Solicitor advocate Victoria Welsh has joined Laytons ETL as a partner to establish a new Immigration Law practice at the City of London-based international commercial law firm.

The immigration offering will sit within the firm’s international human resources department. It will work with corporate clients seeking to bring in talent from overseas, start-up businesses and organisations that wish to expand into the UK, and private clients, including high net worth individuals and investors, who require personal immigration support.

The practice will help clients with all aspects of the points-based immigration system and sponsor licensing regime, including compliance and the implications of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and joint ventures.

Other services will include strategic immigration workforce planning, including process development, managing business changes and global events, advice on right to work checks and illegal working, and preparation for, and assistance with, Home Office compliance audits. The Immigration Law practice will also advise clients on eligibility and applications for individual UK work, family and visit visas, as well as settlement and British nationality.

Mrs Welsh, who has specialised in advising companies and high net worth individuals on immigration matters for more than a decade, joins Laytons ETL from the London office of the immigration firm Fragomen LLP, where she was a senior associate. She joined Fragomen in 2020, prior to which she worked for Magrath Sheldrick, where she qualified as a solicitor advocate.

Laytons ETL has a particularly high-profile practice advising on multi-jurisdiction matters, and has an active client base in Europe, the US, and the Middle and Far East. It has, since 2021, been part of the ETL GLOBAL network, an international professional services network which employs 20,000 people across 50 countries.

The firm is also a member of the International Practice Group, which includes members of a wide range of professions, and the international lawyers’ network Libralex. It has a number of “best friend” relationships with overseas law firms across a wide range of jurisdictions, and many of Laytons ETL’s partners and solicitors are fully bilingual in a range of languages.

Mrs Welsh said, “I am excited to be joining Laytons ETL and bringing an immigration practice area to the already full range of services the firm offers. Strong synergies and a widely varied client base form the ideal platform for me to build a complete immigration service.

“Following the numerous changes in government immigration policy in recent years, the timing is ideal for me to be adding to Laytons ETL’s offerings, as well as laying the foundations for the next stage of my career. The culture and growth strategy at Laytons ETL aligns with my own, and the ETL Global network offers exciting opportunities for further growth.”

Michael Kashis, who joined Laytons ETL as managing partner this April, explained that establishing an immigration offering, and tightly integrating it within the firm’s existing international employment practice, was the next logical step in cementing Laytons ETL’s role as a leading London firm serving international mid-market companies and their senior management.

Welcoming Mrs Welsh to the firm, he said, “As part of our full-service offering, Laytons ETL has consistently sought to remain ahead of our national and international clients’ needs. Given the growing talent management demands our clients are facing, we are pleased to be able offer them our new Immigration Law service to help them meet these challenges and allow them to focus on building their businesses, taking full advantage of all the commercial opportunities they might wish to explore.”