The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner, or OISC as we all call it, is to be abolished in the new year. It will be
The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has dismissed the appeal against cancellation of the OISC accreditation of an organisation, Anzan Immigration Lawyers, and its sole
We often get questions about how to become an OISC adviser so we have compiled all the essential information in one place for you. The
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (’OISC’) has published their response to last year’s consultation on the code of standards. Under the Immigration and
Our new OISC Level 2 course: immigration and asylum online training is now live and available to all Free Movement members. It covers the whole of the
In this article we look at what registration as an OISC Level 2 adviser really means and how to go about it. We talk you
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), which regulates immigration advisers who are not practicing solicitors, barristers or Chartered Legal Executives, is consulting on
The OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) has again amended its guidance note on advisers conducting litigation in judicial review cases. The amendment appears to
Some big news at Free Movement. Two bits of big news, in fact. New Editor Firstly, I am delighted to announce that Sonia Lenegan is
Three lawyers convicted in 2019 of providing unregulated immigration advice worth millions have been ordered to cough up over £45,000 between them in fines and
Since 2016 there has been no minimum CPD training hours requirement and training can be undertaken by any training provider or even by informal methods
We’ve been busy working away at creating new CPD immigration training courses and updating our existing ones. Our courses are perfect for CPD for solicitors,
The Upper Tribunal has referred an immigration adviser to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), accusing him of running judicial review cases without
The OISC, or the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner to give the organisation its full title, is a governmental body established by the Immigration
In this blog post, Judith Reynolds, Research Associate at Cardiff University’s Centre for Language and Communication Research, offers immigration law practitioners some reflections and tips
The OISC, the regulator for immigration advisers who are not solicitors, barristers or CILEx qualified, has launched a new, light touch Brexit scheme. It will
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (the OISC to those who know it well) has quietly published guidance outlining when it considers it will
A solicitor who is suspended from practice can nevertheless advise clients on immigration law. This simple but perhaps surprising fact was highlighted by a recent
The case of Visa Joy Ltd will be of interest to immigration advisers regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). The OISC
The latest triennial review of the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) has been published by the Home Office. The organisation will not be
New CPD rules are being introduced for solicitors and barristers in England and Wales and OISC advisers across the UK. The new rules are broadly
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) is currently consulting on the regulation of immigration advisers. Or, more accurately, the de-regulation of immigration advisers.
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner, or OISC as we all call it, is to be abolished in the new year. It will be replaced by a new-look Immigration Advice Authority, or IAA. Not to be confused with the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme (IAAS) run by the Law...
The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has dismissed the appeal against cancellation of the OISC accreditation of an organisation, Anzan Immigration Lawyers, and its sole adviser Mr Ali Rahmanyfar after a large number of breaches of the code of standards. The case is Anzan Immigration Lawyers v Office of the...
We often get questions about how to become an OISC adviser so we have compiled all the essential information in one place for you. The first thing to say is that if you are looking to provide immigration advice but are not legally qualified, you will need to get registered...
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (’OISC’) has published their response to last year’s consultation on the code of standards. Under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 it is a criminal offence to give immigration advice unless you are properly regulated. For those who are not practicing solicitors, barristers...
Our new OISC Level 2 course: immigration and asylum online training is now live and available to all Free Movement members. It covers the whole of the OISC immigration and asylum syllabuses and is perfect for anyone relatively new to the immigration sector who wants to take their knowledge of...
In this article we look at what registration as an OISC Level 2 adviser really means and how to go about it. We talk you through the OISC requirements for advancing from Level 1 to Level 2, how you might go about showing that you meet those requirements, the assessments...
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), which regulates immigration advisers who are not practicing solicitors, barristers or Chartered Legal Executives, is consulting on a new code of standards. The OISC was brought into being by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 at the same time that a new criminal...
The OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) has again amended its guidance note on advisers conducting litigation in judicial review cases. The amendment appears to be with immediate effect, although the online version of the practice note had not actually been updated at the time I was writing this....
Some big news at Free Movement. Two bits of big news, in fact. New Editor Firstly, I am delighted to announce that Sonia Lenegan is joining Free Movement as the new Editor in August. She will be replacing me, although I’ll still be lurking in the background and contributing from...
Three lawyers convicted in 2019 of providing unregulated immigration advice worth millions have been ordered to cough up over £45,000 between them in fines and compensation. Dan Romulus Dandes, Babbar Ali Jamil and Zia Bi were sentenced at the Old Bailey on 5 January 2021 for their roles in a...
Since 2016 there has been no minimum CPD training hours requirement and training can be undertaken by any training provider or even by informal methods including self study. The rules for solicitors, barristers and OISC advisers are all broadly similar and were all changed at around the same time. The...
We’ve been busy working away at creating new CPD immigration training courses and updating our existing ones. Our courses are perfect for CPD for solicitors, barristers and OISC advisers and we now offer over 100 hours of CPD training to our 2,500+ members, covering all aspects and all levels of...
The Upper Tribunal has referred an immigration adviser to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), accusing him of running judicial review cases without a licence and failing to properly check expert reports. The case is R (Hoxha & Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (representatives:...
The OISC, or the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner to give the organisation its full title, is a governmental body established by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to regulate the provision of immigration advice and services throughout the UK. The OISC has around 60 staff. The OISC was...
In this blog post, Judith Reynolds, Research Associate at Cardiff University’s Centre for Language and Communication Research, offers immigration law practitioners some reflections and tips for communicating with foreign language-speaking clients. As all legal practitioners are keenly aware, communicating effectively with clients is central to good legal practice. Being aware of...
The OISC, the regulator for immigration advisers who are not solicitors, barristers or CILEx qualified, has launched a new, light touch Brexit scheme. It will enable charities and not-for-profit organisations to qualify to give immigration advice on the EU Settlement Scheme without breaking the law. The scheme launches on 1...
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (the OISC to those who know it well) has quietly published guidance outlining when it considers it will be illegal to provide advice to EU citizens and their non-EU family members under the settled status scheme. The guidance barely mentions the scheme itself...
A solicitor who is suspended from practice can nevertheless advise clients on immigration law. This simple but perhaps surprising fact was highlighted by a recent case before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in which an East London solicitor unsuccessfully challenged an indefinite suspension given to him in 2009. Since that time,...
The case of Visa Joy Ltd will be of interest to immigration advisers regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). The OISC makes sure that immigration advisers meet certain standards and are “fit and competent” to provide immigration advice and services. It will register as immigration advisers...
The latest triennial review of the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) has been published by the Home Office. The organisation will not be abolished and will continue as a non departmental public body at arms length from Government. There is also a very brief Ministerial statement. The main...
New CPD rules are being introduced for solicitors and barristers in England and Wales and OISC advisers across the UK. The new rules are broadly similar in nature but start at different times, so it is important to know which rules apply when. At the end of the blog post...
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) is currently consulting on the regulation of immigration advisers. Or, more accurately, the de-regulation of immigration advisers. It is illegal to give immigration advice in the UK unless the adviser is a member of an exempted profession (mainly solicitors and barristers) or...
