Should I apply for registration or exemption?

Anyone wishing to provide immigration advice or services who is not a qualified person, as defined under section 84(2) or 84(4) of the 1999 Act, must apply to the Commissioner for registration or exemption.

Put simply, if you will charge a fee for immigration advice or services your organisation will provide, you need to apply for registration. If the organisation will not charge a fee, then you need to apply for exemption.

The Commissioner considers membership fees and obligatory donations to be fees, and an organisation must apply for registration if it intends to take such fees for immigration advice and services it provides.

The Commissioner's policy on exemption states that usually, in order to qualify for such status, you should work or volunteer for an organisation that is:

1. a registered, exempted or excepted charity as defined by the Charities Act 1993; or
2. run as a trust governed by a Board of Trustees; or
3. a voluntary organisation operating under a scheme of management or similar;

and

1. operated both on a not-for-profit basis and on the basis that clients are not asked for payment for the immigration advice or services provided, except where, and to the extent, that:
   1. an application fee is required by the Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the Immigration Appellate Authority; or
   2. a Community Legal Service statutory charge is applied; or
   3. a contribution to the Civil Legal Aid Certificate is required;

and

1. in the Commissioner's view, fit and competent, having regard to the provisions of section 83(5) of the 1999 Act and the Commissioner's Code of Standards under schedule 5, paragraph 3 of that Act.

If your organisation meets the above criteria, you should apply for exemption. If your organisation does not meet the above criteria, you should apply for registration.