Immigration advice in the UK: who may give it

Why this matters when you pick a relocation agency

Some relocation agencies list permits next to flats and schools. In the UK giving immigration advice is regulated, and the rule applies to an agency as it applies to anyone else. The Home Office granted 235,000 work visas, including dependants, in the year ending June 2026. That is 18% fewer than a year earlier and 62% below the peak of the year ending December 2023 (Home Office, immigration statistics).

The rule

Section 84 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 says that no person may provide immigration advice or immigration services unless they are a qualified person (section 84). A qualified person is one of four kinds:

1. a person registered with the immigration services regulator, now the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA);
2. a person authorised by a designated professional body, for example solicitors or barristers;
3. a person authorised by a designated qualifying regulator;
4. a person acting under the supervision of any of the above.

There are narrow exemptions for people acting for the Crown. The section also notes that authorisation by a qualifying regulator does not extend to advice outside England and Wales.

What counts as advice

Section 82 defines immigration advice as advice that relates to a particular individual, is given in connection with a “relevant matter”, and is given by someone who knows it is for that purpose (section 82). Relevant matters include:

• applications for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain, and electronic travel authorisations;
• immigration employment documents;
• UK nationality and citizenship;
• removal or deportation, bail under immigration law, and appeals or judicial review of immigration decisions.

General information about a visa route does not relate to a particular person. Telling you which route to apply for, or what to put in your form, does, so treat it as advice and check the qualification of whoever gives it. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

The penalty

Providing immigration advice or services in breach of section 84 is an offence under section 91. On summary conviction the penalty is up to six months in prison, a fine up to the statutory maximum, or both. On indictment it is up to two years, a fine, or both. Officers and partners of a company can be liable too, if the offence happened with their consent, connivance or neglect (section 91).

The regulator

The Immigration Advice Authority describes itself as an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Home Office, which protects people who seek immigration advice through regulation, enforcement and best practice (gov.uk). It replaced the OISC on 16 January 2025. Free Movement reported about 3,800 regulated individual advisers in the IAA’s first annual report, in February 2026, down slightly from 3,900 a year before (Free Movement).

How to check before you pay

1. Ask the person or firm for their IAA registration number, or the name of the professional body they belong to.
2. Search the IAA’s Adviser Finder and Adviser Register on its portal, which gov.uk links.
3. Ask which level of advice they are registered for. The IAA’s guidance refers to different levels, which we did not research, so we cannot list them.
4. Get the scope and the fee in writing before you pay.

What an agency may still do for you

Registering an address, finding a flat, opening a bank account or choosing a school is not immigration advice. If you want help with the visa itself, ask an agency whether it works with a regulated adviser or a solicitor, and who is accountable for the application. An agency that is not qualified should not be the one telling you which visa to choose.

What we could not source

We did not research which of the levels of IAA registration cover which kinds of case, nor the rules in Scotland and Northern Ireland beyond what the sections say. We also did not verify the IAA’s own adviser count at the primary source, so the figure comes from Free Movement.