Regulatory Information

This website have been prepared with the aim of providing general information only. They are not intended in any way whatsoever to provide legal advice. You should not rely on any of the information contained in this website in any way whatsoever and should always take professional advice before taking any course of action in relation to your personal affairs.

Owing to the nature of the Internet we cannot guarantee that this website or the websites to which it is linked will always be available to users. Further, you should ensure that you have appropriate protection against viruses and other security arrangements in place whilst using the Internet.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information on this website was accurate at the time of publication, it is subject to variation at any time without notice and we do not give any warranty that any such information will be accurate or complete at any particular time or at all.

This website and any information or other material contained in it are made available strictly on the basis that you accept it on an ‘as is’ and ‘as available’ basis. Where you rely on any information or other material contained in it, you do so entirely at your own risk and you accept that all warranties, conditions and undertakings, express or implied, whether by common law, statute, trade usage, course of dealings or otherwise in respect of this website are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

We exclude all liability whatever, to the fullest extent permitted by law, in respect of any loss or damage resulting or arising from any non-availability or use of this website or of any other website linked to it, or from reliance on the contents of this website or any material or content accessed through it.

Cookies – what are they?

A “cookie” is a piece of information, like a tag, that’s stored on your computer, tablet or phone when you visit a website. It can help identify your device – like your PC or mobile phone – whenever you visit that website.

They are used by most major websites including by us. To make the best use of our website, on whichever device you use, you’ll need to make sure your web browser is set to accept cookies.

What are cookies used for?

We use cookies and some other data stored on your device to:

• give you a better online experience
• allow you to set personal preferences
• protect your security
• measure and improve our service
• work with partners and measure marketing

So what information is kept by the cookie?

A cookie will typically hold:

• the name of the website that it has come from
• how long the cookie will stay on your computer or phone
• a value – usually a randomly generated unique number​

How long do cookies stay on my computer?

Session cookies – these only last until you close your browser. They are not stored on your hard drive. They are usually used to track the pages that you visit so that information can be customised for you for that visit.

Persistent cookies – these are stored on your hard drive until you delete them or they reach their expiry date. These may, for example, be used to remember your preferences when you use the site.

How do cookies affect my privacy?

You can visit our website without revealing any personal information.
We protect your personal information very carefully. The security and safety of your personal information is very important to us.

Why do we use cookies?

We may ask you for personal information so you can access our services.
We also use cookies to enable us to analyse non specific information about the number of visitors to our websites etc.

How we use your data

Amnesty Solicitors is registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioners Office. We will use the information that you give us to provide you with legal services, as per your instructions. We will keep your information confidential and will only use it for the purpose(s) for which it was provided or as is permitted in law (i.e. for dealing with complaints or regulatory investigations).

Sharing information

We may need to share some or all of your information with quality assurance auditors for the purposes of their assessment of whether we are adhering to quality standards. Any examination will be strictly controlled and will be shared for the sole purpose of ensuring that our handling of your matter meets the requirements of the quality standard. Please let us know if you are happy for us to share that information.

We may wish to contact you in the future about our other services. Please let us know if you are happy to receive that information.

We may have to share some or all of your information with other third parties. This may include barristers; experts; and others who we need to instruct to assist us with your matter, the Legal Ombudsman (if you complain about our services) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (the statutory body that regulates solicitors). In doing so we will always take care to ensure that your information remains confidential and safe. We will liaise with you during your case about which experts, barristers and other third parties we instruct on your behalf. Further details are set out in our Terms and Conditions.

Your Rights

You have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation and these include the right to be informed what information we hold about you (though obviously it is likely that you will have provided with such information as we hold). If you believe that the information we hold is wrong or out of date, please let us know and we will update it.

How long will we hold your data?

We will only hold your information for as necessary to provide you with legal services and then for only so long as we are required either contractually or under our regulatory obligations. This will not be more than six years after the end of your case / matter. After this time, we will confidentially destroy all information that we hold about you (please see our terms and conditions which set out our procedures relating to storage and retrieval) other than your name, address and date of birth which we will be obliged to continue to hold for the purposes of ensuring that we never act for another client where doing so would conflict with our obligations of confidentiality to you.

This gives you the full complaints procedure for Amnesty Solicitors.
If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us.

