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Ben Xu

Partner

Ben Xu Website

Contact Details

+44 (0)20 7544 2405 +44 (0)7761 205941 LinkedIn Download V Card

Biography

Ben is a partner in the employment team, specialising in UK immigration and nationality law.

Ben has over 15 years’ experience in dealing with UK immigration and nationality matters, particularly matters with complex personal and business immigration issues.

Ben used to practice corporate and commercial law. He finds this gives him a deeper understanding of the issues at hand when advising corporate and executive clients, and allows him to provide more rounded and practical solutions. He works closely with his clients to help manage their global mobility strategies from a UK immigration perspective.

As well as working with companies and charities on all aspects of business immigration, Ben advises a wide range of private clients. These include HNW/UHNW individuals, EU nationals, those joining family members in the UK and individuals with human rights and discretionary claims.

Ben has a success rate of 100% in all applications to date. His clients describe him as “a first-rate immigration lawyer” who “accomplished the ‘impossible” for them, and a person who is able to make them feel "comfortable throughout the entire application process”. Ben is an active member of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) and is also an author and expert on an immigration Q&A panel for a legal research database, LexisNexis.

Prior to joining Ashfords, Ben managed immigration practices at a national and an American firm.

Ben has been individually recognised by Chambers UK since 2023, and was named as a recommended immigration lawyer by Spear’s between 2021 and 2025.

Relevant experience

  • Assisted clients in the hospitality sector with queries regarding right to work checks following Home Office raids and successfully reduced the civil penalty sums
  • Assisted a healthcare provider with their application for a sponsor licence and the subsequent TUPE transfer after acquisition of another business
  • Acted for a well-established hotel in relation to issues arising from an internal restructuring which triggered the obligation of applying for a new sponsor licence. Unfortunately, the client did not realise there was a duty to reapply until a year later, but we successfully acquired a new licence for the company and transferred all existing migrant workers to the new licence
  • Advised a well-known online marketing firm on the immigration processes of transferring migrant workers via TUPE and the responsibilities and duties of sponsors post-acquisition
  • Acted for numerous Chinese clients in relation to their applications for a Returning Resident visa following an extended period of absence due to Covid pandemic
  • Advised a major British airline on the process of transferring foreign migrant workers to the airline as a result of a TUPE transfer and the responsibility of the airline as a sponsor post-acquisition
  • Assisted a private members’ golf club with its application for a sponsor licence after acquiring the businesses and assets of another company (in administration) together with three migrant workers, and advised the club on its responsibility post-acquisition

Specialisms

Immigration
Testimonial
“Ben Xu is a stand-out partner; with a wide-ranging knowledge base, bags of charisma and a strong commitment to achieving his client's objectives, he has developed an expansive and loyal cohort of professional clients who refer high quality work.”
Testimonial
“Ben Xu is our immigration solicitor: fantastic service level, accommodating and professional. We have managed to cut down our visa application processes by many weeks, sometimes even months, compared to before”
Testimonial
“As a client of Ben Xu, I have been consistently impressed by his professionalism, expertise, and unwavering commitment to achieving optimal outcomes. From our very first interaction, it was evident that Ben possesses a deep understanding of the complexities of immigration law”
Testimonial
“Ben Xu is a dedicated partner, if there is an urgent need or problem then they will go out of their way to sort it”

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