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- Provide advice and representation for people who have immigration issues or asylum claims
- For some roles you may need to train as a solicitor or barrister first
- Make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable people
As an immigration adviser, you will give advice on asylum and protection, immigration and nationality issues either in the not-for-profit or for-profit immigration and asylum sector.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Finding out the facts of a case
- Deciding how urgent a case is
- Making enquiries on behalf of clients
- Helping with application forms and contacting relevant authorities
- Explaining options and next steps to clients
- Drafting grounds for appeal and witness statements
- Representing clients in tribunals
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You could work in an office, in a prison, or at a client's home or business. Your working environment can be emotionally demanding.
You'll need
For this role, you'll need patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations; legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations, and of public safety and security; the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure; flexibility and openness to change; thoroughness and attention to detail; and customer service, thinking and reasoning skills.
You could train as a legal executive through a chartered legal executive degree apprenticeship, or train to be a solicitor through a solicitor degree apprenticeship. You could then specialise in immigration cases after completing your apprenticeship.
Volunteering will be helpful to gain you experience, in an organisation that works with immigrants and asylum seekers, such as Citizens Advice, Refugee Action, or Refugee Support Network.
To specialise in immigration as a legal executive, it'll help if you can find a job with a firm that deals with immigration and asylum issues, whilst training. The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives can provide more information about qualifying.
To specialise in immigration as a barrister or solicitor, it would be useful to do training in this area of work. More information can be found from The Law Society or The Bar Council.
A generally quicker route could be to register with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), in which you'll need to attend training, pass an exam and meet their standards.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience, you could work on more complex and high-profile cases. You could specialise in a particular area, like working with children, providing consular services or advising international students at a university.