Guidance

Three Step Guide to Regulation

Updated 1 April 2022

1. Do I need to be regulated and if so at what level?

Think about the type of advice and assistance you want to be able to offer clients – you only need to be regulated by the Commissioner if you provide advice or services that are defined as Relevant Matters under the 1999 Immigration and Asylum act. This list restricts the requirements for regulation to advice and services that affects, or confirms, a client’s immigration status and any conditions attached to their leave. If you assist clients in applications for welfare support, but such applications do not affect the client’s leave or the conditions of leave they have already been granted, then you do not need to be registered with the Commissioner to offer such advice or services.

If you give advice or help a client to complete a visa application, make representations to the Home Office to allow them to enter or to extend their stay in the UK, or assist them in an application to gain British citizenship, then you are likely to require regulation. Similarly, if you help them to complete an application or make representations to the Home Office to allow a family member to join your client or extend their stay with your client in the UK, then you are likely to require registration with the Commissioner. If however you look at their passport or documents to try and diagnose what status they currently hold, because they want to apply to access welfare benefits or need help applying to a doctors, school or bank, this is not work that requires regulation. If you translate letters for them from their solicitor or OISC adviser, help them understand the words used on an application form related to their immigration status, or write in English on such a form for them (with them providing the wording) as long as the work is only translation in nature then this does not require OISC regulation.

1.1 Guidance on what constitutes immigration advice and services

You are giving ‘advice’ to a client if you provide an opinion on a course of action, or range of options a client might take based on the information they have provided to you. Printing general information that might be applicable to lots of clients is not considered immigration advice that requires regulation.

You are providing a ‘service’ to clients if you take any actions on their behalf in order to pursue their matter with UK immigration authorities (UK Visa and Immigration or the Immigration courts). For example, you submit an application on their behalf to the Home Office, or write to the Home Office explaining their situation and asking that a particular course of action be taken on their immigration matter, or you act as their legal representative at an appeal or bail hearing before an immigration judge.

Note: if you only signpost clients to another provider or use the services of another organisation or a solicitor or barrister to meet you clients needs you might not require regulation (although this will depend on how these arrangements work).

The Commissioner’s Guidance on Competence sets out in some detail the type of work that requires OISC regulation.

If in doubt about whether you need to be regulated you can e-mail VSS@oisc.gov.uk and tell us about the work you do and your arrangements.

If you think you do need to be registered, the Commissioner’s Guidance on Competence also sets out at what Level and in which category different areas of work fall. Page 9 provides a useful summary table. You should consider if you want to be able to provide advice and assistance on a range of issues or if you only wish to provide advice and assistance on a very limited area in which perhaps you specialise (for example Domestic Violence).

2. Putting together the initial application

Once you decide that you need to submit your application to us and do so, we will judge your application on fitness and competence. We do this through looking at whether we believe your organisation and your applicant advisers are likely to be able to comply with the Commissioner’s Code of Standards.

2.1 Meeting the Fitness requirements

It is best to start by reading the Commissioner’s Code of Standards.

This document sets out all the requirements that registered advisers and organisations need to comply with. When reading this document think about all the policies and procedures you already have in place and as you go through the document ticking those Codes that you think you will have little problem satisfying while highlighting those that may require you to develop new systems or processes. There may be some Codes where you are unsure if what you already do will meet the requirements or not and there may be others that are going to cause a real problem – just highlight these for now.

Read the Commissioner’s Guidance on Fitness for Advisers and Guidance on Fitness for owners.

2.2 Guidance on Fitness for advisers and owners

Discuss the requirements of these documents with those who it affects – are there issues that may cause problems? Registered advisers will also need to complete a DBS check. Again simply highlight if anyone is likely to have any problems in terms of demonstrating fitness.

Applicant advisers may not need to get a new DBS check if they had one completed within 6 months of the date the application is submitted to the OISC.

Note: Having something negative on the DBS check or something that seems negative to declare does not mean applicants will be automatically refused. The OISC may want to discuss issues with you further and will consider the relevance of the issue in light of your current position as an adviser and the nature of the issue. The Commissioner’s policy on Applications from Ex-Offenders is worth reviewing where this may be applicable.

Applicant advisers may speak to the OISC in confidence if they have concerns that they would like to discuss regarding previous convictions and we will try to advise if it is likely to affect their authorisation. Such applicants can e-mail their query to VSS@oisc.gov.uk.

2.3 Meeting the Competence requirements

The Guidance on Competence sets out the legal knowledge and skills required by applicant advisers seeking authorisation at the different Levels. Applicant advisers will be expected to provide details of what training and experience they have on a Statement of Competence. This is the application form that individual advisers will need to submit. Most applicants who can show they have some immigration law training and advice experience will be invited to take a written competence assessment at the Level they are seeking authorisation at. This is not however required of advisers who are only applying in the category of Level 1 Asylum and Protection.

