New report sets out strategic recommendations to rebuild and sustain immigration legal services in Wales
The charitable Bevan Foundation yesterday published a new report outlining how the immigration legal sector in Wales is in an effective state of collapse, and exploring how it can be rebuilt and expanded to meet growing demand.
You can download the 33-page report here.
The report explains: "The picture of immigration legal provision in Wales is bleak. Need greatly outstrips available services, and Wales has been labelled an 'advice desert'. There is a general lack of social and welfare advice in Wales, which compounds the scarce provision of immigration legal services. This is so dire that even in South-East Wales, which was previously considered to be relatively well served, accessing immigration legal services is extremely challenging. In large swathes of the country there are no immigration legal advice services at all."
As the Bevan Foundation notes, the dispersal of asylum seekers to hotel and other accommodation within Wales has increased in recent years, and this is leading to more asylum seekers being dispersed to areas that are devoid of immigration legal services.
The report describes an alarming decline in immigration legal aid provision in Wales, revealing a sector in near-collapse. Since the start of the civil legal aid contracts in 2018, the number of offices providing immigration legal services under legal aid has plummeted by 60%, dropping from 15 to just six by 2023. Particularly devastating was the withdrawal of Albany Solicitors, Wales' largest immigration legal aid provider, which left 800 active cases without representation, many of which could not be reassigned due to the scarcity of alternatives.
The rate of decline of immigration legal aid providers accelerated rapidly, with a quarter of remaining offices closing in a single year. Today, legal aid clients are routinely referred to firms in distant cities like Birmingham and London, as no new providers entered the system during the 2024 tender process.
The whole of Wales is now an ‘advice desert’ in respect of immigration advice. Even providers in Cardiff and Swansea do not have enough capacity to meet demand, leaving people routinely unable to access legal advice and representation. The Bevan Foundation says starkly: "We are witnessing the effective collapse of immigration and asylum legal aid provision."
While a lack of immigration and asylum legal providers is a problem for the whole of the UK, in Wales the problems are compounded by geographic isolation, poor transport links, and limited digital connectivity. Problems are particularly acute in North Wales, where just one legal professional serves the entire region despite Wrexham being a designated dispersal area.
Research by the Bevan Foundation, based on the lived experiences of nearly 60 individuals navigating the immigration and asylum systems, reveals deep systemic failures in Wales. Many individuals were unable to secure legal representation, resulting in missed appeals and unresolved cases. Others faced poor or exploitative legal support, including unregulated advisors and misinformation within communities, sometimes leading to serious safeguarding concerns. Confusion about legal processes and fear of challenging representatives contributed to disempowerment and vulnerability.
"Our research shows that lack of immigration legal advice and help has a direct and profound impact on many people seeking sanctuary in or migrating to Wales. Lack of access to justice is a major social justice concern, leading to human rights breaches, homelessness, employment loss, poverty, and exploitation," the report states.
To address the crisis, the Bevan Foundation's report sets out a series of clear, strategic recommendations to rebuild and sustain immigration legal services in Wales. Central to these is the need for a co-produced, long-term development strategy that ensures services are financially viable, user-informed, resilient, and integrated with broader support systems. The report recognises that legal aid funding from government will remain essential, but it also advocates for a diversified funding model, calling on Welsh Government, local authorities, trusts and foundations, public health bodies, Police Commissioners, the NHS, universities, and even private sector actors to contribute. Such a strategy, the report argues, must not only consider how to raise funds but also how to minimise costs, improve collaboration, and ensure realistic investment in quality service delivery, training, outreach, and accessibility.
To address the acute shortage of qualified immigration advisors in Wales, the Bevan Foundation stresses the urgent need for affordable, accessible training, along with attractive career paths to develop and retain professional expertise. It also calls for systemic links between the immigration legal sector and other key sectors through shared referral pathways, collaborative networks, and data exchange.
The report also highlights the importance of flexible, person-centred models of service delivery that can adapt to rapid and unplanned dispersal of asylum seekers across Wales, including to isolated rural areas. While remote advice can help extend capacity, especially in the short term, the Bevan Foundation recommends that it should never fully replace in-person, trauma-informed services. The report warns against an over-reliance on digital or AI-led services, noting that human contact is vital to ensuring access and trust, particularly for vulnerable clients.
To break the cycle of under-resourcing and underdevelopment, the Bevan Foundation is launching a dedicated project to create a national strategy for immigration legal aid in Wales. Running from May 2025 to July 2026, the project will map current provision and unmet need, identify service gaps, explore delivery models, and engage communities and stakeholders to co-design solutions. The goal of the project is a robust, coordinated framework that can underpin a legal sector capable of meeting demand, responding to change, and protecting rights across Wales.
You can read more about the Bevan Foundation's project to expand immigration legal advice in Wales here.