1. Who provides this offer

All references to Immigration Visa Expert in these terms mean 1st Step Consulting Ltd trading as Immigration Visa Expert. The Firm contracts with the client under its registered company name and operates under the Immigration Visa Expert trading name. These terms describe an optional promotional fee arrangement for selected matters. They supplement, and must be read with, the relevant client care letter, written fee quotation and any case-specific No Win, No Fee acceptance notice. They do not replace the Firm’s client care, complaints, cancellation or statutory obligations.

2. The offer is strictly by individual written invitation

No prospective or existing client has an automatic entitlement to this offer. An enquiry, eligibility check, free assessment, consultation, payment, engagement or instruction does not mean a matter has been accepted on a No Win, No Fee basis. The offer arises only when the Firm has completed such enquiries and review as it considers appropriate and issues a case-specific written acceptance notice identifying the covered client(s), the precise application or decision stage, the professional fee covered, and any individually agreed and clearly disclosed limitations. We may decline to offer this arrangement after assessment. Decisions to offer it will be made lawfully, fairly and without unlawful discrimination. A telephone discussion, website statement or informal indication alone does not constitute acceptance.

3. Assessment and eligibility

Our assessment may consider the applicant’s eligibility, immigration and travel history, previous decisions, sponsor or employer circumstances, finances, identity, relationships, credibility, supporting evidence, timing, documentary consistency and relevant risks. We may ask for further documents or clarification before making a decision. Acceptance is based on the material information and evidence disclosed at that time. It is a professional assessment of suitability for the offer, not a promise, prediction or guarantee of the government authority’s decision.

4. Exact scope of cover

Only the application and stage expressly identified in the written acceptance notice are covered. For example, a visa application, a dependant’s application, a sponsor licence application, or a Global Talent endorsement stage are distinct matters and will not be treated as covered unless individually identified.

Any family member, dependant, business entity, second application, subsequent stage, variation, extension, appeal, administrative review or judicial review requires separate written confirmation to be included. Work may only be accepted and undertaken to the extent permitted by the Firm’s regulatory authorisation.

5. Meaning of “win”, “no win” and a qualifying refusal

A “win” is the favourable formal outcome for the precise application or stage covered by the written acceptance notice; for a covered visa application this normally means a grant of the visa or permission sought. If a different outcome measure applies, it must be specified in that notice. A “qualifying refusal” is a formal written refusal issued by the relevant authority on the merits of the covered application, following work and submission by the Firm, where none of the material exclusions in section 8 applies. A request for further evidence, administrative delay, interview invitation, temporary hold, withdrawal, abandoned application, invalid or incomplete application returned without substantive consideration, or an unrelated decision is not in itself a qualifying refusal. However, this distinction does not limit any remedy available to the client if such an outcome resulted from the Firm’s failure to exercise reasonable care and skill. Where an initial refusal is withdrawn and the same covered application is formally approved before payment of a promotional refund falls due, the outcome is treated as a win. We will not require a client to lodge an appeal, administrative review or new application as a condition of receiving a refund due under these terms.

6. The 100% professional fee refund

If the Firm has accepted the matter under this offer and a qualifying refusal occurs, the Firm will refund 100% of the professional fees actually received by it for the specifically covered work, including any VAT actually charged on those professional fees where applicable. This is a refund of the specified professional fee, not an undertaking to reimburse every cost of the application or to compensate for the refusal. No percentage will be deducted from an otherwise qualifying refund to cover the Firm’s completed casework. An award or remedy required by consumer law, professional duties or another applicable legal obligation is separate from, and is not restricted by, this promotional arrangement.

7. Government charges and third-party expenses

The offer does not reimburse UKVI or Home Office visa or immigration application fees, Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), biometrics or visa application centre charges, priority or super priority services, English tests, tuberculosis tests, health checks, document certification, translations, interpreters, courier charges, travel costs, expert reports, barristers or third-party professional advisers, or other properly disclosed external disbursements. Any refund of a government or third-party charge is governed by the relevant provider’s own rules. Any money returned to the Firm on the client’s behalf, including any disbursement refund, will be accounted for and paid to the client in accordance with applicable law and IAA requirements.

