Solicitor & Firm Terms of Business

1. Definitions

• "Visary", "we", "us", "our" — Visary, operated at visary.co.uk.
• "Firm", "you", "your" — the law firm, sole practitioner or regulated immigration adviser registered on Visary, including its authorised users.
• "Client" — an individual using Visary who submits a visa or immigration matter or contacts a Firm through the platform.
• "Matter" — a request for immigration advice or representation submitted by a Client, including the case brief, circumstances and any documents shared.
• "Marketplace" — the service through which Firms review Matters and submit Quotes.
• "Quote" — the fee, scope and timeline a Firm proposes to a Client for a Matter.
• "Accepted Matter" — a Matter where the Client selects the Firm's Quote on Visary.
• "Agreed Fee" — the professional fee for an Accepted Matter as stated in the accepted Quote, or as later agreed between the Firm and Client if higher, excluding VAT and third-party disbursements (such as Home Office application fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge, translation and courier costs).
• "Platform Fee" — the 10% fee Visary retains from the Agreed Fee on an Accepted Matter under clause 6.
• "Approved Network" — the in-app directory in which approved Firms are listed for Clients to contact directly, in return for an annual Listing Fee.
• "Listing Fee" — the annual fee for the Approved Network under clause 7.
• "Firm Portal" — the online workspace provided to Firms to manage Matters, Clients, documents and messages.

2. Our Role

Visary is a technology platform that introduces Clients to Firms and provides tools to manage Matters. Visary is not a law firm, does not provide legal or immigration advice, and is not a party to the retainer between a Firm and a Client.

The Firm alone is responsible for all advice, representation and services provided to Clients, and for its own regulatory compliance. Visary does not supervise, direct or control a Firm's professional judgement.

Visary does not guarantee any volume, quality or value of Matters, or that any Quote will be accepted.

3. Eligibility and Registration

To register, the Firm must, and must continue to:

• Be authorised to provide immigration advice and services in the relevant jurisdiction — in the UK, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC) at the appropriate level, or otherwise lawfully permitted to do so;
• Hold professional indemnity insurance that meets the requirements of its regulator;
• Provide accurate details of the firm, its regulator, registration numbers and authorised users;
• Only allow appropriately qualified or supervised individuals to quote on or work on Matters;
• Notify us within 5 business days of any change in regulatory status, any suspension, condition or sanction imposed by a regulator, or any lapse in insurance.

We may verify the information provided, including against public registers, and may decline, suspend or remove any Firm at our discretion. The Firm is responsible for all activity under its account and must keep login credentials secure.

4. The Marketplace

• Firms may review Matter briefs and choose which Matters to quote on. There is no obligation to quote on any Matter.
• The Firm sets its own fee. Quotes must be clear, complete and not misleading, stating the fee, what is included, what is excluded, and expected timescales, in line with the Firm's price transparency obligations.
• A Quote remains open until the Client accepts or declines it, the Matter closes, or the Firm withdraws it before acceptance.
• When a Client accepts a Quote, the Matter becomes an Accepted Matter and the Client's details open in the Firm Portal. The Firm must contact the Client within 2 business days.
• The Firm must carry out its own conflict, identity, anti-money laundering and client-care checks before agreeing to act, and issue its own client care letter and terms of engagement. The Firm may decline to act where it has a proper professional reason, and must tell the Client and Visary promptly if it does.

5. Regulatory Compliance and Client Transparency

The Firm must comply with all rules that apply to it, including the SRA Standards and Regulations or the IAA Code of Standards, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

The Firm acknowledges that the Platform Fee may constitute a referral fee or financial arrangement with an introducer for regulatory purposes. The Firm is responsible for:

• Informing each Client in writing, before or at the start of the retainer, that the Client was introduced through Visary that the Client pays the Agreed Fee through Visary, and that Visary retains a Platform Fee of 10% of the Agreed Fee;
• Ensuring the arrangement does not affect its independence, professional judgement or its duty to act in the Client's best interests;
• Not charging the Platform Fee to the Client on top of the Agreed Fee.

