His name was David. He was a 48-year-old executive from Toronto, and he was on a video call with one of our senior solicitors. He was a "dream client."
"I've just been headhunted for a new COO role in London," he said, all business. "The company is ready to go. They're sorting the Certificate of Sponsorship. I just need your firm to 'handle the paperwork' for my Skilled Worker . My wife and two kids will be coming as my dependants."
It was a £10,000+ "project." A big, juicy, straightforward corporate file. A "slam-dunk" case.
Our solicitor listened, nodded, and then asked the one, simple, "off-script" question that defines the difference between a " agent" and an "SRA-regulated specialist."
"David," she said, "I'm happy to help. But before we talk about your sponsor, I have a mandatory question I ask all my Commonwealth clients: Tell me about your parents. Where were they born?"
David paused. He was confused. "Me? I'm Canadian. My father, born in Vancouver. My mother... she was born in the UK. In Kent, I think. But she moved to Canada in her 20s, way back in the 1970s. What does that have to do with anything?"
Our solicitor took a deep breath.