Amnesty Solicitors Limited

Trading Name: Amnesty Solicitors Solicitors

We will always work hard to ensure that you receive the highest possible standards of service from us. However, we acknowledge that from time to time we may not get things right. In the unlikely event that you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service including in relation to your bills rendered, we have an established procedure to resolve your concerns as swiftly as possible.

We are committed to resolving any grievances in the spirit of compromise and with the utmost of best intentions. We will endeavour to act professionally, courteously and fairly.

Charges:

Please be assured that you will never be charged a fee or suffer any reduction in the quality of the service that we offer you because you may wish to raise a client care issue.

Procedure First stage:

We firmly believe that resolving any issues that you may have as close as possible to the source of the concerns is the best way to achieve the most effective outcomes. Therefore, if you have any concerns about the quality of service that you have received from us, then please raise your concerns with the Solicitor who is acting for you in the first instance. All our Solicitors are rigorously trained during our induction processes and beyond to handle quality assurance issues positively and fairly at all times.

Procedure Second Stage:

If you feel that it would be completely inappropriate to raise your issues with the Solicitor who is acting for you or you have raised your issues with that person and you are dissatisfied with the proposed outcomes, then you should raise the matter with the Head of Quality Assurance in writing. In the circumstances that your complaint relates to the Head of Quality Assurance, your issue will be re-directed to the next most senior person within the company, who will consider your concerns impartially. We will acknowledge your letter within 3 days.

The role that the Head of Quality Assurance has determined is that they will be fair and reasonable to client’s concerns at all times and will place a particular emphasis on compromise. This stage will normally involve the Head of Quality Assurance reviewing your file and speaking to the member of staff who acted for you.

Our Head of Quality Assurance may also invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your concerns. We would hope to do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. Following this meeting, the Head of Quality Assurance will then write to you within 14 days to set out findings and suggestions.

If we have to change any of the timescales mentioned above, we will let you know and explain why.

Procedure Final Stage:

In the very unlikely event that you are unable to resolve matters with the Head of Quality Assurance or the outcomes suggested do not meet with your satisfaction, you have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body, established under the Legal Services Act 2007, that deals with legal services complaints.

The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint AND

a) no more than one year from the date of act/omission; or

b) no more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them. Their details are:

Website: https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/

Telephone: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Address: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.

Alternative complaints bodies such as ProMediate and Small Claims Mediation exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. We prefer to use the Legal Ombudsman to deal with such complaints and not the alternative bodies stated.

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)

In accordance with relevant EU Directives, if you are a client and we have made a contract with us by electronic means you may be entitled to use an EU online dispute resolution service to assist with any contractual dispute you may have with us. If you require any further information on this solution, then please do not hesitate to contact us further.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can also help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other protected characteristic.

If you would like more information about The Solicitors Regulation Authority, please contact them. Their details are:

Website: www.sra.org.uk

Telephone: 0370 606 2555

Address: Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.

Our Contact Details

Should you have any concerns about any aspect of the service that you have received from Amnesty Solicitors you may contact the Head of Quality Assurance by the following means:

a) By telephone on 020 7183 8463 (charged at local rates and mobile minutes inclusive)

b) By email on qualityassurance@amnestysolicitors.com

c) By writing to us at The Head of Quality Assurance, Amnesty Solicitors, Fox Court, 14 Grays Inn Rd, London, WC1X 8HN.

How Do We Keep This Procedure Up To Date?

Amnesty Solicitors will occasionally make changes and corrections to this Client Care Procedure. If we believe that the changes are material, we’ll let you know by doing one (or more) of the following:

(1) posting the changes on our website site, or

(2) sending an email to you informing you about the changes; or

(3) writing a letter to you informing you about the changes.

Following changes to the way in which law firms publish their fees and in accordance with the SRA Transparency Rules and the Price and Service Transparency guidance issued by the Law Society we are required to provide costs information in relation to the preparation and submission of our immigration applications

Scope of Fees

Initial consultation:

We normally charge 1 – 2 hours for an initial consultation during which we will then be in a position to confirm a quote for our fixed fee or hourly rate services.

If you prefer you can arrange to have an initial consultation. These meetings are charged for and the price is in the guide. The range of price is dependent on the seniority of the professional who meets with you. At the initial consultation we will give you comprehensive advice about your case and make recommendations as to how you should proceed, we will also give you an indication of what we will charge you to do the work.

Again, you are not obliged to engage our services if you do not want to. If you do decide to instruct us we will deduct the cost of the initial consultation from your overall professional fees.

