Employment-backed visas

We have backed businesses with global mobility and employee visas for decades, garnering the highest level of experience across the continents.

A major ongoing project has been assisting one of America’s largest healthcare systems with their recruiting needs for over 20 years, aiding the transfer of top clinicians and research scientists from around the world to work in its US hospitals and research institutes. We can also navigate employee visa law for banks, IT companies and employers across a broad range of other sectors.

In countries like the UK, employers are responsible for issuing their own work permits, and we can support them with compliance. With stringent processes in place for immigration and routine auditing, having a legal advisor is key.

Whether you need to import specialist staff for upcoming projects, or you want to apply for an exceptional talent visa to bring highly-skilled workers to the UK, there are many complex cases we’ve had experience with. If you have unique or unusual circumstances and require advice, our team can be of assistance.

Investor visas and entrepreneur visas

Many countries offer visas to people who make a significant investment or want to establish a new business overseas. Our legal team regularly advise on the requirements of different jurisdictions, including the US, UK, Australia and Portugal.

We can guide you through the entire process of applying for investor visas or entrepreneur visas, compiling relevant documentation and mitigating potential complications.

In cases where investor or entrepreneur visas have been declined, we have used our knowledge of local legal systems to appeal and overturn decisions, helping clients from around the world get accepted into their chosen destination.

For clients who require specialist representation in regard to visa laws, we can also be of service. An example of this is when our London office acted for an Indian investor whose complicated financial arrangements meant that her investment had technically been borrowed against, which is not allowed under the UK investor visa rules. We flagged this to the appropriate authorities and helped our client progress her business investments in the right way.

Relationship visas

Keeping couples and families together is one of the most rewarding aspects of our work as immigration lawyers. We assist with visa applications for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, as well as children and other dependents, of people who already have the right to live in their chosen country. We can also help you apply for a visa if you have stepchildren or children born internationally through surrogacy.

Our lawyers have years of experience in dealing with difficult cases, and we’re passionate about reuniting family members from all around the world.

Extraordinary ability / exceptional talent visas

Known as an extraordinary ability visa in the US, an exceptional talent visa in the UK, and a distinguished talent visa in Australia, these visas allow for the recruitment of special individuals.

Whether you’re hiring a sports star such as a footballer or racing driver, a talented musician, a fashion designer, an academic, or a genius worker in a highly-skilled sector, our lawyers can support the transfer.

Our teams have also had tremendous success winning cases for people who are relatively unknown. Theda Fisher, an associate in our New York office, once filed an application on behalf of a Brazilian party planner, compiling an extensive portfolio of his work and arguing that table decorations and floral arrangements constituted an art form. Through our detailed knowledge of the local visa law, we were able to push this forward and get it approved.