Immigration appeal solicitor in Edinburgh
Refused application with a 14-day appeal window? Book a consultation with a qualified Edinburgh immigration appeal solicitor, usually within 24 hours.
The refusal letter is in front of you. The date you're supposed to appeal by is buried in it somewhere. The next 14 days, give or take, will decide whether you can fix this through the Tribunal or whether you're starting over.
What we offer is a consultation with a qualified immigration solicitor, normally within 24 hours of you booking. £175 including VAT, 30 minutes, at our Edinburgh office or by video. After the call you'll know whether your refusal carries a right of appeal at all, which version fits, and what the next step costs as a fixed fee. The rest of this page is so you walk into that meeting with the right things in hand.
Find your appeal deadline first
It's usually printed on the refusal letter, but not on the first page. Look in the rights-of-appeal section near the back. The line you want says something like "you must lodge any appeal by..." or "your appeal must be received by...". That's the date you write down.
Two things to check carefully.
The date the decision was sent, not the date you received it. The clock starts on the date the Home Office sent the letter. If it arrived three days late by post, those days are gone.
The type of appeal window
- In-country appeals are usually 14 calendar days from the date the decision was sent.
- Out-of-country appeals are 28 calendar days.
- Detained fast-track has shorter windows still.
- Asylum has its own time limits.
Calendar days. Weekends and bank holidays count.
Write the deadline on the front of the letter in pen so you don't misread it later.
Is an appeal even the right route?
Not every refusal carries a right of appeal. Picking the wrong route burns the deadline.
Refusals with a right of appeal
Human rights claims under Article 8 (family and private life), asylum and humanitarian protection, EU Settlement Scheme refusals, deprivation of citizenship, and protection-based deportation. The route is the First-tier Tribunal.
Refusals with administrative review only
Most points-based work and study refusals. Skilled Worker, Health and Care, Student, Graduate, some Global Talent. Admin review is internal to the Home Office and has its own short deadline, usually 14 to 28 days depending on whether you're in or out of the UK.
Refusals with no review and no appeal
Visit visas, some short-stay refusals, certain decisions made on rules-only grounds. The remedy is a fresh application or, in narrow cases, a judicial review pre-action letter.
The consultation tells you which one fits yours.
How a First-tier Tribunal appeal works
For appeals that go to the Tribunal:
You lodge online through MyHMCTS using the IAFT-1 form. There's a Tribunal fee, currently £80 for a paper hearing and £140 for an oral hearing. Fee waivers are available for applicants on certain benefits or in serious financial difficulty.
The grounds of appeal sit in the lodging itself. The Home Office then sends the respondent's bundle. A case management review usually follows. The appeal bundle is built. Witness statements are prepared. A skeleton argument is drafted. Then the hearing.
Hearings for Scottish appeals sit at the Eagle Building in Glasgow. Edinburgh-based appellants travel across for the hearing, with the solicitor. Some hearings are heard remotely by video.
Most appeals take several months from lodging to hearing. The 14-day window is just about getting the appeal in. Everything else happens afterwards.
What an experienced solicitor reads in your refusal
The bit that turns an appeal from "we'll have a go" into a serious case is the quality of the read on the refusal letter itself. What we look at first:
Credibility findings
Where the caseworker disbelieved evidence, were they applying the correct standard? Did they engage with the documents or skip past them?
Country guidance applied
Was it current, and applied to the right facts?
The Razgar test in Article 8 cases
The five questions need to be worked through, not gestured at.
Paragraph 276ADE on private life
Long-residence cases turn on the test being applied correctly.
The best interests of any children
Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 is not an optional add-on.
For ILR refusals
The continuous residence calculation, the 180-day absences rule, and any good character points the caseworker has flagged.
For Skilled Worker refusals with a human rights element
Whether the caseworker actually engaged with the human rights claim or treated it as a box-tick.
The appeal needs to target what the caseworker got wrong, not re-run the original application. The consultation tells you whether your refusal gives you that target.
Packages that apply to most appeals
After the consultation, if you want us to run the appeal, work goes onto a fixed-fee package. Every package fee includes VAT and is per person.
First-tier Tribunal Appeal – £1,999
Appeal representation covering grounds, bundle, skeleton argument and the hearing. First-tier Tribunal Appeal package.
Deportation Appeal – £2,499
For people facing a deportation order. Expert reports where the case calls for them (expert fees quoted separately). Deportation Appeal package.
Pre-action Protocol for Judicial Review – £599
Where there's no right of appeal and the remedy is judicial review. PAP for Judicial Review package.
Tribunal lodging fees are paid separately to HMCTS.
What to have ready for the consultation
The full refusal letter, all pages, including the rights-of-appeal section at the back.
The original application as you submitted it, plus the documents that went with it.
Your passport and BRP.
Any letters you received from the Home Office between application and refusal.
Notes on anything that's changed since you applied. New employment, new evidence, a marriage, a birth, an illness.
Names and dates of birth for any partner or children whose interests are involved.
How to book
Pick a slot in the Calendly link. Most consultations are bookable inside 24 hours, evening and weekend slots usually available.
If you can't see a slot that works, email info@abimmigrationlaw.co.uk and we'll find one. Phone is 0141 237 3137. Background on our Edinburgh team and the wider services we run is on the Edinburgh immigration lawyer page.
The 14-day window is shorter than it sounds. Most clients book inside the first week. If you're already in week two, book today.
Common questions
My refusal letter says "admin review only". What does that mean?
The decision sits inside the points-based system and the only internal challenge is administrative review. It runs on a faster, simpler track than a Tribunal appeal. The consultation tells you whether to take the admin review route or apply afresh.
Can I submit new evidence at appeal?
Yes, in most categories. New evidence is part of how appeals are won. For points-based admin reviews, new evidence is usually not admissible, which is one reason a fresh application sometimes wins where admin review wouldn't.
Do I have to attend the hearing in Glasgow?
Most Scottish First-tier Tribunal immigration hearings sit at the Eagle Building in Glasgow. We attend with you. Some hearings are heard remotely by video.
What does it cost to lodge an appeal?
Tribunal fees are £80 for a paper hearing and £140 for an oral hearing. Fee waivers are available for people on certain benefits or in financial difficulty. Our £1,999 appeal package covers our work; lodging fees are paid separately to HMCTS.
My deadline is tomorrow and I haven't lodged. Can I still appeal?
The Tribunal can accept late appeals where there are special circumstances. The application is "permission to appeal out of time" with a witness statement explaining the delay. The consultation tells you whether yours qualifies.
Do you do legal aid?
No, we work on fixed-fee packages.