Malini Skandachanmugarasan
Malini is a Partner specialising in all aspects of UK immigration and nationality law for businesses and individuals. She is recognised by Legal 500 as a ‘Next Generation Partner’, described as ‘knowing the intricacies of the laws and regulations’ and having ‘very clear attention to details, integrity and great responsiveness’. She is also ranked Band 2 by Chambers and Partners 2024 where she is described as being ‘one in a million’ and ‘extremely brilliant with great expertise’.
Malini’s deep technical expertise spans the full spectrum of inbound UK immigration law. Her clients are drawn from all sectors from financial services, AI leaders, global mobility companies and manufacturers to innovative tech leaders, entrepreneurs, international families, overstayers and those seeking protection in the UK.
Malini provides clear, strategic and commercial advice to global organisations looking to employ or retain overseas workers in the UK through the Skilled Worker or Global Business Mobility routes. She also regularly assists clients with ongoing sponsorship and immigration compliance, prevention of illegal working legislation and corporate restructuring.
Malini has an impressive profile in obtaining life-changing results for individuals with complex immigration matters with particular emphasis on applications based on partnership, family and private life, human rights and discretionary leave outside the Immigration Rules. Her experience covers matters relating to the European Union Settlement Scheme, visa refusals, challenging mandatory bans to the UK and appeals to the First Tier Tribunal.
Malini also actively undertakes pro bono work for those affected by the events in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Palestine.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2011
Experience
- Laura Devine Immigration (2008 - 2020)
- Doyle Clayton (2020 - 2025)
Membership
- ILPA – Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association
- AIJA – International Association of Young Lawyers
Qualification
- BA Jurisprudence (2005)
Education
- University of Oxford (2005)
1 Contributions by Malini Skandachanmugarasan
PRACTICE NOTES
UK sponsored work routes: genuineness and eligible role requirements—Immigration Rules, Sponsor Guidance, SOC coding, applicant intention, defined CoS scrutiny, compliance evidence, and revocation case law
Genuineness and eligible role considerations in sponsored worker routes
This Practice Note examines genuineness and eligible role issues across sponsored worker routes. These include, among other aspects, whether vacancies/roles genuinely exist, the financial viability of those roles, applicants’ qualifications/registration, the requirements of the job, and the worker’s intended purpose. The relevant criteria are found in the Immigration Rules for the Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility and Scale-up routes, and also in the Sponsor Guidance that applies to all sponsored work routes.
The original 2008 sponsored employment model under the Points-Based System was, in essence, self-certification—employers had to sign up to and maintain stringent compliance arrangements to gain a sponsor licence, after which they could assign their own Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), subject to periodic compliance visits and other checks to ensure they continued to meet sponsor duties, including accurate CoS assignment. This approach was moderated with the advent of what became known as restricted CoS when interim limits were introduced in Tier 2 (General) in July 2010, bringing in a distinct application process for those CoS, though the information demanded for restricted CoS requests was very limited. The Sponsor Guidance...
Immigration
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