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Frequently asked questions

Why choose ICS Legal?

We specialise in Immigration Law, Human Rights Law, British Nationality Law & European Law. Our lawyers provide honest, exceptional service to our clients. We believe that our service starts when we submit your application and we want our client to know we will keep them informed, answer there questions and your case worker will be just a phone call away.

What is the benefit of using our legal services when you want to come to the UK or extend or switch?

Our speciality lies in the field of Immigration, Nationality and EU Law, so it means we always are dealing with this side of the law. We are able to support you in making a correct decision, avoid delays on your case, save money and time, not forgetting the stress of any doubts with your application.

There are many routes available to come to the UK, extend or switch, some of them do not allow extension or even switching. Knowing what is right can be a difficult task and this is why we are here. Simple task of not using the prescribed forms can mean your application is invalid, which means if you have no valid stay, you would have to return back and there is no appeal rights.

Our initial consultations are a chargeable service. We initially discuss the requirements of the application to ensure you meet the requirements and have the documentation required at hand for the submission. It gives you an opportunity to meet us and ask questions.

Each case will be checked thoroughly, everything will be cross referenced so guidelines are met and we will also add our legal document which would outline the Immigration Rules and how the client has satisfied the rules. We use documents that are used by Home Office case workers, so we know exactly what they would look for in your case.

The most important fact is that law constantly changes, policy guidelines and requirements are always changing, so it is best that you always use specialised services to support you. We never compromise our services, our fees remain very competitive but our expertise is at the very highest standard.

How can I trust your service?

We are regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). OISC is the government regulated body and it is a criminal offence if someone is providing Immigration advice without being regulated by the OISC. We are also members of Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). JCWI is an independent national voluntary organisation, campaigning for justice and combating racism in immigration and asylum law and policy.

What happens in the initial consultation?

Your case worker would take some background information regarding yourself. Relevant questions would be asked to ascertain whether your case can be handled by our team. You will also be able to ask questions, understand what is required to meet the Immigration Rules, Nationality Law and EU Law where relevant. Should we be able to provide assistance, your case worker will give you a customer care letter whereby it would outline the service agreement and the cost associated.

What happens after the consultation?

After each consultation we aim to provide a consultation report which would outline what was discussed, the action plan and what to do next.

When I meet the caseworker and I disclose personal information, would this be disclosed to anyone else?

We have a procedure in place for ensuring client confidentiality. We keep the affairs of our clients and all information relating to our clients confidential, except where we are compelled to disclose information by reason of a legal or regulatory obligation.

What is a customer care letter?

A customer care letter from us will ensure that we outline the service we would be providing, it would also provide a break down of the costs associated so you can rest assure that there are no hidden charges and that fees do not go up unless changes are made (i.e. Home Office fees etc).

Once I sign the customer care letter and my case would possibly fail, do I still have to pay your fees?

We place our clients first, so when you sign the customer care letter and we go through your case file, and we believe that the case would not be successful, we will terminate the agreement and return your documents. We will also provide alternative solutions with no added costs. We also have a cancellation period should you feel you want to withdraw your file.

Please note that all cases cannot be guaranteed as circumstances depends and whether you met guidelines, however the Home Office caseworker can still refuse cases on the balance of probabilities and other factors. Our job would be to prepare your case in the best possible way.

Do you provide one day Premium Services?

Yes, we have a special provision with the Home Office and majority case decisions are made on the same day.

Do you do “No Win No Fee”?

As a private legal firm, we want to ensure we can provide the service you want. Our fees are very competitive and that is why we do not provide a No Win No Fee service as we do not feel the need to over charge our clients with such schemes.

How is the fees paid and are there any surprises?

With us, you will know exactly what we would be charging. The fees are to be paid through cheque, cash or bank transfer. Home Office fees can be paid to us and we can make the payment on behalf of you. If there is any changes in Home Office fees, we will let you know immediately.

How often would I get updated once my case have been submitted?

Our commitment to our clients is that we will update you every time we get an update from the Home Office. The waiting period can be a very daunting time as decisions can be life changing however the Home Office do set some guidelines on waiting times, but we intend to keep you updated throughout the process.

Can you guarantee an application?

No, and this is the same even if you use a no win no fee service, it would be impossible for anyone to guarantee a successful application. The likelihood of an application being successful can be given based on previous cases or success rates, however we do not operate such a policy of selling our services based on previous applications.

What is your aftercare service?

We aim to ensure that this service is not used by any of our clients, but there are times where even with the best possible applications are unsuccessful. As we take our clients cases personally, we would like to provide a helping hand. We have designed an aftercare service whereby if your case fails, then your case worker would be able to help you look at other formalities of staying in the UK should you have valid leave still remaining or help you make an out country application. Please note should you require appealing on your matter, we can only deal with the initial appeal and your application will be straight away referred to an advisor who deals with representations.

