Guidance

Working with immigration advisers: caseworker guidance (accessible)

Published 12 January 2026

Version 3.0

About this guidance

This guidance is for all immigration staff, immigration caseworkers and asylum decision makers, as well as those managing appeals and judicial reviews. It provides guidance on how to check whether an individual or organisation providing immigration advice or immigration services in the UK is qualified to do so, and what to do if they are not. It is a criminal offence to provide immigration advice or immigration services in the UK when not qualified to do so.

This guidance was previously known as “Unqualified immigration advisers”. Previous versions can be found in the archive.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you, or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email the IAA Policy Team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance, Rules and Forms team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 3.0
• published for Home Office staff on 19 January 2026

Changes from last version of this guidance

The guidance has been amended to change references made to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) following their name change to become the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) on 16 January 2025.

The guidance has been updated to clarify the medical report section and to make general housekeeping updates.

It has been updated to include details about what to do when advisers do not provide their names when corresponding with officials and adds options to template letters for corresponding with advisers in these circumstances.

It has also been updated to include information on what to do when an immigration adviser or organisation has been suspended or cancelled, or an organisation has been closed down by the regulator.

It provides instructions on the registration process for caseworkers on the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) Portal.

Regulation of immigration advisers

This section tells you about the regulation of immigration advisers in the UK.

Background

The Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) regulates anyone providing immigration advice or immigration services. Under section 84 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (IAA 1999), a person providing immigration advice or immigration services in the course of business in the UK (whether paid or unpaid) must be qualified to do so.

To be qualified to provide immigration advice or immigration services in the UK a person must be one of the following:

• registered with and regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (formerly known as Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC))
• authorised to practise by an approved regulator
• acting on behalf of, and under the supervision of, a person either registered with the IAA, or authorised to practise by an approved regulator
• exempted by a Ministerial Order

In addition, anyone working for a government department or the Crown does not need to be qualified to provide immigration advice when they are acting in an official capacity. This includes MPs and local councillors who make representations as part of their constituency or parliamentary responsibilities, and Ministers of Religion.

Anyone providing immigration advice or services when not qualified to do so is committing a criminal offence.

If you believe an immigration adviser is not qualified to provide immigration advice or services, you should refer to the section on checking whether an immigration adviser is qualified.

IAA registered advisers

The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner became known as the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) on 16 January 2025.

To be registered with the IAA under section 84 IAA 1999, a person must meet any one of the three levels of regulation:

Level 1: basic immigration advice within the Immigration Rules, including limited services to asylum applicants. No substantive protection work is permitted. Work for asylum seekers or failed asylum seekers is limited to one-off assistance covering limited services, such as notifying the Home Office of a change of address or travel document applications for someone granted Humanitarian Protection.

Level 2: more complex casework, including applications outside the Immigration Rules and advice on substantive asylum applications but does not include presenting appeals in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

Level 3: can represent at appeals and bail hearings before an immigration judge. If approved by the IAA, they can conduct Judicial Review Case Management.

Organisations and advisers must only act according to, and within, the levels they are authorised to by the IAA.

Further information on the three levels can be found in the IAA’s guidance on competence.

Approved regulators

Individuals authorised by approved regulators  do not need to be registered with the IAA to provide immigration advice and services

There are 2 types of approved regulators listed in section 86 and 86A of the IAA 1999. These are ‘designated professional bodies’ (for Scotland and Northern Ireland) and ‘designated qualifying regulators’ (for England and Wales).

Designated professional bodies are:

• the Law Society of Scotland
• the Law Society of Northern Ireland
• the Faculty of Advocates
• the General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland

Designated qualifying regulators are:

• the Law Society of England and Wales – with the Solicitors Regulation Authority acting as their regulatory body
• the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives – with CILEx Regulation acting as their regulatory body
• the Bar Council – with the Bar Standards Board acting as their regulatory body

The Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Law Accreditation scheme (IAAS)

Accreditation to the IAAS scheme allows regulated immigration practitioners to work on legal aid cases.

Those accredited by IAAS must also show that they are registered with the IAA or are a member of a professional body to be able to provide immigration advice and services under Section 84 of the IAA 1999.

Supervision

Section 84 of the IAA 1999 provides that someone can only give immigration advice or provide immigration services if they are a “qualified person”.

However, where a person is not registered under the provisions of section 84(2), and therefore not qualified under the IAA 1999, they may provide advice when supervised by someone who is.

The supervisor must be a “qualified person” under section 84(2)(e) IAA 1999.

The supervisory arrangement acts as a training aid where the supervisor will closely monitor the supervisee’s work.

