The Northern Ireland practice is part of our all island multidisciplinary approach to immigration and our international Global Mobility Services network.

The team provides legal advice on all aspects of UK immigration law (Northern Ireland has the same immigration rules as the UK), and generally provides advice and assistance in the following areas:

The impact of Brexit and the EU Settlement Scheme

The team advises on the impact of Brexit and the EU Settlement Scheme, and assists employers formulate plans to retain their EU workers.* We provide one to one assistance with employees (including completing immigration applications), training for Human Resources staff and management, facilitate workshops for impacted staff and provide information such as FAQ documents.

Philip McNally, who leads the Northern Ireland practice, is engaged regularly as a public speaker on this topic.

*Employers should note that every EU26 national (an EU national who is neither British nor Irish) is required to make a mandatory application under the EU Settlement Scheme. If an application is not made, the employee will have no evidence of their right to live and work in the UK.

Sponsor Licences and UK Visa applications

Since the decision of Britain to leave the EU, less and less EU nationals have come to live and work in the UK. As a result, employers are being forced to look beyond the EU for potential employees.

The team assists companies with Sponsor Licence applications (to allow a company to employ non EU workers) and visa applications for their employees.

The immigration impact caused due to Mergers and Acquisitions

An area often overlooked in Mergers and Acquisitions, is a company’s Sponsor Licence and the status of employee’s visas. The team work with Tax and Legal Services to ensure that the Sponsor Licence is transferred, and the impact of the merger/acquisition on impacted employees’ right to work is as minimal as possible.

Further Immigration Support Services

Depending on the immigration requirements of the company, we also provide services such as:

• Applications by EEA Nationals (e.g. Permanent Residence and Residence Cards)
• Applications by Non EEA family members of EEA Nationals
• Applications to become a British citizen
• Immigration due diligence (e.g. Right to Work checks, immigration audits)
• Advisory support on The Common Travel Area and Civil Penalty Notices
• A range of Apps which can help your immigration function

The Corporate Immigration and Employment Law team also advise on Irish citizenship applications.