Our charges are stated below, depending on the seniority of the solicitor or case worker dealing with your case. You can find our more about our staff by clicking here.

IMMIGRATION

Fixed Fees

In many cases we can offer a fixed fee for immigration applications, once we have assessed your circumstances. Our fixed fee services mean that we will only charge you a fixed amount, even if the work on your application takes longer than anticipated/ However this does not include instances were there are unforeseen complications or significant changes to your instructions.

Our fixed fee costs vary for different types of applications, this maybe due to the number of dependents on an application, if your have a complex immigration history, the amount of supporting documentary evidence we will need to review and assess, the urgency of your case if you have an imminent deadline, whether you are able to provide the documents necessary for your application speedily, and the overall complexity of your case.All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Explanation of Charging Methods

We typically charge on a fixed fee basis for straightforward non contentious applications (i.e. applications that typically involve an application to the Home Office and does not involve the court process) to the Home Office and we typically charge an hourly rate for contentious applications (i.e. those that typically involve the court process rather than an application to the Home Office)

Scope of Work For Immigration Applications (Non Contentious Work) – Typically Fixed Fee of Hourly

Our services for these type of immigration applications typically include the following:

• taking your initial instructions
• advising and reviewing your documentary evidence
• drafting legal representations in support of your application
• preparing and submitting your application
• advising the client on timelines and the outcome of their application
• liaising with the Home office in respect of your application
• advising on the decision of the Home Office

Our fixed fees will not include any disbursements, such as Home Office fees or VAT. If the matter is terminated before completion (for example if you are unable to provide documents requested or you withdraw your instructions) we will charge for the time spent at our usual hourly rates. Any additional work required outside the scope of the 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 beforehand.

What is not included is any advice or assistance in relation to any appeal or reconsideration work in the event of your application being refused by the Home Office.

VAT

We charge Value Added Tax (VAT) to all our services where applicable. VAT applies where your usual place of residence is the UK or EEA, even if at one point you had leave to remain in the UK but have since overstayed. If you are not resident in the UK or EEA, or you have entered the country without permission (asylum seekers) and do not yet have leave to remain, VAT will not be applicable on our charges.

Disbursements

Our fees do not include disbursements. A disbursement is a payment to a third party. As such you will be responsible for paying the costs payable to third parties which are incurred by us on your behalf, such as Home Office application fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge,, expert report fees, interpreter/translation costs, our travel costs (if we have to travel outside of our office on your behalf, for example to Home Office interviews or places of detention) and courier costs, bank charges and photocopying costs.

For more detailed information and guidance on the current Home Office application fees, please click here

For more detailed information and guidance on the Immigration Health Surcharge, please click here

Expert report fees vary greatly, depending on the subject matter, but typically range from £500 to £5,000 + VAT if applicable

Interpreters’ charges vary, but typically are typically from £25 per hour plus VAT where applicable

Translators’ fees vary but are typically between £90 to £120 per 1000 words plus VAT

The Home Office outsource visa processing to their commercial partner Sopra Steria which charges additional fees for various services, which can be found on their website here.

Please check these rates carefully as they change regularly.

Timescales

We will normally be able to submit applications within 2-4 weeks of you instructing us, but we will let you know if we become aware that it is likely to take longer than this.

Please note that all applications are likely to vary and we will give you a more accurate estimate of timings (and costs) once we have more information about your specific case. None of the information in this document should be taken as a binding estimate or quotation.

How long will the Home Office take to consider my case?

Home Office processing times will always vary as a result we cannot guarantee how long it will take the Home Office to process your application. We generally estimate that applications can take between 8 weeks to 6 months. For a list of the Home Office current processing times click here Read the current processing times here.

Prices by Application Type:

Applications for Naturalisation or registration as a British Citizen

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £3,500 to £6,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees for naturalisation, or fess for the registration of an adult, or fees for the registration of a child which can be found here.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Applications on behalf of European Economic Area nationals and their family members, pre-settled and settled status applications and family permits

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £3,500 to £6,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are currently £65.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Student and work experience visas

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £3,500 to £6,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are likely to include a students application under Tier 4, entry clearance and in-country applications for an extension which can be found here.

Home Office application fees for work experience under Tier 5 can be found here.

