Legal aid solicitor removed from the UK after salary failed to meet skilled worker threshold
A legal aid solicitor who mentored dozens of black, Asian and minority ethnic women seeking a career in the profession has had to leave the United Kingdom after her salary fell short of the level required for a skilled worker visa. Hilda Kwoffie, who specialised in mental health law, returned to Ghana in August after her application to remain in the United Kingdom was refused.
Kwoffie first arrived in the country in 2016 on a student visa. She studied law at university and completed an LPC MSc in law, business, and management before obtaining a graduate visa that allowed her to work for two years. She then worked as a paralegal in community care and mental health law and later secured a training contract in the same field.
Kwoffie said she had not known about legal aid work when she first came to the United Kingdom but had long wanted to become a lawyer who would assist vulnerable people. However, six weeks before the end of her training contract, her graduate visa expired. To continue living and working in the United Kingdom, she required a skilled worker visa, but her salary did not reach the £41,700 annual threshold.
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She obtained advice from an immigration solicitor who encouraged her to apply for leave on compassionate grounds. She spent £5,000 on legal advice, her visa application and the immigration health surcharge. Because her application was lodged before her graduate visa expired, she was permitted to keep working while the Home Office assessed her case. She completed her training contract, joined another firm and became an accredited member of the Law Society’s mental health tribunal panel. During this period, she also established The BAME Woman in Law to support minority women entering the legal sector.
Kwoffie believed she had a strong argument to remain. However, in August, around 18 months after the application was submitted, she was told it had been refused and that she had no right of appeal. Her employer ended her employment, and she left the United Kingdom on 17 August. She said she had to pack her belongings quickly and return to Ghana.
She cannot currently work as a lawyer in Ghana unless she completes law school there. She said a global talent visa exists as a potential route back to the United Kingdom, but it appears to be aimed at those working in the arts rather than in legal practice.
Her situation is likely to intensify the ongoing debate about legal aid funding. Although fee increases are expected for housing and immigration work, mental health law is one of nine legal aid categories that have not yet received an uplift. Research published by the Law Society this year shows that the number of offices beginning work on mental health cases has nearly halved since 2011.