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How much does an immigration solicitor cost in the UK?

On the price pages of four SRA-regulated firms read on 9 October 2026, legal fees for a spouse or partner visa application started between £2,000 and £8,000 plus VAT, and hourly rates ran from £175 to £800 plus VAT. Home Office fees and the healthcare surcharge are paid on top.

There is no fixed price for immigration legal help in the UK. What you pay depends on the firm, who does the work, and how complicated your facts are. But you don't have to guess: solicitors who offer immigration applications must publish their prices.

This page explains what is in a solicitor's price, what is not, what four firms' published prices looked like on 9 October 2026, the Home Office fees that sit on top, and how fees work if you use an IAA-registered adviser instead.

Why solicitors' prices are public

SRA Transparency Rule 1.3 requires firms offering "the preparation and submission of immigration applications, excluding asylum applications" or "advice and representation at the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in relation to appeals against Home Office visa or immigration decisions, excluding asylum appeals" to publish cost information on their website.

Rule 1.5 says that information must include:

  • the total cost, or where that is not practicable, the average cost or range of costs
  • the basis for charges, including hourly rates or fixed fees
  • the experience and qualifications of the people doing the work and their supervisors
  • likely disbursements and their cost
  • whether VAT applies and how much
  • what is included, the key stages and likely timescales, and what is not included

Legal aid work is excluded (rule 1.2). So if a firm offers immigration applications, its price page should be on its website, in a prominent place (rule 1.6).

What four firms published (read 9 October 2026)

We read the immigration price pages of four SRA-regulated firms on 9 October 2026. They are listed in the sources for this page. This is a small sample chosen because the pages were reachable and current. It is not a survey and not a recommendation; prices outside this range exist. All figures are legal fees only, before VAT unless stated.

Hourly rates - Lowest rate listed: £175 an hour (trainee solicitor). Highest: £800 an hour (partner, upper end of a London firm's range). - The other two firms listed £180–£420 and £220–£450 an hour.

Spouse or partner visa application - Firm 1: from £2,500 (£3,000 including VAT), for entry clearance or an extension. - Firm 2: £2,000–£5,500, described as a fixed fee subject to individual circumstances. - Firm 3: from £4,000. - Firm 4: £8,000–£10,000, estimated at 30–50 hours.

Indefinite leave to remain - One firm listed from £2,000 (from £3,000 for a spouse or partner settling); another from £3,500; a third gave £8,000–£50,000 (15–150 hours).

Naturalisation as a British citizen - From £2,000 at one firm; £2,000–£6,000 at another; from £3,500 at a third.

Skilled Worker visa - From £2,500; £3,000; £5,000–£7,000 across three firms.

Initial consultation - One firm listed a telephone or online consultation at £350.

Appeals and administrative review were priced at hourly rates by most firms. One firm gave £50,000–£250,000 for a First-tier Tribunal human rights appeal at 100–500 hours.

The spread is wide because firms price different scopes, hours and seniority. Compare what each price includes, not just the headline number.

What is usually not in the price

Every price page we read separated the legal fee from third-party costs. Typical exclusions:

  • VAT at 20%. One firm noted that whether VAT applies to immigration work can depend on where you live and your immigration permission.
  • Home Office application fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge.
  • Priority or premium processing fees, and biometric appointment fees.
  • Translation of documents and interpreter fees. One firm listed interpreters at £150 an hour.
  • Expert reports, for example medical reports.
  • Travel costs if the adviser attends an interview with you.
  • Work after a refusal, such as an appeal or administrative review.
  • Dependants, who are often priced separately. One firm quoted 50% of the main applicant's fee per dependent child; another a separate fee per dependant.

