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 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 Bar Council of India has cemented its strong opposition to the entry of foreign law firms after its first official meeting with new Minister of Law and Justice Veerappa Moily, reported news wire Bloomberg today.