How to become an IAA (formerly OISC) Level 1 adviser

Level 1 is where nearly every regulated immigration adviser in the UK starts. It is also the step people most often plan badly, because the requirement that decides the outcome is not the exam. It is the evidence you bring before you sit it.

This is the route as the IAA sets it out, in the order you have to do it.

What Level 1 authorises

Level 1 covers applications resting on the straightforward presentation of facts: basic entry clearance, permission to enter or stay, variation applications, registration for British citizenship, EU Settlement Scheme assistance. Discretionary and complex work sits at Level 2, and tribunal representation at Level 3.

If that boundary is what you are trying to place, the levels and what each permits are worth reading first. The rest of this article assumes Level 1 is the target.

Before you apply: experience, then training

Two requirements sit ahead of any form.

Experience. The IAA looks for around three months of full-time work, or the part-time equivalent, giving immigration advice. That can be gained as a trainee under the supervision of a regulated adviser or a qualified professional. Experience in adjacent advice work counts too, at roughly double: about six months in welfare, debt, housing, legal or employment advice.

Volunteer and unpaid work counts. Informally helping friends and family does not, and depending on what you did, it may itself have been an offence. This is the point that most often sends applications back: the applicant has done plenty of immigration work, but none of it in a form anyone can evidence.

Training. You need up-to-date training in UK immigration law and practice covering the areas you intend to work in. The IAA does not mandate a provider or a minimum number of hours, which sounds generous and is actually the trap: nobody will tell you when you have done enough. Judge readiness against the assessment, not against a certificate.

No law degree is required. Competence and evidence carry the application; academic credentials do not substitute for either.

The competence assessment

The Level 1 assessment is a two and a half hour exam combining multiple choice questions with scenario-based questions.

The pass mark is 60% overall, and you must also reach 60% in each of the two sections. That second condition matters more than the headline: a strong score on knowledge will not carry a weak score on applying it to a scenario.

Free Movement reports an overall pass rate of around 55% across Levels 1 to 3 for 2024/25, with no separate published figure for Level 1. Treat that as the shape of the thing rather than a precise forecast: roughly half the room does not pass first time, and the usual reason is thin preparation on the applied half.

Applying

Applications go through the IAA's online portal. Both individuals and organisations register, and the two are linked: an adviser is authorised to give advice on behalf of specific organisations, which is why Code 3.1 of the Code of Standards requires you to work only on behalf of the organisation you are authorised for.

Expect the decision to take up to six months from submission. Plan the start of trading around that, not around the exam date.

On fees, check the IAA's own fees guidance rather than any figure quoted second hand, including here. Two points about how fees work are stable enough to plan around: organisations providing immigration advice on a non-profit basis without charging fees for that advice are exempt from the application fee, and the IAA states it cannot refund application fees for withdrawn or unsuccessful applications. That includes the case where you apply at Level 2 or 3 and do not pass the Level 1 assessment, so applying above your evidence is an expensive way to find out.

What starts on the day you are registered

Registration is the beginning of a set of continuing obligations, and the Code of Standards is where they live. Four are worth knowing before you start rather than after your first audit:

• Code 3.3: do not advise or operate above your authorised level or category without the Commissioner's written permission
• Code 4.4: be able to demonstrate compliance with the Commissioner's CPD requirements
• Code 3.5: have and implement an effective written complaints procedure
• Code 8.4 and 8.5: maintain an effective file management system, and keep a complete record of your dealings with and for clients in the form of attendance notes

The first two are about you. The last two are about the practice you run, and they are the ones that quietly become impossible to retrofit. If you want the full picture of what a file has to contain, we wrote it up separately: what the IAA expects to find in a client file.

Four things that trip people up

1. Evidence built too late. Supervised, documented work is the requirement. Start recording it from your first case, not when you decide to apply.
2. Applying above your level. The assessment is sat at the level you apply for, the fee is not refunded, and a Level 1 failure ends a Level 2 application.
3. Assuming training equals readiness. No mandated hours means no external signal. Sit practice scenarios, not just reading.
4. Treating the Code as a later problem. Complaints procedure, CPD records and file management are obligations from day one, and each is easier to set up before you have clients.

Official sources

Registration rules change, and no vendor blog should be your authority for your own application:

• IAA adviser registration explained for levels and requirements
• Code of Standards 2024 for the obligations that follow registration
• Registration and continued registration fees for current fees

This article is general information about the registration route, not advice on your own application. The IAA is the authority on that.