Can I give you feedback on your service?

It is vital that all our clients can provide honest feedback, we would encourage this and this helps us to become better on our service delivery.

Can you help me find a UK Employer to sponsor a work permit or find me work?

No, we are a law firm which provides support in UK Immigration, Nationality and EU Free Movement Rights. However we have a subsidiary company which is jobslibrary.co.uk whereby you can look for work, apply and discuss with potential employers. We cannot influence any decisions and finding work is not something our team deals with.

How we deliver service

1) You contact us through e-mail or phone.

2) We take some basic information, we ask some relevant questions to understand the type of query and what type of support is required.

3) Your case then gets passed to a case worker.

4) Case Worker would contact you to set up an initial meeting.

5) You attend a consultation, an action plan is drawn up and we find out whether ICS Legal can support your case. A report would be sent where there is a requirement to outline what was discussed and what to do next.

6) You authorise us to be your legal representative by signing our customer care letter.

7) We will then start to request documents and information about your case this will build up your case pack.

8) We will then write our legal report and use Home Office caseworker’s documents to ensure everything has been checked and all requirement have been met.

9) Where possible we will go through every aspect of your case before case submission.

10) We will continue to update you throughout the case life cycle .

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Table of Contents

ICS Legal | Terms & Conditions

Terms and conditions to use ICS Legal website.

ICS Legal. Part of ICS Legal Immigration Specialists Ltd. Company registered in England & Wales. Reg No: 08703375.

The “Terms and Conditions” outlined in this page apply whenever you access the website, www.icslegal.com, by accessing the website you have accepted the Terms and Conditions including the Privacy Policy. You must abide by the policy outlined in this page.

The Terms and Conditions are subject to change without prior notice.

1. Definitions used on the “Terms and Conditions”

1.1 “You” or “your” or “Client” or “Account Holder” means the individual visiting and/or creating an account within the Website (www.icslegal.com).

1.2 “My Account” or “Account” or “Client Account” means ICS legal’s secured online system managed by ICS Legal which allows Clients to enter and update their personal information, ask legal question, obtain case updates, make outstanding payments and access from any computer with internet access.

1.3 “Anti Virus” or “Firewall” or “Spam Blocker” means tools required to keep your connection to our site secure.

1.4 “ICS Legal” or “icslegal.com” or “we” or “our” or “company” means ICS Legal Immigration Specialists Ltd or any of our subsidiary companies.

1.5 “Service” means professional legal advice from ICS Legal.

1.6 “Terms” mean these terms and conditions which also include the acceptance of our privacy policy.

1.7 “Working Day” means a day on which banks are open for business in London, UK.

1.8 “Specified Time” is 3 working days.

1.9 “Website” means www.icslegal.com

1.10 “CRC” – OISC Commissioner’s Rules and Code of Standards.

2. Privacy Policy

2.1 The “Privacy Policy” outlines how we manage our website, the information you supply through our online facilities and what information we share within our company.

2.2 Changes to the Privacy Policy can be done without prior notice.

3. Contents

3.1 The content and the source codes contained in this page and subsequent pages of www.icslegal.com are the property of ICS Legal Immigration Specialists Ltd.

3.2 Unauthorised reproduction and copying is strictly prohibited.

3.3 Selective contents of the website have been re-produced in accordance to Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI).

3.4 ICS Legal Immigration Specialists Ltd holds PSI Licence and licence number is C2009002244. Parliamentary Licence number is P2009000241.

4. Use of Site

4.1 ICS Legal grants you a limited access to this site for information purposes only, and not allowed to download, store, sell, re-sell, duplicated, reproduced, or copied for any purposes. Information on this website does not replace legal advice. ICS Legal does not accept any liability for any information on our website for any applications to the Home Office, British Embassy or to the Immigration Tribunal.

4.2 ICS Legal forbids the use of data mining, data gathering, duplication or any other tools deemed to be in-appropriate.

4.3 No part of the site and its contents can be used for commercial or any other purposes deemed in-appropriate by ICS Legal.

4.4 By accepting our terms and conditions, you have confirmed that you will abide by the Terms and Conditions including the Privacy Policy.

4.5 By accepting our terms and conditions, you have authorised ICS Legal to monitor and track all ip addresses. All ip-addresses are tracked and monitored for security purposes. IP address identifies the source of where the connection is coming from. This information can be passed to the Police and other government agencies.

4.6 ICS Legal does not allow the use of any design, styling, copying of logo and images for any purposes.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability

5.1 ICS Legal has provided information on this website for reference only and makes no representations or warranties to the accuracy of the information. You must not rely on the information provided.