The Home Office fees on top

These are paid to the Home Office whether or not you use a lawyer. Figures from gov.uk on 9 October 2026:

  • Partner, parent or child family visa: £2,064 from outside the UK, £1,407 from inside the UK, per person.
  • Immigration Health Surcharge: £1,035 a year for most applicants; £776 a year for students, their dependants, Youth Mobility Scheme applicants and under-18s. For a partner visa that is £3,105 for 2 years 9 months from outside the UK, or £2,587.50 for 2 years 6 months from inside.
  • British citizenship by naturalisation: £1,839 (£1,709 application fee plus £130 ceremony).
  • Administrative review: £80.
  • Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal: £82 without a hearing, £144 with a hearing.

Gov.uk notes that a fee waiver may be available on the family route in some situations, for example if you cannot afford a place to live or your essential living costs.

A worked example: adding it up

Take one adult applying for a partner visa from outside the UK for 2 years and 9 months, using the gov.uk figures of 9 October 2026. The Home Office fee is £2,064 and the Immigration Health Surcharge for an adult is £3,105. That is £5,169 before any legal help.

Now add legal fees from the price pages above, which are for the main applicant only:

  • At the lowest fixed fee we read for a spouse or partner application, £2,500 plus VAT (£3,000 with VAT), the total is £8,169.
  • At the top of another firm's fixed range, £5,500 plus VAT at 20% (£6,600), the total is £11,769.

Each child added to a family application from outside the UK adds the same £2,064 Home Office fee and a child healthcare surcharge of £2,328 for the same period. That is £4,392 per child in government charges, before any legal fee for the dependant. Firms price dependants separately, as noted above.

If the application is refused, the cost does not stop. Gov.uk says an administrative review costs £80 and the result "can take 12 months or more". The firms we read priced appeals and reviews at hourly rates and said their quoted fixed fees do not include them. Ask before you start what happens to the fee, and who is paid for what, if the Home Office refuses and you want to challenge the decision.

How hourly and discounted fees are policed for IAA advisers

The IAA's practice note on fees and accounts is more specific than the headline codes. Read on 9 October 2026, it says:

  • The reasonableness of a fee is judged by the work actually done and the market rate for that type of advice (paragraph 33).
  • An organisation may be found to be overcharging where the standard of advice falls below what could reasonably be expected, or where agreed work is not delivered because of the organisation's own fault (paragraph 34).
  • An organisation that charges by the hour must keep detailed, accurate records of the work and time taken to justify the fee (paragraph 35).
  • Discounts are acceptable, but the reasons must be recorded in writing in the client care letter and the attendance notes, and a discount must not be subsidised by other clients' fees (paragraph 36).

The note also encourages clients to pay Home Office fees directly to the authority rather than through the adviser (paragraph 23). An organisation that cannot run a client account or invoice after completion may, with your express written agreement, use a progress payment schedule, charging a reasonable sum step by step and invoicing only for work done along the way (paragraphs 25 to 27). It must show how each stage's fee matches the work (paragraph 28). If you are offered one, ask for the stages and amounts in writing.

Fixed fee or hourly rate

A fixed fee gives you a known number for a defined scope. Read the scope: firms describe stages such as reviewing your circumstances, checking evidence, preparing and submitting the application, and dealing with Home Office follow-up. Ask what happens, and what it costs, if the Home Office asks for more evidence or an interview.

Hourly billing suits work whose size is hard to predict, such as appeals. Ask for an estimate of hours, who will do them, and when you will be told if the estimate is going to be exceeded.

One firm's page set out its expected hours for a family application: three to four hours on average to look at any criteria you do not meet and whether that can be overcome, three to four hours on supporting evidence, up to fifteen hours to prepare and submit, and eight to ten hours if an interview is needed. That gives a sense of where the time goes.

If you use an IAA adviser instead

IAA-registered advisers are not covered by the SRA Transparency Rules. Their fees are governed by the IAA Code of Standards:

  • Code 9.1: a fee scale, and only "a reasonable fee that directly relates to the work done". The IAA's guidance says the fee scale should be shared with prospective clients, and that a range where the highest fee is almost twice the lowest, without a reasonable explanation, is likely to be treated as overcharging.
  • Code 9.3: if you authorise card payments, fees can only be taken seven days after the invoice.
  • Code 9.4: money paid in advance must be held in a separate client account.
  • Code 5.3: your costs must be confirmed in a client care letter.
  • Organisations registered as non-fee-charging must not charge for immigration advice at all (code 2.7).