Both entry clearance and extension applications also attract the Home Office Immigration Health Surcharge which can be found here.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Visit visas for visiting family and friends and tourism

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £1,500 to £2,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are typically a single entry visa OR a 2 year multiple re-entry visa. OR a 5 year multiple re-entry visa OR a 10 year multiple re-entry visa. The prices for these re entry visas can be found here.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Partner applications, including spouses, civil partners, unmarried partners, fiancées, and prospective civil partners

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £3,500 to £6,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are typically fees for entry clearance, in-country applications an extension of stay and fees for settlement. The prices for these applications can be found here.

Both entry clearance and extension applications also attract the Home Office Immigration Health Surcharge which can be found here.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Applications for work or business under the Points Based System

There are a number of different categories of the Immigration Rules which allow you to work in the UK including Tier 2 and sole representative of an overseas business for employees.

Tier 2 – employees

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £5,000 to £12,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are typically fees for entry clearance, in-country applications an extension of stay and fees for settlement. The prices for these applications can be found here.

Both entry clearance and extension applications also attract the Home Office Immigration Health Surcharge which can be found here.

Sole representatives of an overseas business

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £5,000 to £12,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are typically fees for entry clearance, in-country applications an extension of stay and fees for settlement. The prices for these applications can be found here.

Both entry clearance and extension applications also attract the Home Office Immigration Health Surcharge which can be found here.

Dependent relative and family reunion applications
​
Typically the fees for these applications can range from £3,500 to £6,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are typically fees for entry clearance, in-country applications an extension of stay and fees for settlement. The prices for these applications can be found here.

Both entry clearance and extension applications also attract the Home Office Immigration Health Surcharge which can be found here.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Ancestry applications

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £3,500 to £6,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are typically fees for entry clearance, in-country applications an extension of stay and fees for settlement. The prices for these applications can be found here.

Both entry clearance and extension applications also attract the Home Office Immigration Health Surcharge which can be found here.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Long residence applications under the Rules

Typically the fees for these applications can range from £3,500 to £6,000 + VAT depending on the seniority of your adviser.

Our fees do not include disbursements including Home Office fees which are typically fees for entry clearance, in-country applications an extension of stay and fees for settlement. The prices for these applications can be found here.

Both entry clearance and extension applications also attract the Home Office Immigration Health Surcharge which can be found here.

All fees quoted are estimates and are dependent on the particular circumstances of your case.

Other categories both within and outside the Immigration Rules

The Immigration Rules have a number of different categories for entry and leave to remain. We also make applications outside the Immigration Rules.

We can provide you with an estimate for other categories not mentioned on these pages.

Hourly rate/advisor

Principal Solicitor Neveen Galal (Qualified as a Solicitor in 2005) £525

Senior Solicitors and Consultants (over 5 years PQE) £350

Solicitors (under 3 years PQE) £250

Trainee Solicitors and Paralegals £150

DEBT RECOVERY WORK (UP TO £100,000)

For our debt recovery services we charge an hourly rate for all work that we carry out. We do not work on a No Win No Fee but we can offer our clients discounted Fee Agreements where you pay a discounted hourly rate in any event and pay an increased hourly rate if you are successful. This means you will have to pay our fees in any event and these are normally payable a monthly basis.

As we charge on an hourly rate, we cannot provide an exact total amount your case will cost but we can provide an accurate cost of service. Below we set out an average cost and likely timescales for each stage

• Review of initial documents and sending of initial letter of claim £700.00 1-3 weeks
• Preparation of Court papers to issue Part 7 proceedings £1,050.00 1-3 weeks
• Dealing with Court proceedings from issue to Allocation £2,750.00 4-12 weeks
• Dealing with Court proceedings from Allocation to Pre-Trial
• Preparation/Review £7,000.00 24-30 weeks
• Dealing with Pre-Trial Preparation/Review and Preparing for Trial £5,500.00 6-10 weeks
• Attendance at Trial (1 day) £3,000.00

We can also provide insolvency services including arranging bankruptcy and winding up proceedings:

• Review of initial documents and preparation of statutory demand £500.00 1-3 weeks
• Arranging service of the statutory demand £350.00 1-3 weeks
• Preparation of Winding Up / Bankruptcy Petition £750.00 1-3 weeks
• Arranging service of Petition £350.00 1-3 weeks
• Preparing for Bankruptcy Hearing £2,750.00 6-8 weeks

The figures above include VAT and do not include expenses, disbursements or barrister fees. The figures are only for the description of the work as stated. It does not include extra work like communications and advice, preparing briefs and instructions to Counsel or other advocates, filing documents at Court, negotiations, etc which is charged in accordance with our terms – normally on an hourly rate basis.

