Who They Are
A regulated immigration adviser is a professional who is legally authorised to provide immigration advice and services in the UK. Immigration advisers must generally be regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) — which replaced the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) in January 2025 — or be authorised to provide immigration services through an approved professional body, such as the relevant legal professional regulators.
The scope of immigration work an adviser can undertake depends on their level of authorisation, which is divided into three levels reflecting their training, competence and permitted areas of work.
📋 The Three Levels of Regulated Advice
Level 1 – Advice and Assistance
Level 1 covers straightforward immigration matters where the relevant rules and qualifying criteria are relatively clear.
Examples include:
- Immigration: Applications for entry clearance (visas), permission to enter or stay, variations of conditions, EU Settlement Scheme applications and certain straightforward nationality or naturalisation applications.
- Asylum and protection: Only limited types of work are permitted at this level. Substantive asylum and protection casework is outside the scope of Level 1.
Level 2 – Casework
Level 2 includes Level 1 work and allows advisers to undertake more complex casework, including matters involving greater discretion or more complicated circumstances.
Examples include:
- Immigration: More complex applications and casework, including certain cases involving overstaying, illegal entry, trafficking and modern slavery.
- Asylum and human rights: Advisers at this level can undertake asylum, protection and human rights casework within the scope of their authorisation, including preparing statements and supporting evidence.
Level 2 advisers may also have limited rights in relation to appeals, but cannot represent clients at appeal hearings.
Level 3 – Advocacy and Representation
Level 3 is the highest level of IAA authorisation and allows advisers to undertake specialist work and, where permitted, represent clients in immigration and asylum tribunals.
Examples include:
- Representation: Representing clients at hearings before the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal within the scope of their authorisation.
- Judicial Review Case Management (JRCM): Level 3 advisers may apply for specific JRCM authorisation. This permits certain case-management activities in judicial review matters, including instructing counsel where the relevant requirements are met. It does not give an immigration adviser general rights of audience in judicial review proceedings.
✅ What Regulated Advisers Must Do
Regulated advisers are subject to professional standards designed to protect their clients. Depending on the regulatory framework that applies to them, they must, among other things:
- Act professionally and in the client’s best interests: Provide competent, accurate advice and explain the client’s position honestly.
- Be accountable: Have appropriate procedures for handling complaints and meet applicable professional and insurance requirements.
- Stay within their authorisation: Only undertake work that they are authorised and competent to provide.
- Be verifiable: IAA-regulated advisers can be checked on the official IAA register, which shows their authorisation and permitted level of work.
⚠️ What Regulated Advisers Cannot Do
A regulated adviser:
- Cannot guarantee an outcome: No adviser can guarantee that a visa, application or appeal will be successful.
- Cannot act outside their authorisation: An adviser must not undertake work that falls outside the level or category of work for which they are authorised.
- Cannot automatically represent clients in every type of legal proceeding: Immigration advice and representation rights depend on the adviser’s authorisation and the rules governing the particular proceedings.
For someone who has limited English or finds the immigration system difficult to navigate, a suitably authorised immigration adviser can provide specialist immigration advice and help with the legal aspects of their case.
Where My Role Ends
I am a welfare benefits adviser, not a regulated immigration adviser. I can provide information and support relating to welfare benefits, including explaining how immigration or residence status may affect access to benefits. However, I do not provide regulated immigration advice or represent clients in immigration matters.
Where a person’s situation requires immigration advice, I will recommend that they seek help from an appropriately authorised immigration adviser or another qualified legal professional.