When paying for advice is worth it

Many people make standard applications without a lawyer using the gov.uk guidance. People more often pay for advice when their evidence doesn't fit the standard pattern, after a refusal, when there is a gap in lawful status, or when a deadline is running.

A typical engagement: an initial paid consultation, a written quote or client care letter setting out the scope, then the application work.

The Migratio UK directory lists SRA-regulated firms and IAA-registered organisations with their registration numbers. Where a firm publishes a price, check its current price page before you instruct it.

Migratio is not regulated by the IAA or SRA and does not give immigration advice. This page explains how the rules work in general. It is not advice on your own case.

Questions people ask

How much do immigration lawyers cost in the UK?

On four SRA-regulated firms' price pages read on 9 October 2026, hourly rates ran from £175 to £800 plus VAT, and a spouse or partner visa application started between £2,000 and £8,000 plus VAT. Home Office fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge are extra.

What are solicitor fees for a spouse visa application?

The four firms we read listed legal fees from £2,500, £2,000–£5,500, from £4,000 and £8,000–£10,000, all before VAT. The Home Office fee on top is £2,064 from outside the UK or £1,407 inside, plus the healthcare surcharge.

Do immigration solicitors charge VAT?

The firms we read quoted prices before VAT at 20%. One firm said whether VAT applies to immigration work can depend on where you live and your immigration permission, and it confirms this when you instruct it. Home Office fees carry no VAT.

Is an immigration consultation free?

Not usually at a law firm. One firm listed a telephone or online consultation at £350 plus VAT. Advice at no charge exists through legal aid for some matters and through non-fee-charging IAA organisations; see our guide to free immigration advice.

Where can I see a solicitor's immigration prices?

On the firm's own website. SRA Transparency Rule 1.3 requires firms offering immigration applications or First-tier Tribunal immigration appeals (excluding asylum) to publish cost information there, in a prominent place.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-09.

Related guides

  • Immigration solicitor or IAA adviser: the difference — Both are allowed to give UK immigration advice. Solicitors are regulated by the SRA and must publish prices for immigration applications; IAA advisers are registered at Level 1, 2 or 3 and limited to that level. The differences are in scope, where they can practise, how they handle money and where you complain.
  • Questions to ask an immigration adviser before you pay — Before you pay, a UK immigration adviser should be able to show you their registration, their level, a fee scale and a written client care letter. IAA advisers must invoice you, give a receipt, keep money paid in advance in a separate client account, and wait seven days after an invoice before taking a pre-authorised card payment.
  • Free immigration advice in the UK: who offers it — Advice at no charge comes mainly from two places: legal aid, for the immigration matters the law lists (asylum, detention, trafficking, domestic abuse and a few others) if you pass the means test; and IAA organisations registered as non-fee-charging. Paid advice at law firms typically starts with a consultation costing a few hundred pounds.
  • Legal aid for immigration: what is covered — In England and Wales, legal aid covers only the immigration matters listed in LASPO 2012 Schedule 1: mainly asylum and protection, detention, trafficking and modern slavery, domestic abuse settlement, and some judicial reviews. Most other matters need exceptional case funding. You usually also have to pass a means test.
  • UK spouse visa cost in 2026: the application fee, the health surcharge and what else you pay — A partner or spouse visa costs £2,064 if you apply from outside the UK and £1,407 if you apply from inside it, plus the immigration health surcharge (£3,105 for the first 2 years 9 months from outside the UK, £2,587.50 for an extension). Settlement (ILR) is a separate £3,226. These are the 8 October 2026 fees and are per person.