Ben has nearly 14 years’ experience in dealing with UK immigration and nationality matters, particularly matters with complex personal and business immigration issues.
Ben used to practice corporate and commercial law. He finds this gives him a deeper understanding of the issues at hand when advising corporate and executive clients, and allows him to provide more rounded and practical solutions. He works closely with his clients to help manage their global mobility strategies from a UK immigration perspective.
As well as working with companies and charities on all aspects of business immigration, Ben advises a wide range of private clients. These include high net worth individuals, EU nationals, those joining family members in the UK and individuals with human rights and discretionary claims.
Ben has a success rate of 100% in all applications to date. His clients describe him as “a first-rate immigration lawyer” who “accomplished the ‘impossible” for them, and a person who is able to make them feel "comfortable throughout the entire application process”. Ben is an active member of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) and is also an author and expert on an immigration Q&A panel for a legal research database, LexisNexis.
Prior to joining Laytons ETL, Ben managed immigration practices at a national and an American firm.
Recognition
Ben’s immigration practice has been ranked by Legal 500 since 2019
Ben has been individually recognised as an ‘Up and Coming’ Partner by Chambers UK since 2023
Ben has been named as a recommended immigration lawyer by Spear’s since 2021
Notable Cases
Advised a major British airline on the process of transferring foreign migrant workers to the airline as a result of a TUPE transfer and the responsibility of the airline as a sponsor post-acquisition
Advised an international health care and communications group on the structure of its sponsor licences prior to the acquisition by a private equity firm and assisted its global CEO with his ICT extension application
Advised a founding member of a global alliance on its application for a sponsor license in the sub-category of ICT. It required a detailed analysis of the global alliance constitution, in order to assess whether there was a satisfactory link by way of common ownership or control between member firms. A detailed legal representation was submitted to the Home Office, drawing on Ben’s corporate law background expertise. ICT sponsor license was granted within two weeks
Assisted a highly respected medical doctor with her application for naturalisation after numerous law firms informed her that she was not eligible to apply for British citizenship. She had spent six years in the U.K. as the spouse of an EU national and had obtained permanent residence, but exceeded the 450-day absence limit. After highlighting the compelling compassionate reasons for her absences from the U.K. in her application as well as bringing her extensive philanthropy in the U.K. to the Home Office’s attention, her application was subsequently approved
Assisted a private members’ golf club with its application for a sponsor licence after acquiring the businesses and assets of another company (in administration) together with three migrant workers, and advised the club on its responsibility post-acquisition
Advised a victim of fraud on her Tier 2 (General) application and successfully removed the Home Office’s ‘deception’ findings and one-year ban under paragraph 320(7B) of the Immigration Rules
Formulated strategies and successfully obtained a visa extension for a domestic worker after the initial refusal decision on an application prepared by the applicant herself
Testimonials
“Ben Xu is a stand-out partner; with a wide-ranging knowledge base, bags of charisma and a strong commitment to achieving his client's objectives, he has developed an expansive and loyal cohort of professional clients who refer high quality work. He also has an extensive international network which he draws upon to offer a world-class service. His encyclopaedic knowledge and highly acute judgement has seen him act as an expert to the High Court in immigration matters”
“Ben Xu is our immigration solicitor: fantastic service level, accommodating and professional. We have managed to cut down our visa application processes by many weeks, sometimes even months, compared to before”
“As a client of Ben Xu, I have been consistently impressed by his professionalism, expertise, and unwavering commitment to achieving optimal outcomes. From our very first interaction, it was evident that Ben possesses a deep understanding of the complexities of immigration law”
“Ben Xu is a dedicated partner, if there is an urgent need or problem then they will go out of their way to sort it”
Contact details
Email: ben.xu@laytons.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 7842 8000
LinkedIn
Qualifications
Qualified as a Solicitor in 2013
Expertise