5.2 Professional and Legal advice should be sought prior making any decisions. Do not rely on the information provided within this site.

5.3 You agree expressly that your use of this website and its contents is at your sole risk.

5.4 The information available on this site is not intended to be comprehensive, and many details which are relevant to particular circumstances may have been omitted. It is not a complete statement of immigration and nationality law or policy.

5.5 ICS Legal has placed security features to protect your personal information. However we do warrant that this website, its servers, or e-mail sent from ICS Legal are free of error, viruses or other harmful components.

5.5 By accepting our Terms and Conditions, ICS Legal is not liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of this website, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect and consequential damages.

6. Registration

6.1 As part of the registration process, selective information is required to complete the process. If you contact us through e-mail, telephone or completing our contact forms, then you have electronically signed and have accepted the “Terms and Conditions”.

6.2 By clicking on “Register”, you have electronically signed and have accepted the “Terms and Conditions”.

6.3 It is your responsibility to keep your username and/or password secured. You must inform ICS Legal should you believe someone else have access to your credentials to access your account.

7. My Account

7.1 “My Account” contains personal information including “Account Details” and “Edit Profile”. You must ensure that relevant and up to date information is updated on to your account.

7.2 “Track My Case” contains all case information and notes from the case worker including postal reference number, home office reference number and other relevant information, for all cases that ICS Legal have or will under take.

7.3 “Ask a legal Question” will allow you to ask a question depending on whether you have credit available. Limited responses apply to one only.

7.4 “Outstanding Payments” will allow you to make any outstanding payments through our online secured system.

7.5 You accept that you have given ICS Legal the permission to publish all the above information on to your account for your use.

7.6 You accept that by appointing ICS Legal to under take legal work, you give consent to ICS Legal to create an online account for your use only. We will use the e-mail address provided by you, and will send you the account details via the e-mail address provided. You accept that if the e-mail address is shared, then you must contact ICS Legal and request a change of e-mail address.

7.7 You agree that if you have breached any “Terms and Conditions” and/or our “Privacy Policy”, we may cancel your account and delete it from our system, which you accept that all information will be lost and not recoverable.

7.8 You agree and accept that no account can be closed if you have appointed ICS Legal as your legal representative. We must legally hold information for 6 years as a minimum and under that obligation; we cannot delete or remove your information.

8. Ask a Legal Question

8.1 The feature is available throughout the world and you must have credit available to ask a question.

8.2 You can purchase a credit through our online payment facilities. You accept that ICS Legal have no control of third party systems, and you must take precautions prior entering your personal information. Please ensure you read their Terms and Conditions.

8.3 One response is mandatory as part of the agreement to each legal question asked. However the discretion lies upon ICS Legal whether to respond to your second and/or further response within the same question, if the ticket has not been closed. This discretion does not apply when the response is not in line with the initial question.

8.4 Once you have purchased a credit, ICS Legal allows 8 hours cooling off period, if ICS Legal have not answered the question. If the credit has not been used, a refund will be eligible less 10% to cover administration cost.

8.5 No refund is available once the credit is used to ask a legal question. This extends to the response from ICS Legal which you deemed not conclusive, appropriate or correct.

8.6 Response from ICS Legal will be based solely on the information provided. You accept that the response may not be accurate and would ask that you seek legal advice prior making a final decision. ICS Legal does not accept any liability or warrant any information provided in the response, or pay damages as a result of the information provided.

8.7 ICS Legal will take reasonable steps to ensure information is accurate at the time of publication and can change due to new policy or new law, which is out of ICS Legal’s control.

8.8 The response from ICS Legal is solely for your use and you must not share the information or provide advice based on the information provided.

8.9 ICS Legal reserves the right not to respond to questions that do not relate to UK Immigration, British Nationality and European Union Free Movement Rights. ICS Legal will not respond if the question asked is not appropriate, are not submitted in English and will not be eligible for any refund.

8.10 You accept that your legal question will be answered within 72 hours (3 working days) from the time you submit your question.

9. Communications

9.1 By contacting ICS Legal through any forms of communication including electronic, telephone, letters or visiting in person, you have accepted and give consent to us, to communicate with you through your “My Account” and e-mails or any form of communication deemed appropriate.

9.2 We have taken reasonable to steps to protect your data, however ICS Legal will not take any responsibility or pay damages where your personal information is obtained by third party.

9.3 All communications between you and us, through any mediums deemed confidential, and should not be disclosed to any third party without written consent from ICS Legal.

10. Service

10.1 ICS Legal will provide the services outlined on the agreement between the Client and ICS Legal.

10.2 Contract between the Client and ICS Legal will be terminated should ICS Legal believe the Client have failed to abide by the Terms & Conditions and/or Privacy Policy.

