The short answer: in England, every real lawyer is on a public register you can check for free in two minutes — the SRA for solicitors and the IAA for immigration advisers. Giving immigration advice without that registration is a criminal offence, not an oversight. And for several important cases there is FREE legal help. This guide shows you how to check, how to find someone who speaks your language, and how to spot the fake 'fixer' before they cost you money or your visa.
How do I know a lawyer is real? Two registers, two minutes
If they call themselves a "solicitor", they must be on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) register — type their name or the firm's and it comes up instantly. To SEARCH for one, the official tool is the Law Society's Find a Solicitor, which filters by specialism, area and language — you can ask directly for solicitors who work in Spanish or Portuguese.
A useful quirk of the English system: the solicitor runs your case day to day (the closest equivalent to a lawyer back home); the barrister is the courtroom specialist you normally reach through your solicitor. For almost everything our community needs — immigration, housing, work, family — your front door is a solicitor or a regulated adviser.
Immigration: the rule almost nobody knows (and that protects you)
In the UK, giving immigration advice without being regulated is a criminal offence. Whoever advises you must be a solicitor (SRA) or registered with the Immigration Advice Authority — IAA, the regulator formerly known as OISC. You check the register for free on gov.uk's official finder.
IAA advisers come in three levels — level 1 (routine visa work), level 2 (complex casework and asylum) and level 3 (tribunal appeals) — and they may only take cases at their level: if yours is more complex, they must refer you on. Always ask for the level and the registration number. A real professional gives it without blinking; the one who takes offence has already answered.
When is it FREE? Legal aid and the doors that don't charge
Public legal aid still exists for several cases that touch our community: asylum, victims of trafficking, asylum support (housing and subsistence), children separated from their parents — and housing when your home is at risk (eviction, repossession): there, anyone can get free advice at the court door. There's almost always a means test: if you earn little, you qualify (official guide).
And before paying anyone, two genuinely free doors: Law Centres (free community lawyers by borough) and Citizens Advice (free advice on benefits, housing, work and basic immigration). For our community in London, IRMO and the Latin American Chaplaincy guide people for free in Spanish and know where to refer you. Nobody honest charges to "process" legal aid for you: applying is always free.
A lawyer qualified back home: what they can really do in London
The nuance thousands search for: a law degree from Spain or Latin America does not, by itself, allow someone to practise English law. For matters back home — inheritances, powers of attorney, divorces over there — a lawyer registered in your country is exactly what you need, and London has several (see our Spanish community page). But for matters in England — your visa, your landlord, your dismissal — they also need to be registered here: as a solicitor after validating with the SRA, as a Registered Foreign Lawyer, or with IAA registration for immigration.
The magic question that settles everything: "under which regulator do you practise for THIS matter?" If the matter is English and the answer doesn't include SRA or IAA, keep looking.
The fake fixer's red flags
After every migration wave, the 'fixers' who live off our urgency bloom. The red flags, to save and share:
- They "guarantee" the visa or the outcome. Nobody honest guarantees what the Home Office or a judge decides.
- They won't give a registration number (SRA or IAA) or get annoyed when you ask.
- They charge to a personal account or cash only, no contract, no receipt — the same rule we gave you for remittances and fundraisers.
- They charge for forms that are free (legal aid, consulate appointments, gov.uk forms).
- They only exist on WhatsApp: no verifiable office, no website, no surname. Urgency is their business; checking is yours.
Find yours
On our lawyers page we gather professionals who serve London's Latin community — verified and growing. Are you a regulated lawyer or adviser working in Spanish or Portuguese? Create your professional page for free and let your people find you.
As always at DaleLatino: we are not legal advisers — we're the cousin who knows where to look. For your specific case, always a regulated professional. This guide gives you the map and the lie detector; you walk the road with a real one.
Verified on 19 August 2026 against the official registers and guides (SRA, Law Society, IAA/gov.uk, Legal Aid). If something changes or you know of a fake-fixer case, write to us: this guide stays alive.