Why choose a career in corporate immigration?
If you want to practise in an area of law that makes a positive difference to people’s lives – immigration could be for you.
Why choose a career in corporate immigration?
If you want to practise in an area of law that makes a positive difference to people’s lives – immigration could be for you.
For law students considering which area to specialise in, immigration has never been more interesting. Since the Brexit referendum, immigration has been squarely at the fore of political, social and economic debate and policy.
Looking across the areas of immigration practice – asylum, human rights, nationality and corporate immigration – the common theme is that immigration issues matter to people’s lives. Immigration law is what defines and determines those rights, freedoms and choices.
With an overhaul of current UK immigration rules in development, corporate immigration lawyers in particular have never been in greater demand to help businesses and individuals deal with the uncertainty and potentially cataclysmic change ahead.
The body of law governing UK immigration is vast, complex and not always straight forward. Much is based on guidelines rather than legislation, and has become extremely challenging to navigate.
Added to this, it’s constantly changing. The Home Office is known for publishing frequent updates, both minor and substantial. It’s an immigration lawyer’s job to keep up with those, and ensure their clients do, too.
If you want to find out more about what it’s like to work in corporate immigration, take a look at the interviews with two of our trainee solicitors, who share insight into their daily lives and into how and why they arrived at a career in business immigration.
What’s it like to work in corporate immigration?
We asked our trainee solicitors to shed light on their careers to date in immigration law.
What is corporate immigration?
Business immigration is focused on helping employers recruit and employ migrant workers lawfully within the UK. It involves guiding employers and employees through the UK immigration rules to find appropriate routes into the UK, and to support in making the relevant application to the Home Office.
As well as visa eligibility and processing advice, our business immigration team also consults on global mobility to company boards and HR teams within large businesses, helping them to bring talent into the UK as required within the rules.
Scenarios could include:
- Helping entrepreneurs set up a business in the UK
- Helping companies transfer employees to the UK
- Helping medical professionals work in the NHS
- Helping entertainers come to perform in the UK
The wider political landscape plays a huge role in how immigration applications are processed and adjudicated, and we have to be au fait with this.
The current Government for example is working to lower net migration – this has affected all classes of migrants, including skilled workers and those previously deemed welcome and desirable.
As legal advisers, clients rely on our insight into Home Office processes and protocols. We get under the skin of how caseworkers are interpreting guidelines and understand where there is room for interpretation and discretion to help our clients meet their objectives and to stay compliant with their ongoing duties as UK employers to prevent illegal working.