Disbursements can include Court issue fees, Barristers (Counsel) and Process Servers. Fees of Counsel and Process Servers usually attract VAT.

Court Fees to start a claim (Issuing a claim) under Part 7 can be found in the Form EX50 which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/court-fees-what-they-are. The fee can vary but is normally no more than 5% of the value of the claim (or 4.5% if the claim is started online). If your case proceeds to Trial, then a Trial Fee of either £545.00 (claims up to £25k) or £1,090.00 (above £25K) is also payable.

If you are deciding to use insolvency then the Court Fee to start insolvency is £280.00. There may also be a management fee of £990.00 to pay.

Barristers Fees can vary depending on the experience of the Barrister and the location of the Hearing. For a one-day Trial, the fee for a Barrister could be around £5,000 plus VAT. For an insolvency hearing, they could be around £2,500 plus VAT. Hourly rates of Barristers can vary between £150 and £500 per hour plus VAT.

Process Servers are individuals who serve documents. Their fees can be on average up to £250 plus VAT. This includes serving the document and preparing a statement or certificate of service.

The work in the main is carried out by Philip Nam – Over 13 years litigation experience and currently an Associate Member of CILEX. He is supervised by Neveen Galal, a Solicitor who was admitted in 2005.

ODR – what is it ?

In order to promote e-commerce the EU wants consumers who buy a product or service online to be able to submit complaints to traders via an EU platform. That platform will then transmit the complaint to an alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) entity to try to facilitate a solution.

How do I Access This ODR Site?

You can go to the ODR site by clicking this link: https://ec.europa.eu/odr

Who is this available to?

If you are a consumer client and we have made a contract with you by electronic means you may be entitled to use the EU online dispute resolution service to assist with any contractual dispute you may have with us.

If you have any questions about this please do not hesitate to contact us further on our main switchboard number or by contacting us by email on info@amnestysolicitors.com

This equality, diversity and inclusion policy sets out how Amnesty Solicitors (or “us” or “we” in this policy) complies with the spirit and intentions of the law relating to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion.

Amnesty Solicitors is committed to diversity in the workforce to reflect the population as a whole and is further committed to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion for all within Penn Group.

We are equally committed to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion in relation to our clients and treating all our clients fairly.

We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

How we collect the equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion information:

Annually, around September of each year we distribute unmarked copies of a questionnaire which all staff within Amnesty Solicitors are invited to complete anonymously if they prefer.

Those forms are returned to the Data Controller who then collates that data and enters the data into a summary page. That summary page is then approved by the directors and then published on the website. During the approval process, we as a company look to see if there are any unusual clusters or whether our summary data indicates that we are not equal, diverse or inclusive enough etc.

Appropriate action is thereafter taken to remedy any anomalies by training and further monitoring. We do not positively discriminate at this stage but if our equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion policies and procedures start to cause us concern, we will review that policy decision.

Diversity in the workplace:

Amnesty Solicitors has adopted equality, diversity and inclusion as core values and places all its policy development in the context of the objectives of:

• ensuring that all individuals who come into contact with Amnesty Solicitors, whether as employees, clients or in other capacities, are treated with dignity and respect
• ensuring that the opportunities Amnesty Solicitors provides for learning, personal development and employment are made available on a non-discriminatory basis,
• providing a safe, supportive and welcoming environment for employees, clients and visitors.

Amnesty Solicitors seeks through all its policies and actions to be a genuinely inclusive group of companies and draws for this on good practice throughout the legal community and in the wider economy. The objective is to integrate the principles of equal treatment and promotion of diversity into all aspects of Amnesty Solicitors.

Finding out more:

You may contact the data controller for more information on the process of data collation by:

a) emailing us at datacontroller@amnestysolicitors.com; or

b) writing to us at Data Controller, Amnesty Solicitors, Fox Court, 14 Grays Inn Road, London, WC1X 8HN.

How Do We Keep This Information Up To Date?

Amnesty Solicitors will occasionally make changes and corrections to the above. If we believe that the changes are material, we’ll let you know by doing one (or more) of the following:

(1) posting the changes on our website site, or

(2) sending an email to you informing you about the changes; or

(3) writing a letter to you informing you about the changes.

Diversity data:

2017 Data | 2018 Data | 2019 Data