To ensure our clients and our potential clients have the information they need to make informed choices about the services offered by HS Legal Solicitor, we set out below a guide to our prices. As a specialist immigration firm, we undertake all types of immigration work and this guide deals largely with the work that we undertake on behalf of members of the public. However, we also provide immigration services to businesses and not all of those services are included in this guide.

We also undertake Asylum applications, Human Rights applications, Human trafficking and Modern Slavery cases. We are also instructed in highly specialised applications which often fall outside of the Immigration Rules, and we are not able to provide those costs in a guide such as this.

Depending on the type of application and the client’s circumstances we may offer a fixed fee or an hourly-rated quotation for our costs. The information below relates to both these circumstances.

All the prices are VAT exclusive and if HS Legal Solicitor is registered for VAT, it would be applicable to the application and you would be informed of the VAT from the outset. This is charged at the prevailing rate and is payable on our fees and on most expenses that we are likely to incur on your behalf. There may be some situations in which VAT is not payable.

These fees represent our professional fees; in other words, this is the amount that we will charge for the legal work that our firm will undertake on your case.

Due to the individual nature of each application, the services provided to each client may differ.

What is not included in the fees?

Any costs which we may incur on your behalf are not included in our professional fees. These can include, but are not limited to the following:

• Payments made to the Home Office on your behalf, such as application fees, Immigration Health Surcharge, submission costs etc.;
• Payments made to third parties on your behalf, such as HM Revenue & Customs, HM Passport Office or to the Land Registry etc.;
• Counsel’s fees. We will provide you an estimate before instructing a counsel.
• Preparing Schedules of Absences from the UK;
• Fees payable to Courts or Tribunals;
• External Translation fees;
• Interpreter fees
• Costs of Experts or Agents instructed on your behalf
• Non-routine postage charges and courier charges;
• Travel and meeting expenses.

We also charge for other services that we can provide on your behalf. This may include:

• Photocopying and print room services;
• Bank charges;
• Document Certification Fees;
• In-house Translation Fees;

Fixed fees

We do offer fixed fees for the majority of the work that we provide and these are indicated as such in this guide. A fixed fee is an agreed fee, which will not be varied up or down, and is not dependant on the application being successful. As set out above, any disbursements or expenses (costs that we incur on your behalf or for the purposes of carrying out our work) are payable in addition to our fees. In the event of your instructions being withdrawn prior to the submission of the application, the fixed fee, together with any disbursements and expenses, will remain payable in full.

We also work on hourly rates. Depending on the work you instruct us to do we may charge by the hour. The rate that we charge, or bill, per hour is dependent on the seniority and expertise of the person undertaking the work. Our hourly rates are:

At the start of each instruction, we will provide an estimate of how many hours we expect to spend working on your matter and we will give you an estimation of the cost. It is very difficult to accurately provide an exact number of hours in advance. However, an estimate of professional fees and any associated disbursements will be provided.
We will give you the best information we can about the likely overall cost of the matter at the outset and at other appropriate times. We will always inform you of who will be working on your case and their hourly rate. Please note, we record and charge for our time in 6-minute increments.

Factors which could increase the overall cost of your case

This applies where a fixed fee is quoted or where the amount charged is based on the hourly rates of the people doing the work for a standard application. Some examples are:

• Unexpected circumstances in your immigration history, personal circumstances, or financial status which we were not aware of at the outset;
• Delays in obtaining the information requested;
• Information provided being inaccurate, out of date, inadequate or requiring translation; or
• Where there are short deadlines.

More complex applications may attract higher fees, and we will always advise you on this.

Factors which could decrease the overall cost of your case

This applies where a fixed fee is quoted or where the amount charged is based on the hourly rates of the people doing the work. Some examples are:

• Where we have undertaken work on your behalf in the past and your immigration history is familiar to us; or
• Where we do multiple applications for the same organisation or family; or
• Where you are able to provide sufficient evidence at our first meeting and clearly meet the applicable Immigration Rules.

Our Fixed Fees

The above fees are inclusive of taking instructions and completing your application and submitting it to the Home Office. However, Home Office decision times vary and we cannot give a specific timeframe in which your application will be decided. The above fees do not include any extra work after a decision has been made by the Home Office and we will agree on further fees if further work is required after the decision.