OTB Legal

Personal Immigration Team

Emma qualified as a solicitor in 1995 and has worked for almost all her career in immigration law acting for individuals and organisations. She has recognised expertise in the complex immigration area of international adoption and surrogacy and is the first port of call for many clients and other practitioners in this area.

She acts in a variety of immigration/nationality cases, with a focus on family cases involving children, adoption, surrogacy and extended family members, besides making applications under and outside the immigration rules.

Emma has recently made a number of entry clearance applications for children adopted abroad to accompany their parents to the UK. She also specialises in visa applications for children abroad to join relatives in the UK where there are serious and compelling circumstances.

Her work acting for local authorities representing children in care and care leavers is also of note. She has unique expertise in discretionary applications for British nationality for children, often achieving successful outcomes in complex cases which do not fall within the usual criteria and has made a number of applications to register children adopted abroad by British citizens in countries whose adoption processes are not recognised in the UK. She also advises European nationals and their families about their status in light of Brexit.

Emma trains regularly for the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) and has recently presented courses on Children’s Nationality Applications, Criminality and the Immigration Rules and Indefinite Leave to Remain. She is a volunteer adviser for Rainbow Migration (previously the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG)).

Emma is a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA) and is a Law Society IAAS Accredited Supervisor and Senior Caseworker.