Profile

Jalil is a Trainee Solicitor at Laura Devine Immigration in London. He currently assists the UK team in a range of immigration applications for both corporate and private clients.

Malini is a Senior Solicitor and Head of Appeals and Human Rights at Laura Devine Immigration in London. Highly regarded as an immigration law practitioner, her diverse work covers both complex, personal and business immigration instructions.  Malini is recognised as “a talented lawyer who blends expert knowledge with a common-sense approach and sense of humour”.

Malini specialises in personal and private client immigration matters with a focus on refusals, administrative reviews and appeals relating to complex discretionary matters and human rights issues. A large proportion of instructions relate to family members, private clients and human rights claims as well as the exercise of discretion and complex immigration applications. She is well-versed in applications requiring critical thinking and creative solutions within the Immigration Rules and on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights. Many of Malini’s applications involve liaising with senior-level contacts at the Home Office.

Malini has substantial experience with personal immigration, serving diverse clientele with her unique skills in cases involving the general grounds of refusal, extradition, asylum, family migration, international surrogacy and adoption.

Additionally, Malini has an established a robust business immigration practice, advising corporate clients including educational providers, international law firms and media corporations on applications under the points-based system (PBS), including sponsor licences, Tier 2, right-to-work matters, Brexit issues and Tier 5 (Temporary Workers).

Malini is also a highly experienced trainer and speaks internationally on a range of immigration topics, including Brexit, global mobility, business visitors and trafficking. She has delivered talks at the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) and the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA).

Francesca is a Partner who has focussed exclusively on UK immigration law since 2010. She has acted for many of the firm’s highest profile corporate clients; from multinationals to start-up businesses. She has particular expertise in business immigration, delivering strategic solutions to businesses for their global transfers to the UK. She is an expert in assisting businesses with their sponsor licence applications, ensuring that their immigration systems are compliant with Home Office regulations.   

Having substantial experience in EU free movement law and rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, Francesca has advised businesses on the strategies to continue to employ EU nationals post Brexit, including under the Frontier Worker category, EUSS and alternative routes.    Francesca has been described as “extremely professional”, “always accommodating” and a solicitor who “gives clients the hard line, but also understands the reality of the client’s business. She is recommended for her impressive speed of work, accuracy, and flexibility when meeting client needs and is recognised in the industry as being one of the most prominent “rising stars” in the market.   

A seasoned presenter, Francesca has provided training sessions to clients on sponsorship and compliance and has co-devised and presented various courses to fellow practitioners via the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA). 

Anna is a Senior Solicitor at Laura Devine Immigration in London.  She has focused her practice on UK immigration law since first beginning work with Laura Devine in 1997 and now manages the UK Enquiries Team which handles referrals and ad hoc queries.

Anna is also Laura Devine Immigration’s Mental Health Ambassador and, as a practising Psychotherapist, is ideally placed to cultivate the company’s well-being practices.

Bukunmi is a Solicitor in the UK immigration team at Laura Devine Immigration in London. She has worked exclusively in UK immigration law since 2016 and has a particular interest in nationality applications and assisting individuals who wish to naturalise as British citizens.

Bukunmi has experience in advising both corporate and private clients on a wide range of personal and business immigration matters, including assisting companies with the preparation of sponsor licence applications, assisting with Tier 2 applications for individuals who wish to work in the UK under the Tier 2 category and with applications under the EU settlement scheme.

Rachael is a Solicitor at Laura Devine Immigration and has practised exclusively in UK immigration and nationality law since 2014.

She has extensive experience in business immigration and in family-based, private life and human rights-based applications, with a particular interest in complex visit visa applications. Her broad knowledge enables her to advise both corporate and private clients on a wide range of business and personal immigration matters.

Rachael’s corporate clients range from SMEs to global organisations operating in a variety of business sectors. She has particular experience in right to work issues, Skilled Worker sponsorship, sponsor licence applications and providing compliance support to sponsoring employers.

Rachael is a mentor for BPP Law School’s Access to Practice scheme and the Girl’s Network.

Guy is a Paralegal with the US team at Laura Devine Immigration in London, working on matters across all categories of US immigration and nationality law. He assists the US attorneys with case management, research tasks and the drafting of legal documents.

Zeena is a Partner at Laura Devine Immigration in London. She is listed in the Legal 500 2024 directory as a ‘Next Generation Partner’, and as ‘Up and Coming’ in Chambers and Partners 2024.

