Regulated advice

When you need a regulated adviser

Most visitor visa refusals turn on evidence, and evidence is something you can fix yourself. Some do not. On the grounds below, a reapplication built without advice can make things worse, so Approvable stops and hands you on rather than selling you a pack.

Cases we stop on

Situations where we refer rather than continue

If your case matches any of the following, Approvable will tell you clearly and connect you with a regulated adviser instead of producing a report.

1

The refusal was on false representations, false documents or deception, under any jurisdiction. These carry bans measured in years.

2

You have overstayed a visa, been removed, or been refused entry at a border.

3

There is a criminal matter, a security listing, or an alert in the Schengen Information System.

4

This is a third refusal in a row on the same ground.

5

There is a human rights or asylum element, or a child whose welfare is engaged.

6

You are being asked to pay someone who has promised you a visa.

Know what you’re being assessed on

What the officer is checking

Each route has a different primary question. Understanding which one applies to your case tells you which gaps matter most.

UK Visas and Immigration

Standard Visitor

Whether your circumstances at home give you a reason to return that outweighs any reason to stay. The officer weighs employment, family, property, study and previous travel together, not one by one.

Check a Standard Visitor application →
The consulate of the member state that decided the application

Short-stay visa (type C)

Whether the travel document itself is genuine, and whether the applicant’s purpose and circumstances are consistent with a short stay within the Schengen area.

Check a Short-stay visa (type C) application →
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Visitor visa (temporary resident visa)

Whether the trip you describe makes sense for someone in your circumstances, at the cost you will pay, for the length you asked for.

Check a Visitor visa (temporary resident visa) application →
The United States Department of State

B1/B2 visitor visa

The law starts by presuming you intend to immigrate. The officer is assessing whether your ties to your home country are strong enough to overcome that presumption, in an interview that usually lasts two to three minutes.

Check a B1/B2 visitor visa application →
Who we refer you to

Regulated advisers who take Approvable cases

One list per door, since each country regulates advisers differently. These firms are independent of Approvable and charge for their own advice — check each one against its own regulator’s register before booking, not only against what the firm says about itself.

UK Standard Visitor

Verify against the Immigration Advice Authority's register

Saintta Global Lawyers (UK) Limited

IAA registration F200800018
142 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9TR
+44 (0)20 7265 8888 · info@sainttalaw.com
General UK and business immigration firm operating since 2008, with bilingual English/Chinese service.

Book a consultation →

Immigration Advice Service

IAA registration F201100299
Spaces, 60 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 6NP
020 3813 5248
Large national firm, IAA accredited, handling cases from straightforward visitor visas through to complex refusals.

Book a consultation →

First Migration

OISC registration F200700083
Central London (street address not published; contact by phone or email to book)
0203 178 2048 · info@firstmigration.com
OISC-regulated consultancy operating since 2007, with transparent fixed-price consultations.

Book a consultation →

Schengen short-stay

Verify against the regional bar chamber (Rechtsanwaltskammer) lawyer search

Kanzlei Kocadağ (Anatol Kocadağ)

Admitted, Rechtsanwaltskammer Berlin
Fasanenstraße 72, 10719 Berlin, Germany
+49 (0)30 883 86 86 · info@kanzlei-kocadag.de
For a refusal from a German consulate specifically. Handles Schengen visa refusals through to a lawsuit at the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin. Consultations in German, Turkish, English and French.

Book a consultation →

Anwaltskanzlei Diedrich (Florian Diedrich)

Fachanwalt für Migrationsrecht
Zweigertstraße 33, 45130 Essen, Germany
0201 879550 · kontakt@anwalt-diedrich.de
Also for a refusal from a German consulate specifically. Certified specialist in migration law; the firm’s own site covers visa refusal and the remonstration/lawsuit route.

Book a consultation →

A Schengen visa is one form, but each of the 26 member states runs its own appeal system — the two firms below only cover a refusal from a German consulate. If a different consulate refused you, look up a lawyer there instead through the EU's own directory: Find a lawyer (European e-Justice Portal)

Canada visitor visa

Verify against the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants' public register

Assad Bajwa, Immigration Consultants of Canada

RCIC licence R509021
45 Sheppard Ave E, Suite 500B, North York, ON M2N 5W9, Canada
+1 416 726 0305
CICC-licensed consultant; the licence number above is published on the firm’s own site, matching the register’s R-plus-six-digit format.

Book a consultation →

US B1/B2 visitor visa

Verify against the relevant state bar’s own attorney directory

Adan G. Vega, Vega & Associates

State Bar of Texas
122 Tuam Street, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77006, USA
+1 713 527 9606 · avega@adanvega.com
Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization; profile listed on the State Bar of Texas’s own directory. Reviews refusals for insufficient ties and immigrant-intent findings specifically.

Book a consultation →

Approvable receives a fee for this referral.

A word on unregulated fees

Nobody may charge you for immigration advice in the United Kingdom unless they are regulated or exempt. If someone offers to “get you a visa” for a fee, that is a reason to walk away, not a service. Outside the UK, in Canada the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants keeps the equivalent register.