Handing your immigration matters
Handling your immigration matters can be complex and stressful, especially when it affects your lifestyle, work, family members, or your other future plans. When so much depends on securing the correct residence status, our advice is to use an Immigration Lawyer to ensure your documents are in order.
However, your immigration advisor can only assist you and serve your best interests if you communicate effectively with your lawyer. Your immigration lawyer must understand your situation clearly, to make the most of the value that you receive from working together.
How should I begin working with my immigration lawyer?
Below are five practices to ensure that communication with your immigration lawyer is carried out effectively:
1. State your objective and circumstances clearly
Before reaching out to your immigration lawyer, you should always be clear about what you want to achieve out of the immigration process. For example, you may want to move to the UK only temporarily. In this case, your main objective is to get to the UK as quickly as possible in the most cost-efficient way. Or, you may be happy to wait and invest more money, but with the final goal of moving here permanently with your family. Communicate this intention to your immigration lawyer so that they can assist you by exploring all the options. Throughout the immigration process, your lawyers should always explain the pros and cons of each option to help you decide. However, they may not be aware of all your circumstances or goals unless you tell them. Explain everything that you think could potentially affect your case, even if it seems small to you. Your previous immigration or criminal history or your family ties to the UK could all be vital considerations for your lawyer to consider. It is a good idea to tell your lawyer about extra information . As your professional advisors, they are in a better place to evaluate what is relevant and what is not.
2. Have ready all information and documents
Having ready all the information and documentation will speed up and facilitate your application. Once you know what you want to achieve, you should prepare all the relevant immigration information in advance for your immigration lawyer. This provides a clear picture of your intentions and allows the lawyer to best help you. Missing or inaccurate information prevents effective communication. It causes further delays in the immigration process. Having relevant information and documents ready means your lawyer prepares your application for submission promptly. However, don’t worry if you are unsure of how to prepare, because your immigration advisor will be able to guide you.
3. Do not be afraid of asking questions!
Asking questions is essential to understand your case clearly, so always ask questions without hesitation. It will also help you organize your thoughts and plans throughout the immigration process, which could be lengthy. Therefore, you must not feel embarrassed to ask even the “silliest” questions. If you have any difficulty understanding your lawyer, please let them know so that further explanations can be provided. We recommend writing down the questions you want to ask, and the answers given. This ensures that all your questions are answered to your satisfaction and prevents wasting time and cost in repeating the same questions.
4. Agree to a method of communication
What method of communication will you have with your lawyer. If you have a preference for communicating with your immigration lawyer, you should let them know at the outset. Any language requirement should also be arranged early on if the law firm can accommodate this. Then, all communications can be done in your preferred language. This also highlights the advantage of choosing a law firm with an immigration advisor fluent in your selected language. Once you arrange this, you should then inform your immigration lawyer whether communication will be by email or by telephone. If by phone, you should also identify availability timeslots for your lawyer to contact you. Having an agreed method of communication allows you to stay informed about your case throughout the immigration process.
5. Fee Structure
What fee structure will apply to your application? The cost can sometimes be a deciding factor in whether you hire an immigration lawyer. A good immigration advisor will always provide you information early on regarding the fee structure and their offerings. Understanding the services that your lawyer will be providing also helps you to identify tasks and responsibilities you will take on throughout the process. However, please remember that immigration matters can be complicated and lengthy. Therefore, a competent immigration lawyer will advise on having the full service to assist you in every aspect of your case.
CONTACT US:
If you need guidance with UK immigration, please contact our experienced immigration solicitors today on 020 7427 5970 or enquiries@taylorhampton.co.uk
If you are interested in living and working in Australia or New Zealand, please contact our relevant specialists on www.emigrate-to-australia.co.uk
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