10.3 The service provided by ICS Legal is for professional legal advice.

11. Track My Case

11.1 ICS Legal will update all each case submitted within 5 working days with the appropriate information including the Royal Mail reference number.

11.2 OISC states that we should update clients every 3 months with a case update, however ICS Legal will continue to update your case and as when we receive update.

11.3 “Track My Case” on your “My Account” can be accessed 24 hours a day and should be accessed to get case update.

11.4 You accept that where we have not received any case update, your file will not be updated unless the last update was more than a month.

12. Payments

12.1 You accept that you must pay any outstanding payments under “My Account” and should be made within the specified time.

12.2 Payment should be cleared within 3 days unless specified.

12.3 ICS Legal will notify the outstanding payments through e-mail.

12.4 Payment should be made in pound sterling or equivalent.

12.5 Where outstanding payment is required to be made immediately, you should log into your “My Account” and make the online payment.

12.5 For refund and how we calculate our fees, where there is a withdrawal, please read the section for refund.

13. Refund Policy

13.1 The Refund Policy is in line with Rule 17 of the CRC to ensure we are charging appropriate fees.

13.2 Refund will be calculated on an hourly basis. Hourly rate is currently calculated at £120 per hour (subject to changes).

13.3 We will deduct the amount from the fees paid by the client to us and a client may owe more money to ICS. This does not include the Home Office fees.

13.4 The Refund Policy does not apply after the application has been submitted and the definition outlined in 13.1, 13.2 & 13.3 of the Refund Policy is void.

14. Cancellation Policy

14.1 The cancellation policy is applicable whereby the contract is cancelled by us or the client.

14.2 The contract can be terminated if there any infringements of the terms and conditions that is breached or broken, directly or indirectly, with or without your knowledge.

14.3 Where the contract is terminated, the refund policy will be applicable as stated from 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 & 13.4.

14.4 ICS will contact the client to return any original documentation that we hold. ICS will keep a copy of all documentation provided in line with Rule 29 of the CRC.

15. Code of Conduct

15.1 ICS Legal staff is governed by the OISC and have to comply with the Professional Code of Conduct at all times.

15.2 We are authorised to provide UK Immigration Advice, British Nationality, EU Free Movement Rights and Advice on Complex Selective Matters.

15.3 ICS Legal will ensure that we keep our clients confidentiality and do not discuss your case details to anyone unless there is a legal requirement.

15.4 ICS Legal does not guarantee any outcomes regarding your application. This is something no one can confirm as the Home Office are the final people who make the decision.

16. Free online assessment and use of our contact forms/feedback forms

16.1 ICS Legal provides general and simple UK visa assessment. Our services does not extends to complex applications including applications under British Nationality Law or European Law. The information provided is for general information purposes and does not constitute any legal advice.

Please be advised that the free immigration advice is subject to the availability of our Immigration Advisers and only for a time not exceeding 5 minutes. We reserve our right to terminate the free advice session at any time, if necessary. Furthermore, please be advised that the free immigration advice is given without accepting any liability for any loss caused by inaccuracy

16.2 We have no legal obligation to provide you with free advice. We reserve the right to withdraw this offer at any point and without any prior notice.

16.3 ICS Legal free assessment does not substitute any legal advice. You must always seek professional legal advice to ensure that the correct information is available to you, before you make a decision on any immigration matter.

16.4 ICS Legal

17. Complaints

17.1 We treat all complaints very seriously, as our clients are very important to us. However, we know that in some instances we do let you down but we would like you to let us know to improve our services. Please follow the following guidelines in making any complaints, to ensure that we can respond back promptly.

17.2 Guidelines on making complaints:

Customer Reference Number [if applicable]
Your full name
Your full address
Your telephone number
Your email address
Name of advisor
Date of first contact
Please provide with full details of complaint include any dates
17.3 We will respond back to all complaints, acknowledging that we have received your complain within five days with a complaints reference number, in writing.

17.4 Telephone Complaints:we do not take any complains via telephone but if you would like support in making a complaint, please contact us on 020 7265 1144 or 0844 800 3919. However, we understand that sometimes our clients may have difficulties in e-mailing a complaint or writing to us, we can take a complaint via the telephone and we will respond back in writing. For your reference, our customer service support team will provide a customer reference number.

17.5 To write a complaint, please send your complaints to:

ICS Legal Immigration Specialists Ltd
Complaints Department
Suite 11, City Business Centre
25 Lower Road, London SE16 2XB

Tel: 0844 800 3919

17.6 What happens after you have complained?

We will acknowledge your complain within five days. We will look at your case and may invite you to an internal hearing to discuss your matter and aim to do this within 15 working days. Any delays, we will inform you and we may ask you to send us further information before we investigate a complaint.