Sacha Wooldridge

"Sacha specialises in UK immigration and nationality law. She was admitted to the roll of Solicitors in September 2013 and in just ten years, at the age of 34, was promoted to the Birketts LLP Partnership in June 2023.

 At the heart of immigration law:

 Sacha’s passion and knowledge for immigration law and policy makes her one of the emerging leaders in her field. 

 Sacha’s briefing notes on developing policy, as well as guidance on navigating the complexities of the UK immigration system have made her a ‘go-to’ trusted advisor in the wider immigration sector. 

Sacha is a proactive immigration industry stakeholder and renowned contributor to immigration policy debate. She sits as part of the Home Office Business User Forum and BEIS Immigration working group for professional services and is a regular attendee at the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) for Visas and Immigration, as well as an active member of the ILPA Economic working group, and speaker at the Westminster Legal Policy forum. 

 Sacha is a regular attendee at the political party conferences representing the interests of business and contributes to media coverage of immigration issues – most recently in The Observer and The Guardian. Sacha is on the steering committee for a new research paper for Marie Curie cancer research on the impact of immigration restrictions for those with life-limiting illness.

Growing Birketts’ Immigration practice:

 Over the course of two years, Sacha’s drive, ambition, and legal excellence has had an unparalleled impact on the strength of Birketts’ Immigration offering. Her leadership has resulted in a 280% increase in billings (from £250,000 to £950,000), as well as growing the strength of the Immigration Team by 133%, taking the team from 3 to 7 immigration experts. 

 With Sacha at the helm, the Immigration Team now wins work across Europe and the US, as well as domestically. 

  This growth has seen Birketts placed in the top tier of legal rankings and Sacha named a ‘Leading Individual’ in the industry-leading Legal 500 rankings.

 Market-leading work:

 Sacha is an industry trailblazer who works with some of the world’s largest global businesses and High-Net-Worth and high-profile individuals to support them with their visa applications, immigration compliance and global mobility strategies. 

She is often acting for clients at the forefront of legislation changes for example, advising on the UK’s first ever successful ‘Expansion Worker’ visa application. Following Brexit an increasing number of international workers now need visa permission to work in the UK. Having her finger on the pulse for developing immigration policy and political policy engagement Sacha was able to find a creative solution for the client’s benefit. Sacha worked with the Home Office to secure this status for the client within seven weeks (against a Home Office SLA of 14 weeks).

 Sacha leads industry training – through the Immigration Law Practitioners Association, HJT Training and MBL seminars – for other industry professionals to explain the theoretical and practical application of the Immigration Rules – sharing experience and best practice for other practitioners."