If you were brought to the UK, or kept here, and made to work, provide services or do things you did not agree to, through force, threats, deception or control, you may be a victim of trafficking or modern slavery. The law gives victims protection, support and, in some cases, permission to stay. We act for victims confidentially, including people who are also in the asylum or criminal justice systems.

The National Referral Mechanism

A first responder (the police, the Home Office, a local authority, or an approved charity) refers you into the National Referral Mechanism, the system for identifying victims. Solicitors are not first responders, but we prepare the referral with the first responder so that the account and evidence are complete.

Reasonable grounds decision, usually within days: whether there are reasonable grounds to believe you are a victim. A positive decision brings a recovery period of at least 30 days with support and protection from removal.
Conclusive grounds decision: whether, on the balance of probabilities, you are a victim. This can take many months.

Immigration consequences

A positive conclusive grounds decision does not itself give leave, but you can be granted temporary permission to stay where it is necessary to help your recovery, to seek compensation, or to cooperate with an investigation. Many victims also have an asylum or human rights claim, because the trafficking shows the risk on return; we run the claims together.

Negative decisions

A negative reasonable or conclusive grounds decision can be reconsidered on request with new evidence, and can be challenged by judicial review. Decisions are often negative because the account was incomplete or inconsistent, which is itself a feature of trauma; expert evidence helps.

Criminal cases

Victims who were forced to commit offences have a statutory defence in some cases, and the trafficking must be raised in the criminal proceedings. We liaise with criminal defence solicitors.

Confidentiality and safety

We can meet you with an interpreter of your choice and at a safe location, and we do not share information with anyone without your agreement unless the law requires it.

What we do

We prepare the referral, represent you through both NRM decisions, run the asylum or human rights claim alongside, apply for temporary permission to stay and challenge negative decisions. Legal aid is available for trafficking victims' immigration advice.

Legal aid

The firm holds a legal aid contract for immigration and asylum work. If you qualify financially, this work can be funded; we assess eligibility at the first call. See legal aid.