Visary also tells Clients on the platform that Firms pay a fee to Visary when a Client instructs them.

6. Marketplace Platform Fee

• Rate: 10% of the Agreed Fee for each Accepted Matter, plus VAT where applicable.
• No win, no fee: No Platform Fee is payable on Matters the Firm quotes on but does not win. There is no registration fee, subscription or lead charge for the Marketplace.
• Client payment: The Client pays the Agreed Fee through Visary when accepting the Firm's Quote. Visary holds the payment through its payment provider until the case is submitted. Third-party disbursements (such as Home Office fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge) are not collected through Visary unless stated in the Quote.
• Submission of the case: When the Firm submits the Client's application, appeal or other filing to the Home Office or the relevant authority, the Firm must mark the case as submitted in the Firm Portal within 2 business days and provide the submission reference (such as the GWF or application number) and the date of submission.
• Verification: Visary will confirm the submission reference. We may ask for reasonable evidence of submission, such as the submission confirmation. Payment may be held until the reference is confirmed.
• Payout: Once the submission reference is confirmed, Visary deducts the Platform Fee and pays the balance (90% of the Agreed Fee) to the Firm's nominated payout account within 5–10 working days. The Platform Fee is deducted at source; Visary does not separately invoice the Firm for Marketplace Matters. Visary will issue a statement of the Platform Fee, and VAT invoice where applicable, with each payout.
• Payout account: The Firm is responsible for keeping its payout account details accurate in the Firm Portal. Visary is not liable for payments made to account details provided by the Firm. Payments are made to the Firm's business account and the Firm is responsible for treating them correctly under its regulator's accounts rules.
• Matters that are not submitted: If an Accepted Matter ends before submission of the case (for example, the Client withdraws or the Firm properly declines to act), the Client's payment is refunded, less any amount the Firm and Client agree is due for work already done. Where an amount is paid to the Firm for work done, the Platform Fee is 10% of that amount and is deducted before payout.
• Refunds after submission: If the Firm refunds fees to the Client after payout, the Platform Fee is credited in proportion to the amount refunded, provided the Firm notifies us within 14 days of the refund.
• Other amounts owed: Any Platform Fee not deducted at source (including under clause 8) will be invoiced and is payable within 14 days. Late payments may carry interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and Visary may set off amounts owed against future payouts.
• Reporting: The Firm must keep the status and fees of Accepted Matters up to date in the Firm Portal and provide reasonable evidence of fees received on request.

7. Approved Network Listing

• Firms may apply to be listed in the Approved Network. Listing is subject to vetting and approval by Visary.
• The Listing Fee is £499 per year (UK), $999 per year (US) or $1,299 per year (Canada), plus any applicable tax, payable in advance after approval.
• No Platform Fee or commission is charged on work a Client instructs directly through an Approved Network listing. Matters won through the Marketplace remain subject to clause 6.
• The listing renews automatically each year unless cancelled at least 30 days before the renewal date. The Listing Fee is non-refundable except where we remove a listing without cause, in which case we will refund the unused portion.
• The Approved badge means the Firm has passed our checks at the time of approval. It is not an endorsement of any specific advice or outcome.

8. Non-Circumvention

The Firm must not encourage a Client introduced through the Marketplace to instruct it outside Visary to avoid the Platform Fee. If a Client first introduced to the Firm through a Marketplace Matter instructs the Firm on that Matter, or a substantially similar Matter, within 12 months of the introduction, the Platform Fee is payable as if the Matter had been accepted on Visary.