Exempt by a Ministerial Order

Those currently exempt by a Ministerial Order are:

• licensed sponsors who have been granted a sponsor licence under Tiers 2 or 4
• educational institutions
• health Sector Bodies
• employers giving immigration advice only to their employees or prospective employees

The advice that can be provided under an exemption must be both of the following:

• provided free of charge
• restricted to matters relating to a person’s immigration application

Complaints and investigations

The IAA have powers to initiate investigations and investigate complaints against:

• an immigration adviser registered with the IAA
• person providing immigration advice or immigration services under supervision (see above)
• unregistered or unauthorised persons providing immigration advice / services illegally

and can also prosecute those who operate illegally and can initiate their own investigations.

The IAA will refer complaints about members of designated professional bodies and designated qualifying bodies directly to the relevant body.

Complaints may be about:

• the competence or fitness of a person to provide immigration advice or services
• a breach of the IAA Rules or Code of Standards
• a breach of the rules of a designated professional body for example, a breach of the Law Society of Scotland’s Rules)

If the IAA upholds a complaint it may also lay before the First-tier Tribunal a disciplinary charge.

The IAA can also investigate allegations that an immigration adviser is not acting in line with the regulatory scheme (for example, providing immigration advice or services in the course of business without being qualified or exempted under the scheme) and is therefore committing a criminal offence. In such cases the IAA will gather evidence with a view to initiating criminal proceedings. They can also seek a court injunction to prevent activities where it appears that a criminal offence is being committed and is likely to continue.

More information on the regulation of immigration advisers can be found on the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA).

Checking whether an immigration adviser is qualified

This section tells you how to check whether an immigration adviser is qualified to provide immigration advice and services.

Searching the registers

When you receive details of a case, you must check whether the immigration adviser is qualified to provide immigration advice. The immigration adviser’s details will usually have been recorded on Home Office records when the case was created and should include whether they are regulated, who by and the reference number of the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) or other regulatory body. If these details are recorded, you do not need to check the registers again. If these details are not recorded, you should undertake a search of the appropriate registers and then record the information on Home Office records.

To check whether an immigration adviser is qualified you must check the appropriate registers:

• the Immigration Advice Authority (formerly the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner)
• the Solicitors Regulation Authority
• the Bar Standards Board
• the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx Regulation)
• the Law Society of Scotland
• the Law Society of Northern Ireland
• the General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland
• the Faculty of Advocates

The IAA also provides a list of immigration advisers who are prohibited or suspended from providing immigration advice.

If the immigration adviser is registered with the IAA, you must also use the adviser register to check whether they have the required level of regulation to act in the specific case. If you encounter difficulties, the IAA can be contacted directly using the contact details on their website.

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In the case of Bail Applications and Hearings

If an immigration adviser representing an applicant in a bail application or a hearing cannot be verified, or is found to be unqualified, caseworkers should raise any concerns with the Tribunal and the judge hearing the application. If necessary, the Home Office caseworker can also raise any issues with the relevant team who will refer to the regulatory body or prosecuting authority.

What to do if the immigration adviser does not disclose their name

Immigration advisers may make submissions via email, letter or fax without disclosing their individual name. This makes it difficult to check whether they are authorised to provide immigration advice for an organisation.

Unless you can confirm that they are a person authorised to provide immigration advice and services, you should treat those who do not disclose their name as an unqualified adviser.

For further information, see General principles for handling correspondence from an unqualified immigration adviser.

What to do if an applicant complains to you about their immigration adviser

If an applicant complains to you about their immigration adviser, you should advise them to contact the IAA or the approved regulator. You must then inform your management chain, senior caseworker and, where available, your local intelligence lead in line with local escalation processes. You should also consider whether to make an IMS referral if you believe that the detail of the complaint and its seriousness mean a referral is appropriate.

What to do if the immigration adviser says they are an international lawyer

Immigration advisers may claim they don’t need to be regulated in the UK because they are an international lawyer claiming to be based overseas. However, if they are providing immigration advice or immigration services in the UK, they must be qualified (by virtue of being registered or authorised in accordance with the requirements of section 84 IAA 1999) to provide that advice. Unless they can show that they are qualified to provide immigration advice or immigration services in the UK, you should treat them as an unqualified immigration adviser

For further information, see section: Checking whether an immigration adviser is qualified.

EU qualified lawyers (including Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) who hold an international law qualification are likely to have been registered as a Registered Foreign Lawyer (RFL) with a relevant regulatory body in the UK and should be able to provide evidence of their registration.

What to do if an immigration adviser or an organisation is cancelled, suspended, or an organisation is closed down by the regulator

If you are notified that an immigration adviser or solicitor or organisation has been cancelled or suspended, or that the organisation has been closed down by the regulator, you should treat them as unqualified to give immigration advice and / or services. Do not write out to an organisation which has been closed down. If you are notified that an intervening agent has been appointed by the regulator to handle cases, then you can correspond with the agent.

What to do if there is an allegation of malpractice on the part of the immigration adviser

If an applicant makes an allegation of fraud, misrepresentation or other malpractice on behalf of their immigration adviser, the case must be considered on an individual basis, a referral made to a Senior Caseworker (SCW) and a decision taken as to whether to make an IMS referral using the IMS referral form.

