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Can anyone tell me how to find a good and reasonably priced English-speaking French immigration consultant/lawyer? I have had a long-stay visa refusal (the reason for refusal was "risk to public order/public security/health") and I would like to lodge an appeal against the decision, but as I am in the UK I do not know any French immigration consultants.

I am planning to attach my UK police certificate, which has no criminal record, to improve my appeal.

My previous immigration consultant recommended that I contact a lawyer specialized in administrative litigation, as this was not their area of expertise.

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  • A quick internet search brings up a fairly long list of possibilities. You could try searching on solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk What did your immigration consultant recommend as a means of finding a suitable lawyer? What have you tried so far?
    – Traveller
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 11:39
  • @Traveller how is someone qualified in the UK going to be helpful with a matter concerning French law?
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 14, 2023 at 13:26
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    @phoog UK-based law firms may have ‘international’ teams with appropriate expertise.
    – Traveller
    Commented Jan 14, 2023 at 15:45
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    Whether such an appeal would be effective depends on the facts of the case and on the basis of the appeal, neither of which you have said much about.
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 9:58
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    What kind of long-stay visa are you applying for? If it's a visa you are entitled to (“délivré de plein droit” like a family reunion visa), an appeal will require a lawyer but it may make sense. If it's not (discretionary visas like work or student visas), it's almost completely hopeless, the state doesn't even owe you a justification and is given a lot of leeway by the courts. Expect to pay in the low thousands at the very least, more if it turns out your case is more complex.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Jan 16, 2023 at 15:21

1 Answer 1

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If you are planning to appeal instead of filing a new application, you should probably heed the advice of your previous consultant. Handling an appeal likely qualifies as a legal matter reserved to qualified lawyer, notaries, or other professionals. Indeed, if a consultant goes beyond mere assistance with a visa application, it would be a criminal offence providing legal advice without authorization in France.

The French bar association provides the membership list with specialization here: https://www.cnb.avocat.fr/fr/annuaire-des-avocats-de-france

There are also online website like Jurifit.fr and juritravail.fr where you may consult lists of some lawyers registered on their sites and possibly contact a lawyer online.

If you have a sponsor or other French contacts (e.g. your employer or educational institution), they can be useful in providing a list of specialized lawyers.

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  • In addition to @xngtng answer, in the 'Mentions de spécialisation ' list you should select 'Droit des étrangers et de la nationalité'
    – audionuma
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 17:37
  • @xngtng Thank you for your answer. I probably go with appeal option instead of new application as I have UK police character certificate with no criminal record to support my appeal. I need the services of a English speaking lawyers as I don't speak french.
    – Stark
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 18:39
  • @audionuma I am looking for services of an English speaking lawyer.
    – Stark
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 18:41
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    @Stark "I probably go with appeal option instead of new application as I have UK police character certificate with no criminal record to support my appeal": I don't know about France specifically but in most legal systems it's not helpful to introduce new evidence in an appeal -- the court will refuse to consider it. An appeal will be successful if you can establish that the original decision maker made the wrong decision taking into account the evidence available at the time. To introduce new evidence for a visa application, one should generally submit a fresh application.
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 10:01
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    @phoog I understood your point about new evidence.Why I did not submit police character certificate with France visa application? Because it was not the requirement of visa. I had submitted police character certificate when I applied for UK visa from Pakistan as it was their requirement and now I have police character certificate from Pakistan and UK but don't know how to establish that decision was wrong based on the documents I provided with visa application as I only submitted my degree, birth certificate, passport with documents from employer.
    – Stark
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 17:59

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