements, such as Home Office fees, interpreter fees, appointment fees etc.
We cannot change the Home Office fees or other fees associated with the submission of an application.
In addition to our costs, you will be responsible for paying costs payable to another organisation which are incurred by us on your behalf, such as, and not necessarily limited to:
- Home Office application fees
- The Immigration Health Surcharge (if applicable)
- Tribunal and Court fees
- Barristers’ fees
- Expert report fees
- Interpreter/translation costs
- Our travel costs (if we have to travel outside our office on your behalf, for example to a Tribunal hearing or to the Home Office) and
- Courier costs
Home Office Fees
For information on the Home Office fees please see here.
For information on the Immigration Health Surcharge see here.
We will advise you on likely costs of the disbursements in your matter.
Legal Aid
Depending on your circumstances and the type of the application that you make, you might be eligible for legal aid.
Legal aid is subject to a means test and is not normally available for immigration or nationality cases, apart from applications under the domestic violence rule and immigration bail. However, we do not deal with legal aid funded cases. Nonetheless, if you would like to check, please review this online, where there is a useful tool to assess whether you qualify.
How long will my application take?
We cannot guarantee how long the Home Office will take to process your application. See the current processing times here.
We will normally be able to submit your application within four 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 fees above are estimates. If VAT is chargeable, the VAT will be in addition to the fee estimates set out 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.
To enquire about our immigration services contact us, we are here to help.