Immigration appeals that rest on family life need evidence about that family life, and most of the time nobody in the case is qualified to give it. The solicitor cannot give evidence. The family's own account, on its own, gets called self-serving. What the Tribunal needs is an independent professional who has actually sat with the family, tested what they say, and written it up against the legal questions the judge has to answer.
That is what I do. Most of my work is in the Family Court, where reports are challenged line by line and the person who wrote them is cross-examined on them. I bring the same standard to the Tribunal. And I am a named expert, not a panel: the person you instruct is the person who reads the papers, visits the family, writes the report and gives evidence on it.
Cheaper reports exist. The difference is the work behind the page.
Why reports lose weight, and how mine are written
When the Tribunal gives a social work report little weight, the reasons are nearly always the same. The expert argued the case instead of evidencing it. They took the family's word for everything. They wrote about families in general, strayed into the legal test, or never looked at the Family Court papers. The Family Court would pull a report like that apart too, so I write against every one of those failings.
- I read the Family Court papers, and the report engages with them. Where there have been family proceedings, the report deals with what they found.
- Every adverse point is put to the person it concerns. Their answer is on the record, so nobody can say the report ducked it.
- The method is set out so it can be scrutinised. Who I saw, where, for how long, and which records I checked the account against.
- My opinion is on welfare and impact, never on the legal test or on anyone's credibility. "Unduly harsh" is the judge's finding. My job is the evidence the judge needs to make it.
- Written about this child and this partner, not families in general. Each child is assessed as an individual, in each scenario the Tribunal has to consider.
If your case does not need that depth, I will say so at the enquiry stage rather than sell you a report you do not need.
The reports I provide
Carer and dependency reports. When your client's case rests on the care they give or receive, the Tribunal needs more than a statement saying the family is close. I assess what is actually provided, day by day, whether anyone else could realistically provide it, and what removal would mean for the person who depends on it.
Family impact of deportation. The "unduly harsh" test is about this child and this partner, not children and partners in general. I assess each child individually: their needs, their attachments, their care arrangements, and what each scenario the Tribunal must consider would actually do to them.
Best interests of the child. Where a child's welfare is central to an appeal or application, I assess the child's best interests as a primary consideration, which is the Tribunal's test in line with section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, using the assessment discipline I apply in the Family Court.
Sole responsibility and adult dependent relative reports. For entry clearance cases that turn on care arrangements, including assessment of family members overseas by video. Where the child is outside the United Kingdom, I assess best interests in the same way.
Fees
One fixed figure for each report, and it includes everything: reading the bundle, the sessions, travel anywhere in England and Wales, the checks with other professionals, and the report itself. The invoice at the end is the number you saw at the start.
| Report | What it covers | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Focused Remote Report | One adult, often the person who gives or needs the care, and often overseas. Sessions by video, the full bundle read, calls to other professionals. | £1,450 |
| Tribunal Report | A home visit anywhere in England and Wales. The appellant and family seen, and their account checked with schools, GPs and other professionals. | £1,950 |
| Family Impact Report | A partner and two or more children. Each parent and child relationship observed, and separate go and stay scenarios set out for each child. Home visit included. | £2,450 |
| Where needed | ||
| Prison visit | Per establishment, covering the booking, the authorisation and the visit. | £350 |
| Addendum or response to Home Office points | Fixed scope. The party relying on it must apply to the Tribunal in writing under paragraph 9.2. | £550 |
| Hearing attendance by video | Half day or full day. Attendance in person is quoted with the travel. | £450 or £650 |
Half of the fee is paid to book and the balance before the report is released. Urgent work is paid in full on instruction. Visits outside England and Wales are quoted separately. If an interpreter is needed, their fee is added to the quote before you instruct me, so you still have one figure to agree.
The Focused Remote Report suits a case where the person who matters most is overseas, or where the question is narrow. I will tell you honestly what it gives up: a home seen on a screen is not the same as a home walked through, and the Tribunal may say so. Where the family is here, the Tribunal Report is usually the right one.
Fees are for privately funded instructions. Legal aid is not available for most Article 8 family and private life appeals, which is why a fixed fee matters: your client knows the cost before committing to it. Exceptional Case Funding exists for cases outside the scope of legal aid, and your client's adviser can say whether an application is worth making.
Your hearing date first
Your report in ten working days from the papers, the booking payment and a date to see the family. Tell me the hearing date, and within one working day I will confirm the date you will have it.
| Lane | Delivery | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Ten working days from the papers, the booking payment and a date to see the family. | As quoted |
| Urgent | Five working days. Limited slots, confirmed in writing, paid in full on instruction. | Plus 50% |
Whichever lane you choose, I aim to deliver at least seven working days before the hearing, and that is deliberate. Under paragraph 7.14 of the Practice Direction, where evidence is provided later than five working days before the hearing, the judge must decide as a preliminary matter whether to admit it. A report that is argued about before anyone has read it has already lost ground, and the extra two days keep yours clear of that argument.
