Exclusive: England & Wales’ Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has approved India to be included in its list of jurisdictions of foreign lawyers permitted to take the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), following a delay of six weeks following an administrative oversight.

Indian lawyers wanting to qualify in England and Wales will now have to pay £3,430 (Rs 2.4 lakh) plus pay for travel to and accommodation in the UK for the first time, following Kaplan law school’s position as the sole provider of the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), which is at least a four-fold increase on the fees under the old scheme.

The Solicitors Regulations Authority (SRA) has not yet received the completed survey for India to be included in the England & Wales Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) but the Bar Council of India (BCI) assured it was an “urgent matter” and would be completed “as soon as possible”.

Indian lawyers planning to qualify as English solicitors were thrown into temporary tizzy this week, as the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) came into effect. Under the new rules Indian lawyers will not be allowed to apply to practise in the UK, as India is not included in the list of jurisdictions to benefit from the QLTS.

Indian qualified lawyers will currently not be able to apply to practise law in England and Wales under the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) since yesterday (1 September), due to an oversight by the Bar Council of India (BCI), said the countries’ Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has finally confirmed its revised guidance for foreign lawyers looking to practice in England and Wales after more than two-years of delay.