Rogue lawyers trade on false hope

by NADEEM BADSHAH

IMMIGRANTS ARE BEING TARGETED AS THEY ARE LESS LIKELY TO GO TO THE AUTHORITIES

ROGUE solicitors are overcharging immigrants in Britain thousands of pounds for legal support - and in some cases do not carry out any work.

Charities have warned that migrants wanting to extend their visa or apply for indefinite leave to re­main are being conned by being charged up to £25,000 by some law firms.

Rani Bilkhu, founder of support group Jeena In­ternational, said one in three of the cases it deals with are related to immigration problems.

She told Eastern Eye: “It’s a silent crime because rogue solicitors know migrants won’t go to the au­thorities. We have to report these vultures who are preying on them. What can be done is inform vul­nerable people that they can go to the authorities if they are being duped.

“It needs to be policed together with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Solicitors are getting away with it as people are not coming forward due to issues around their immigration status or they may be illegal immigrants.”

Bilkhu added: “One woman who came to our ad­vice surgery is a nun on a work permit who wanted to extend it. She paid £650 and the solicitor did not put an application to the Home Office.

“Or some solicitors claim asylum for their client which they do not have a chance of getting.

“One Sikh client didn’t know what his solicitor had put in his application. It said he was going out with a Muslim girl and was thrown out by his family; he said he didn’t know anything about this.

“One Gujarati couple and their two children paid £25,000 to their lawyer to get indefinite leave. We are helping them as they have to return to India volun­tarily. They said if we didn’t apply we would have avoided all this stress and been £25,000 richer.”

It comes after the High Court ruled in May that three law firms – David Wyld Solicitors, Sabz Solici­tors and Topstone Solicitors – failed to follow proper standards. Judges heard lawyers were instructing paralegals and unqualified people to draft applica­tions which fall “well below acceptable standards”.

Since April, the fee for a six month visit visa to the UK has increased to £93, while a two-year visit visa is £350. An indefinite leave to remain application costs £2,389, while a naturalisation application to become a British citizen is £1,330.

Amit Kapadia, executive director of the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme Forum, told Eastern Eye: “There have been number of instances which migrants have reported on sub-standard services provided by their legal representatives.

“In one instance, the solicitor concerned [failed] to submit the case on time due to which the migrant ended up becoming an overstayer.

“There have also been issues where the legal repre­sentative concerned lost the passport and documents of the migrant, causing major problems and in other instances there was lack of detailed breakdown or explanation of the legal fees which were charged.

“It is important that migrants approaching law­yers should insist for a written legal advice on the merits of the case before deciding to initiate any proceedings in the court.”

Salman Mirza, a legal adviser at immigration ad­vice service Brushstrokes in Birmingham, said he comes across around 20 cases a week in which im­migrants have been “ripped off” by lawyers.

Harjap Bhangal, a partner at WRJ Solicitors in the Midlands, is one of the UK’s leading immigration lawyers. He has urged migrants to get advice from a few legal experts before asking their solicitor to act.

“If what a solicitor is telling you sounds too good to be true, ask them to put the advice in writing.

“Before instructing a solicitor, always ask about the merits of success and be wary of promises con­taining ‘if’ ‘but’ and ‘maybe’.

“Remember a solicitor is not a magician, they can’t conjure visas out of nothing.

“Study the immigration rules. They are all on the Home Office website and see if you fit into them.

“If a solicitor tells you it won’t be possible, then rather than look for false hope and get ripped off, it might be prudent not to proceed until you fit the ac­tual immigration rules.”

A spokesperson for the SRA said solicitors have a responsibility “to provide the best possible service for their clients, while upholding the rule of law and proper administration of justice”.

“When solicitors fail to uphold the high profes­sional standards we expect, we will take action.”