8. Material exclusions and client responsibilities

The promotional refund will not apply where a material breach by the client, the applicant or another person acting with their authority affects the assessment, proper conduct or outcome of the covered application. Examples include:

• knowing or reckless use of false, forged, altered or misleading documents or statements;

• deliberate or material non-disclosure of relevant previous refusals, immigration breaches, criminal matters, adverse findings, identity details or other facts that would reasonably have affected our acceptance decision or the application;
• materially inaccurate or incomplete instructions that the client fails to correct when reasonably asked;
• failure, after appropriate notice and a reasonable opportunity where practicable, to provide essential information, attend a required appointment, pay an agreed third-party charge or comply with a mandatory procedural step;
• submitting or changing material information, documents or instructions contrary to clear written advice, without notifying the Firm, where doing so materially prejudices the case; or
• withdrawing the application, terminating our instructions or transferring conduct of the application before an outcome, subject always to the separate cancellation and fee rules in section 10. We will not refuse a promotional refund for a trivial discrepancy, an innocent error with no material relevance, an unforeseen event beyond the client’s reasonable control, or merely because an authority reached an unexpected decision. Where we consider an exclusion applicable, we will explain the material reason in writing and give the client a reasonable opportunity to respond.

9. Material changes after acceptance

The client must promptly tell us about material changes affecting eligibility or the evidence before or after submission, including relevant changes in employment, sponsorship, relationship, finances, immigration status or legal proceedings. If new facts arise before submission, we may reassess the case and propose that the promotional arrangement be varied or withdrawn for the future, with the reasons recorded in writing. We will not retrospectively remove an agreed benefit merely because a refusal later appears more likely. Any change to the signed arrangement requires proper notice and agreement, subject to applicable consumer and professional duties.

10. Withdrawal, cancellation and work already done

The client may terminate our instructions in accordance with the client care letter and applicable law. If a matter ends without a qualifying refusal, the promotional refusal-refund trigger has not occurred. Fees for work properly undertaken, and return of any unused money, will instead be assessed under the client care letter, statutory cancellation rules, fair charging principles and the Firm’s regulatory duties. Where a consumer contract is concluded at a distance or off premises, applicable statutory cancellation rights, including the usual 14-day cancellation period for services, will be explained separately. Work within that period will begin only on the basis required by law; any appropriate proportionate charge and any loss of cancellation rights on full performance will follow the applicable rules, not a blanket “non-refundable” condition. If we must withdraw due to professional or regulatory reasons, we will act in the client’s best interests, communicate appropriately, account for client money and provide records or onward assistance as required.

11. Consultations and other services

An initial assessment described by the Firm as free will not be charged for. Any separately booked paid consultation or standalone document review, second opinion, drafting service or other separately agreed work will be priced and described in advance. Such separately purchased services are not part of the promotional refund unless the case-specific written notice expressly includes them. This does not remove cancellation, refund or other statutory rights.

12. Refund procedure and timescale

The client should provide the formal refusal notice and any information reasonably needed to confirm that it relates to the covered application. We may verify the authority’s decision and any material facts affecting eligibility under these terms. We will give written confirmation of the refund decision and, where a qualifying refund is due, pay it within 28 working days after receiving the refusal notice and the information reasonably required to identify the covered matter and make payment. We will not unreasonably delay confirmation, request unnecessary material or postpone an otherwise due refund indefinitely because a challenge might be possible. The refund will ordinarily be made to the person or original payment source entitled to receive it, subject to identity verification, anti-fraud controls and applicable banking requirements. The Firm will issue an appropriate accounting record or credit note where required.

13. No guarantee of an immigration outcome

All decisions are taken by the responsible immigration authority or other relevant decision-maker, independently of the Firm. We do not guarantee that a visa, permission, licence, endorsement or other application will succeed. The promotional refund is a commercial fee arrangement only.

14. Complaints, legal rights and professional duties

Questions about the offer or a refund should be sent to info@immigrationvisaexpert.com. A client may raise a formal complaint through the Firm’s published complaints procedure and may also contact the Immigration Advice Authority about a regulated adviser or organisation. Nothing in these terms removes or restricts statutory consumer rights, the right to complain to the IAA, the Firm’s obligation to provide services with reasonable care and skill, or any remedy available under law. Where an inconsistency arises, mandatory legal and regulatory requirements prevail.

15. Relationship to other documents and changes

These public terms apply only in the version expressly incorporated into the relevant case-specific written acceptance notice. The client care letter identifies the service, charges and other engagement conditions; the written acceptance notice identifies the agreed No Win, No Fee scope. In the event of a conflict concerning promotional coverage, a specific term individually agreed in writing will take priority only to the extent lawful and fair. We may update the publicly displayed terms for future offers. An update will not retrospectively change a client’s already agreed terms without their informed agreement and any other consent required by law.

16. Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, subject to any mandatory consumer protections and jurisdictional rights that apply to the client. 1st Step Consulting Ltd trading as Immigration Visa Expert | Company no. 14708821 | Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ | Website: www.immigrationvisaexpert.com | Email: info@immigrationvisaexpert.com.