9. Firm Conduct and Content

The Firm must not:

• Make false or misleading statements about its qualifications, regulatory status, success rates, fees or timescales;
• Guarantee a visa outcome or put Clients under undue pressure to instruct;
• Contact Clients for any purpose other than their Matter, or add them to marketing lists without their separate consent;
• Copy, scrape, export or resell Matter information or Client data, or use it to build a competing service;
• Share account access with anyone outside the Firm.

The Firm grants Visary a non-exclusive licence to display its name, logo, profile, regulatory details and reviews on the platform and in related marketing. The Firm confirms it has the right to grant this licence.

10. Client Complaints and Reviews

Complaints about a Firm's services must be handled under the Firm's own complaints procedure and, where applicable, the Legal Ombudsman or the IAA complaints scheme. The Firm must cooperate with reasonable requests from Visary about complaints raised through the platform.

Clients may leave reviews of Firms. Visary will not remove genuine reviews because they are negative, but Firms may report reviews that are false, abusive or breach confidentiality.

11. Data Protection

Visary is the controller of Client data collected through the platform. When a Firm receives Client data for a Matter — whether to prepare a Quote or on an Accepted Matter — the Firm becomes an independent controller of that data for providing its services and for its own legal and regulatory obligations.

The Firm must:

• Use Matter information only to assess, quote on and carry out that Matter;
• Treat Matter information for Matters it does not win as confidential, and not retain it beyond what the Firm needs for its conflict checks and records;
• Apply appropriate security measures, especially for special category data such as health, nationality, immigration history and criminal records;
• Notify Visary without undue delay, and within 48 hours at most, of any personal data breach involving data obtained through Visary.

12. Confidentiality

Each party must keep confidential any non-public information received from the other, including Matter data, pricing, platform features and commercial terms, and use it only for the purposes of these Terms. This does not apply to information that is public, already known to the recipient, or required to be disclosed by law or a regulator.

13. Liability and Indemnity

The platform is provided "as is". Visary does not verify the accuracy or completeness of information Clients provide, including document status. Firms must make their own assessment.

Visary is not liable for any loss arising from advice or services provided by the Firm, any Client's conduct or non-payment, or for loss of profit, revenue, business or goodwill, or any indirect loss. Visary's total liability to the Firm in any 12-month period is limited to the Platform Fees and Listing Fees received by Visary from the Firm in that period.

The Firm will indemnify Visary against claims, fines and losses arising from the Firm's professional services, breach of regulatory obligations, breach of data protection law, or breach of these Terms.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

14. Suspension and Termination

• The Firm may close its account at any time by giving notice through the Firm Portal or by contacting us.
• Visary may suspend or terminate a Firm immediately if the Firm loses or has restrictions placed on its authorisation or insurance, breaches these Terms, fails to pay amounts owed, provides a false submission reference, receives repeated substantiated Client complaints, or acts in a way likely to harm Clients or Visary's reputation. Otherwise, we will give 30 days' notice.
• On termination, the Firm must continue to act on Accepted Matters in line with its professional obligations. Payments held for Accepted Matters will be paid out under clause 6 once the case is submitted, less the Platform Fee.
• Clauses 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13 and 16 survive termination.

15. Changes to These Terms and Fees

We may update these Terms or our fees by giving at least 30 days' notice by email or through the Firm Portal. Changes to the Platform Fee rate will not apply to Quotes submitted before the change takes effect. If the Firm does not accept a change, it may close its account before the change takes effect.

16. Governing Law and General

• Governing law: These Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
• Relationship: Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency or employment relationship. Visary does not share in the Firm's profits and does not have any ownership or management role in the Firm.
• Entire agreement: These Terms, any Quote accepted on the platform, and any signed order form are the entire agreement between the parties about their subject matter.
• Assignment: The Firm may not assign these Terms without our written consent. Visary may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets.
• Severability: If any provision is found to be unenforceable, the rest of these Terms continue in effect.
• Third parties: No third party has rights under these Terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

17. Contact

For questions about these Terms, payouts or your Firm account, please contact us via the contact page on visary.co.uk.