Law Centre NI (benefits, work and immigration advice)

Have ready

• which of the three subjects your problem is about (benefits, work or immigration), so you ring in that subject's hours

They may ask

• your consent to record your name and your postcode, if you are seeking one-off advice

They can

• give free, independent and confidential legal advice on benefits (social security), work (employment) and immigration
• represent you at tribunals and courts, in cases it takes on
• arrange an interpreter for the immigration advice line
• try to point you to other sources of support if it cannot help

They cannot

• help with any other area of law than benefits, work and immigration, or with people who do not live or work in Northern Ireland
• take every enquiry: it is a charity with limited resources, its service depends on capacity, and on work problems it focuses on people in greatest need and is selective about the cases it represents
• on a work advice call, tell you whether a tribunal claim is worth bringing, or read all the papers in your case; if you have not used your workplace grievance procedure, it is likely to ask you to do that first
• advise on a work problem where other advice is available, which it says includes trade union members and higher earners; a discrimination-only case it refers to the Equality Commission
• answer outside the line's hours for each subject, or on a drop-in basis: the general office cannot discuss your case or give advice
• advise on every kind of immigration case: its focus is forced migration, such as asylum claims, refugee family reunion and modern slavery and trafficking, and it does not normally help with tourism or visiting family and friends, work, business or academic visits, study, transit, coming to Northern Ireland for medical treatment, or joining a partner or family (unless you or they are a refugee)
• advise on immigration where another immigration solicitor is already involved, or on Irish immigration law