If I accept a date, I meet it. If I miss it for any reason within my control, the urgent supplement is refunded in full. If I cannot meet your date, I will tell you the same day. I would rather give you an honest no than a comfortable maybe.
Where a client is in prison, the ten days run from the date of the visit. In-person visit dates are set by the prison, not by me, and I will not promise you a date that depends on someone else's diary. A prison case can go in the urgent lane only where the establishment offers a video legal visit.
Tell me the hearing date and what the appeal turns on. The refusal letter can follow by email. Within one working day I will tell you whether a report would help, which one, what it costs, and the date you will have it.
Send the outline →What the fee buys
It is worth being clear about what a report from me involves, because the work is what the fee pays for.
The whole bundle read, not skimmed.
The refusal letter, the witness statements, the sentencing remarks where there are any, the medical evidence, school records and any Family Court material. I engage with what the Home Office has actually said, so that the report answers the case as it stands rather than the case in general.
The appellant interviewed properly, wherever they are.
A full session, in person where possible. If your client is detained, I book the professional visit myself, obtain the establishment's authorisation, and go. Interviews are structured, and every adverse point in the bundle is put to the person it concerns so that their answer is on the record.
The family seen at home.
A home visit with the partner, the children and any dependent relative, where the care actually happens. I see the routines, the sleeping arrangements, the medication, the school run, and who does what for whom. That is what turns a claim of dependency into evidence of it.
The relationship observed, not just described.
Where the case turns on a child's bond with a parent, I watch them together, in person or by video where the parent is detained, and I record what I see against what I have been told.
The account tested against other people and other records.
Schools, GPs, health visitors, therapists, probation officers, employers and other family members are contacted with consent, and what they say is compared with the family's account. Where records support the account, the report says so. Where they do not, it says that too.
Each scenario the Tribunal must consider assessed separately.
For a deportation appeal, that means what would happen to each child and to the partner if the family stayed in the United Kingdom without the appellant, and what would happen if they went with him or her. Each child is treated as an individual, with their own needs, attachments and vulnerabilities set out and weighed.
Analysis written to the legal test in the instruction.
Unduly harsh, very compelling circumstances, a child's best interests as a primary consideration, dependency beyond the ordinary emotional ties, or the care arrangements behind sole responsibility. The report is organised around the questions the Tribunal has to answer, and it draws on the assessment discipline I apply in the Family Court.
A report that complies with the Practice Direction.
No more than twenty pages, written to be read by a judge in an afternoon, with every requirement of section 9 met. The checklist below shows how.
Availability afterwards.
Written answers to questions from the parties. If the Tribunal wants oral evidence, I attend by video at £450 for a half day or £650 for a full day, or in person at a figure quoted with the travel.
The Practice Direction, point by point
Expert evidence in the First-tier Tribunal is governed by the Practice Direction of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, dated 1 November 2024, Part 3 section 9. A solicitor should not have to take compliance on trust, so here is how each requirement is met.
| Paragraph | How the report meets it |
|---|---|
| 9.1 | As concise as possible, and focused on the disputed issues that fall within my expertise. |
| 9.2 | No more than twenty pages. A longer report, or any addendum, needs a written application with reasons from the party relying on it, so I tell you at the start if I think one will be needed. |
| 1.6 | Text no smaller than 12-point, at 1.5 line spacing, which is how the page limit is measured. |
| 9.3(a) to (l) | Addressed to the Tribunal. My qualifications stated. The material relied on listed. The letter of instruction attached, with the disputed issues. A statement of the material and evidence I was given. Facts within my own knowledge made clear. Who carried out each part of the assessment. Any range of opinion summarised, with reasons for mine. A summary of conclusions and any qualification to them. My duty to the Tribunal confirmed. Dated. |
| 9.4 | The statement of truth, in the exact words the Practice Direction sets out. |
Paying for a report yourself?
The price is fixed. A Focused Remote Report is £1,450. A Tribunal Report is £1,950. A Family Impact Report is £2,450. That price includes my travel in England and Wales, and it will not go up. You pay half to book and the rest before the report is sent.
To start, send me three things: the Home Office refusal letter, the date of your hearing, and the name of your solicitor or adviser if you have one. You can use the contact form or ring the office on 0191 716 5069. The form does not take attachments, so the letter itself can follow by email.
If you have a solicitor or adviser, I work through them. They send me the papers and a letter telling me what the Tribunal needs to know. The First-tier Tribunal's Practice Direction requires that letter to be attached to my report (paragraph 9.3(d)). If you do not have one, I send you a simple letter to fill in, and I ask for your refusal letter and the Home Office papers.
You pay for the work, not for a result. My fee is the same whatever the report says and whatever the judge decides. The report is written for the Tribunal, not for you and not for me, so I cannot change what it says to help your case. That is exactly why a judge can trust it.
If I think a report will not help you, I will tell you before you pay anything.
Instructing me
Send a short outline of the case and the hearing date, with the refusal letter to follow by email, or email vince@socialworkassessment.com, or call 0191 716 5069. Within one working day I will tell you whether I can take it, which report fits, the fixed fee, and the date you will have it.