Zeena co-leads the firm’s Human Rights practice with Matthew Wills and has extensive experience in dealing with both personal and business immigration matters. Zeena deals with a range of complex personal immigration matters. This includes matters relating to refusals, challenging mandatory 10-year entry bans, appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal as well as applications for judicial and administrative review.

Zeena’s corporate immigration experience includes advising prospective and current Skilled Worker and Intra Company Transfer sponsors on compliance with sponsor obligations, right-to-work checks and the recruitment of individuals or transfer of employees from overseas. She is also involved in assisting with sponsorship following company acquisition and the transfer of employees under TUPE regulations.

Additionally, Zeena advises on settlement, British nationality registration and naturalisation cases, with a particular focus on the tracing of British nationality based on the post-independence British colony status of a parent or grandparent. Zeena is particularly well known for dealing with complex nationality cases.

Zeena is a member of the Law Society’s Immigration Law Committee and represents the organisation externally and in consultations with the Home Office. She was actively involved in the proposed changes to the Immigration Rules, including the new Skilled Worker route, which came into force in December 2020, Covid-19 concessions and has provided commentary on the EU Settlement Scheme and Home Office’s procedural changes to applications. In 2020, she was commended for her exceptional contribution to the legal profession by the Law Society.

Zeena is an Author for the Free Movement blog and volunteers for Here For Good, a charity assisting individuals with applications under the European Settlement Scheme. She regularly provides commentary in the media, most recently to BBC World, BBC Radio, Channel 5 and ITV News. Zeena sits on the Centre for Women’s Justice legal reference panel and is a mentor for BPP Law School’s Access to Practice scheme. Recently, Zeena was shortlisted as a finalist in the Under 35 Lawyer of the Year category for the Inspirational Women in Law Awards with The First 100 Years.

Zeena is recognised in leading legal directories as an “outstanding lawyer” and for her “dedication and generosity with a fierce intellect.” She is noted as being “very easy to communicate with, has significant experience and has a good eye for detail.” “She is exceptionally professional and personable, and her written work is fantastic. She goes above and beyond anything we expect.”

Smruti is a Senior Solicitor at Laura Devine Immigration in London. She has focused on UK immigration and nationality law since 2006.

Smruti assists in all areas of business and personal immigration to the UK as well as European free movement. She has significant experience in the points-based system (PBS), non-PBS categories, Tier 2 sponsor licence applications and employer compliance support and has a growing Tier 1 practice. Smruti’s corporate clients range from small, newly established businesses to multinational organisations and household brands that span the finance and investment, legal, sporting, technology, creative and entertainment sectors.

Additionally, Smruti advises private clients on complex extension and settlement applications for Tier 1 (Investor) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrants.

Christi is a Partner and Head of the US Practice at Laura Devine Immigration in London. She has 19 years of experience representing clients in all areas of business and family-based immigration and has practised in both the UK and US. Christi is acclaimed for the ’thorough and informative’ counsel she delivers to clients on sophisticated US immigration issues.

Her practice areas include advising and preparing all categories of nonimmigrant and immigrant cases, with particular emphasis on L-1 intra-company transfers, E-2 treaty investors, B-1/B-2 visitors, O-1 persons with extraordinary ability, waivers of inadmissibility, EB-1 and family-based green cards. She also routinely assists US nationals with citizenship issues, including passport applications, registrations of birth abroad and renunciation of US citizenship.

Christi is recognised in leading legal directories for her outstanding client service, earning praise for being a ‘dynamic practitioner, unsurpassed in identifying the best solution to a tricky problem’. Christi is noted for being ‘exceptionally knowledgeable, understanding and kind’ and a ‘significant player in immigration law’. She was listed as a Global Leader in Who’s Who Corporate Immigration 2023 and was hailed a ‘level headed, high energy, problem solving partner’ in Legal 500 2023. A member of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA), Christi is an accomplished speaker at the international level and a frequent author on topics such as nonimmigrant visas and consular processing. She is currently serving her third term on AILA’s Department of State Liaison committee and is actively involved in AILA’s Rome District Chapter.

Christi has appeared on numerous international news outlets and radio programmes, including CNN and the BBC, and frequently quotes in written news publications, such as the Daily Telegraph, on matters related to US immigration.