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Hi, we were recently refused ILR by UKBA, the case was handled by solicitors on "no win no fee basis". But now they refuse to refund the fee, as "we've done our job" and "refusal was not due to our mistake". The whole case was hanging on officer discretion due to a number of absences abroad (business trips) and actually those solicitors convinced us to apply because we were hesitating. Along the way they also milked us for a number of things which we've already accepted as sunken costs (the amount is almost equal to the fee itself), but at least we want to return what was agreed to be returned. Anyone with the same experience? Could you recommend how we can handle this?

how many total absences you had in total residential period? was any absence of 90 days in single stretch.?

One of my friend also went to no visa no fee for visa extension, the fee was deducted before the visa was issued. If the visa was refused, I would not have thought they would have given the money back.

You can complain to Solicitors Regulation Authority. It is misleading.

Have you got any written agreement with them ?
Or any type of evidence that you could show ?
If this is the case ,I think you will get back the fee legally otherwise its very slim chances ,just what you do is waste of your time and money.
We can't blame anyone without any clue ...
Lon

Have you got any written agreement with them ?
Or any type of evidence that you could show ?
If this is the case ,I think you will get back the fee legally otherwise its very slim chances ,just what you do is waste of your time and money.
We can't blame anyone without any clue ...
Lon

Doesn't a refusal imply "no win"? Therefore, logically "no win no fees" implies "no fees". They are in breach of their contract if they kept the fees.

See also Complaints against Solicitors and SRA.

Were they Oisc advisors or solicitors? 'no win no fee' claims are generally too good to be true in this field. You would need to look at the terms of your agreement with them as there are bound to be conditions attached to whether you get a refund, ie if you don't follow their advice in submitting or not submitting a document, or whether you fully disclose your circumstances to them.

Greenie is correct. Did you check and comply with the "small print" of the contract?