Look at the Assessment Syllabus and Sample Papers available on the OISC website for the Level your advisers will be applying at.

Do your applicant advisers feel confident in all the areas outlined in the syllabus? It may be worth giving applicant advisers a go at the sample paper and marking these for them - how did they do? They need to achieve 65% of the marks available to pass.

These exercises may identify training needs that should be addressed before you apply.

Please be aware that in signing the Statement of Competence, applicants are indicating that they are fully competent at the Level and Categories in which they are applying and as such are ready to take the assessment from this point onwards.

If your organisation only wishes to provide a very specific service to clients - for example you only want to assist clients in making an application to amend the conditions attached to their leave (for example the condition that they have no access to public funds) and as such you are concerned about having to demonstrate much wider competence, then e-mail the OISC at VSS@OISC.gov.uk. In your e-mail set out what services you want to provide and we will direct you to what Level or Category you should apply for and what you will need to do to demonstrate sufficient competence.

2.4 Completing the application

Once you are certain about what Levels and Categories you should apply at you can begin to complete the application itself. The application form and its accompanying Guidance notes can be found at: Application form and Guidance.

Complete the form as fully as you can but if there are sections that you cannot complete you can write an explanation either on the form or in a covering letter as to why this section is causing you difficulties. When we receive it we can consider if there might be an alternative way for you to meet the requirement or whether it might be appropriate to grant you an exemption from a particular requirement. If you submit the application and we do need additional information or procedures to be put in place we will discuss these with you.

You will need to send us some documentation with the application and you may find it useful to look at some of our Model Documents. However be aware that you may already have processes and policies in place that fully meet our requirements and it may be simply a case of explaining to us how these work.

Alternatively if you have queries regarding the application and need advice before submitting it you can e-mail VSS@OISC.gov.uk and we will try and answer your query.

Note: Applications should be an accurate reflection of your organisation as it is. It may include information on your future plans (particularly in your business plan) but should focus on explaining the work you currently do and policies and procedures that allow you to operate effectively.

Each applicant adviser should be given a blank Statement of Competence to complete. You can assist them with this or they can complete it themselves, but you should discuss with applicants what Levels and Categories you wish them to apply to work at.

The competence statement provides some indication of the extent of training and experience we expect from advisers seeking authorisation at various levels. This is however only a guide. In our experience applicants falling short of this training and experience struggle to pass the competence assessments. It is however not the situation that if an applicant does not have the experience or training suggested that they application will necessarily be refused. In most cases applicants are given a chance to demonstrate their ability through the written assessments unless it is evident that they have undertaken no relevant training or have no relevant experience. Applicants should provide on the competence statement, details of the training and experience they have along with details of the training providers used or organisations at which the experience was gained. Any evidence that the applicant has to support this training and experience will be useful to include (such as certificates of attendance or achievement, or letters from employers). However an application without such evidence will not be rejected but the OISC may instead check on the validity of the information provided where possible.

The competence statements are normally submitted with the main application by the organisation when it is ready.

Note: You may wish to refer to the following document which includes a number of frequently asked questions specifically from the voluntary sector which you may find useful in relation to Step 1 and 2.

3. Submitting the application

The application form contains instructions on how to submit the form to the OISC and this should be done electronically through the OISC website. Organisations who do not charge clients a fee either directly or indirectly (for example through membership fees) do not need to pay the Commissioner an application fee.

Once you submit your application we will acknowledge receipt of it and will let you know if any of the key documents are missing. If we have received all the key documents your application will be passed to one of our caseworkers who will look at whether you need to take a competence assessment and what assessment dates are available. The caseworker will normally contact you within 10 working days to invite you to an assessment. The OISC will always invite applicants to the next assessment date where there are spaces available, so it is advisable to consider this when submitting your application. See the OISC Assessment Dates.

Assessments often become fully booked early in the month as they are normally held in the final week of each, and applicants may find that there are no available spaces for the forthcoming assessments, particularly where their applications are submitted later in the month. Where this occurs applicants will usually be invited to the following month’s assessment.

While you are waiting to take your assessment your caseworker will review the documents submitted with the application and will write to you if they require any additional information. They can provide you with some guidance as to what is needed and may come and visit you prior to approving the application, if they have questions or issues that might more easily be addressed in a face to face meeting. You will have been provided with your caseworker’s contact details and they will be the best person to contact if you have any queries about your application or the process.

When your application is approved you will be issued with a certificate of registration in hard copy format and your organisations details will appear on both the OISC register, and on the’ Adviser Finder’ section of our website, the morning after your approval. After you have been approved further work with you will be carried out by one of regional teams or our national Authorisations Team when you need to apply for continued registration. Our customer service unit, which can be contacted via 0345 000 0046 or info@oisc.gov.uk will deal with all enquiries that you have about your ongoing registration and should be your main point of contact.