Immigration Consultant Invoice Template

What This Template Includes

• Regulator and registration or licence number (for example IAA or CICC)
• Client file or matter reference
• Applicant name(s) covered, if different from the payer
• Application type and government reference or receipt number
• Fee basis agreed in writing (fixed fee or hourly rate)
• Bill of costs reference, for hourly work
• Government fees: paid directly by the client, or paid on the client's behalf with receipt reference
• Third-party costs at exact cost (translation, certified copies), each itemised
• Money held on account and amount applied to this invoice
• Account the payment goes to (client account or business account)
• "Not an attorney" statement, for US non-attorney consultants

How to Create Your Immigration Consultant Invoice

Recommended Payment Terms

Agree the fee and the payment terms in writing before any work starts, and do not change them part-way through unless the client expressly agrees. That is what the UK Immigration Advice Authority asks of its registered advisers, and California's immigration consultant law requires a written contract listing each service and its cost before services begin. The Authority's invoicing practice note also says to raise the invoice immediately after the agreed services are provided, to state the due date and payment method, and to keep fees for work not yet completed in a client account rather than the business account. Common structures are a fixed fee in stages (for example half on instruction, half when the application is submitted) or hourly billing against money on account. Whatever you choose, never make payment depend on the outcome of an application: no adviser controls the decision.

Need help writing payment terms? Read our guide to invoice payment terms for best practices and templates.

Tax Information

Whether you charge VAT, GST, HST or sales tax depends on your registration and where you and the client are; check with your tax authority. In the UK, a VAT-registered adviser charges VAT on its own fees. A third-party cost you paid as the client's agent, such as a certified translation the client uses, may be left outside the VAT calculation as a disbursement only if every condition in section 25.1 of HMRC's VAT Notice 700 is met, including that you recover the exact amount and itemise it separately. Your own travel, postage and phone costs are normally part of your fee and carry VAT. InvoiceQuickly applies one tax rate to the whole invoice and copies saved tax IDs to new invoice PDFs, so if some lines are taxable and a disbursement is not, put the disbursement on its own invoice with no tax, or use this download, and type your VAT number in the notes.

Industry context (2026)

Immigration help is a regulated activity, and who may charge for it differs by country. In the UK, the regulator formerly called the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner has operated as the Immigration Advice Authority since 16 January 2025; its practice note on invoicing customers (republished with new branding on 21 May 2025) asks advisers to confirm fees and payment terms in writing, invoice promptly after the work and keep records for six years. In Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada limits paid representation to law society members, Quebec notaries and licensees of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. In the United States, USCIS says only attorneys and accredited representatives of Department of Justice recognized organizations may give immigration legal advice, and some states regulate non-attorney consultants separately: California's Business and Professions Code sections 22440 to 22449, for example, require a bond and a written contract in English and the client's native language that itemises each service and its cost, states that the consultant is not an attorney, and gives the client 72 hours to rescind.

Worked example

Common mistakes to avoid

Invoicing Tips

• 1Print your regulator and registration or licence number on every invoice, so the client can check it on the regulator's public register.
• 2Name the application type and the applicant on each line ("Skilled Worker application, main applicant"), not just "visa services".
• 3If you bill by the hour, keep a running time record and send an itemised bill of costs with the invoice. The UK Immigration Advice Authority says the bill of costs must accompany the invoice.
• 4Show money received on account as a separate line deducted from the total, with the date it was received, so the balance due is obvious.
• 5Put government fees and third-party costs on their own lines at the exact amount, with the receipt or supplier invoice number, and never add a margin to them.
• 6Issue a receipt whenever a client pays in cash, and bank the cash promptly into the correct account.
• 7In the US, never use the title "notario" or "notario público". USCIS warns that notaries are not authorized to provide immigration legal services, and California prohibits that translation of "notary public" by immigration consultants.

Related Resources

• UK invoice requirements: VAT invoice details to add in your notes
• Canada invoice requirements
• Hourly vs fixed-price invoicing
• How to invoice for expenses
• All invoice templates

Frequently Asked Questions