Gillian McCall > Richmond Chambers LLP > London, England > Barrister Profile

Gillian McCall

Work Department

Immigration

Position

Immigration Barrister

Career

Gillian has 10 years experience working exclusively in immigration law and is passionate about helping clients to live, work and start businesses in the UK – whether that’s by preparing applications, appeals, judicial reviews or administrative reviews. She helps clients enter the UK, extend their permission, and challenge refusal decisions. Gillian’s practice includes almost all areas of immigration law, allowing her to advise clients on a broad range of immigration issues.

Business Migration

Gillian has significant experience of the Global Talent category, including both visa applications and endorsement applications.

She has a particular interest in those working in arts, music, dance, film and television and is frequently asked to provide advice and talks on this topic to agencies and industry bodies.  She also has a vast amount of experience in Tech based Global Talent applications and runs a webinar on this topic.

She also assists those coming to the UK for business reasons, providing clients with nuanced advice about the pros and cons of different immigration routes. This often involves advice to those in the Innovator Founder, UK Expansion Worker and Skilled Worker routes. Given her wide ranging knowledge and experience she is able to give practical advice to clients on the most suitable routes, including, where appropriate, obtaining a Sponsor Licence. As well as actively advising clients, Gillian is regularly asked to write about these categories for publications such as LexisPSL, as well as giving internal training to our own team.

Gillian has a vast amount of experience with the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Investor) categories, having advised clients from all over the world on these categories. Now that the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route is closed to new entrants, she concentrates her advice on ensuring that individuals in the category take appropriate steps to ensure their extension and settlement prior to the full closure of the category. She has successfully made extension and ILR applications relying on Covid concessions including furlough periods and has successfully assisted individuals making accelerated ILR applications on the basis of both revenue and enhanced job creation.

Personal Migration

Gillian also has considerable experience assisting spouses, fiancées and unmarried partners. She also has extensive experience with claims relating to children, human rights and asylum. She is regularly instructed by both members of the public and professional clients to appear before the First-Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal in cases where a decision taken by the Home Office will have the effect of separating a family or impacting children. She has a particular expertise in cases with complex financial arrangements or complicated immigration histories including allegations of deception and revocation of ILR and is often instructed in Judicial Review matters relating to these issues.

Having assisted clients across a broad range of applications and appeals, Gillian is well-placed to advise on allegations of deception in whatever category they arise. She has previously successfully assisted individuals to overturn allegations of deception in fresh applications following a ten-year ban from the UK, and in administrative review and Judicial Review proceedings.

Additional Experience

Within Chambers, Gillian is a Pupil Supervisor, assists with training and supervision of junior members and provides external training, seminars and webinars on relevant immigration topics. Gillian also co-founded our Pro Bono team and coordinates instructions through partner organisations, having advised on cases involving the Afghan and Ukrainian Schemes.

Memberships

Bar Council of England & Wales

Immigration Law Practitioners Association

Education

LL.B (Hons) Lancaster University (First Class)

LL.M (Cantab) University of Cambridge

BPTC City Law School (Outstanding)

Lord Justice Holker BPTC Award Gray’s Inn (2012)

Jacobson Bequest for International Law (St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge) (2010)

Lancaster and Morecambe District Law Society Prize for Best Performance in the LL.B Degree (2009)