Free legal help, paid for by the Legal Aid Agency.
Same firm, same regulation, same standard. The Legal Aid Agency pays instead of you.
Before you start
Many people never ask, because they think legal aid is not for them, or that free help means a lesser lawyer.
What legal aid is
Legal aid is government money that pays a lawyer to work on your case. The Legal Aid Agency pays us directly. If you qualify, you pay us nothing, and we will never ask you for money on a legal aid case.
The Legal Aid Agency sets the rules. We are trusted to apply them for most immigration and asylum work, so we can usually tell you at the start whether you qualify.
What it pays for
| Stage | What it pays for |
|---|---|
| Your claim or application | Advice, your statement, evidence and preparing you for interview (Legal Help) |
| An appeal to the First-tier Tribunal | Preparing the appeal and representation at the hearing (Controlled Legal Representation) |
| Higher courts | Upper Tribunal appeals and judicial review (Licensed Work, applied for separately) |
The cases we take on legal aid
Asylum and protection claims, appeals and fresh claims; cases for children on their own; survivors of trafficking and modern slavery; settlement after domestic abuse; bail and detention. Most other immigration cases, such as visas for partners, work or study, are not covered.
No.
The same firm, the same supervision and the same standard. Legal aid work is audited by the Legal Aid Agency and we hold its Specialist Quality Mark.
Legal aid continues while the case still passes the tests. If we decide an appeal does not have enough chance of success to qualify, we tell you why in writing and explain how to ask for that decision to be reviewed.
Free help. Full effort.
Legal aid pays a regulated specialist to work on your case. If you qualify, you pay us nothing.