Consideration should be given to the circumstances of the case, for example:

• whether the applicant was represented by the immigration adviser
• whether there is evidence to support the claim of malpractice
• whether a report was made to the police
• other factors in support of the allegation such as:
  • judge’s determination
  • attendance as a witness at court
• whether there would be a different material outcome to the immigration decision taking into account the claim of malpractice

What to do if an immigration adviser is using a personal email address

If an immigration adviser uses an email address that appears to be a personal one or otherwise not associated with the organisation to which the adviser purports to be working for, the caseworker should contact the organisation directly using the contact details on the relevant regulatory body’s page asking whether the email address is one which is authorised by the organisation.

If the email address is found to be one which is not authorised by the organisation, the adviser should be treated as unqualified, and a referral should be made through IMS via the IMS referral form.

The caseworker should then write to the immigration adviser setting out the e-mail address is not authorised by the organisation and that they will have no further communication with them via an unauthorised email address, that their organisation has been informed and that future correspondence will be via the organisation or directly with the applicant.

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Examples may include:

• where the applicant has indicated they do not have an immigration adviser, but suspicions are raised because a document has been received from an email address linked to multiple applications from different applicants
• where false citations are made and the case law does not exist

Misleading material provided to the Home Office can be referred to the relevant legal regulator by the relevant team upon receipt of an IMS referral.

All queries around the use of AI-generated representations or documents should be referred to a senior caseworker in the first instance.

General principles for handling correspondence from an unqualified immigration adviser

This section tells you how to handle correspondence from an unqualified immigration adviser or an adviser who is registered with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) (formerly known as the OISC) but does not have the required level of regulation. For the purpose of this section, correspondence includes general correspondence and requests for information / documents as well as pre-action protocol letters and correspondence about judicial reviews and appeals. There are separate sections on medical reports and further representations.

You must not simply ignore correspondence because the immigration adviser is unqualified, as this would unfairly disadvantage the applicant to whom the correspondence relates.

General principles

In all cases where you receive correspondence from an unqualified immigration adviser, or an immigration adviser who is registered with the IAA but does not have the required level of regulation, you must write to them using template letter 1 - letter to unqualified immigration adviser. This letter tells them that we won’t correspond directly with them unless they can provide evidence, they are qualified or are regulated to the appropriate level.

You must also contact the applicant the correspondence relates to using the relevant template 2 letter. This letter tells them that we have received correspondence on their behalf from an immigration adviser who is not qualified and advises them that we will not respond to the immigration adviser and will engage directly with them instead. Template letters 2(a) and 2(b) also ask the applicant to confirm whether they would like us to consider the content of the correspondence submitted on their behalf.

If you do not have the applicant’s address, then when you write to the unqualified immigration adviser you must ask them to provide an up-to-date address for the applicant so that we can correspond with them directly.

If the representations raise urgent issues, appropriate action must be taken immediately to address those issues. If no urgent issues are raised, the applicant should be given 5 days from the date the letter is sent to respond if they are in detention, or 14 days for cases where the applicant is not detained.

For further information, see the section on Safeguarding.

If the applicant confirms that they would like the Home Office to consider the correspondence within the deadline, you should substantively consider it and provide them with a response.

If they do not confirm they would like the Home Office to consider the correspondence within the deadline, you must consider the content and decide what weight should be given to it. A substantive consideration will usually only be necessary where the contents relate to protection or human rights issues, or disclose vulnerability issues such as trafficking or modern slavery, or if they indicate a significant and immediate risk to an applicant’s health. The correspondence, including any supporting evidence, must be kept on file in case the applicant later asks the Home Office to consider it.

In all cases where you receive correspondence from, or have contact with, an unqualified immigration adviser you must:

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For further information on how to handle medical reports and further representations submitted by an unqualified immigration adviser, see the relevant sections in this guidance.

Telephone calls

If an unqualified immigration adviser (or an immigration adviser you suspect is unqualified) contacts you by telephone about a case, you must ask them to provide evidence that they are qualified (for example an IAA or SRA reference number). If they are unable to do so you must tell them that we cannot engage with them on any individual case. A note of the call and the outcome should be added to ‘Contact Service’ within Home Office records.

If they challenge this whilst on the phone, you must advise them of the standard complaints’ procedure. Further guidance is available in the Complaints Management Guidance.

Interviews

If you are conducting an interview, as part of your preparation you must check whether the immigration adviser attending is qualified. However, you may not know the applicant has an immigration adviser until they attend the interview with them.

If you are in any doubt whether an immigration adviser is qualified or has the required level of qualification you must check the relevant registers. If they are not qualified, you must not allow them to attend the interview or discuss the case with them.

Where an applicant doesn’t have an immigration adviser, they can ask for a friend or companion to accompany them at the interview. This is subject to the interviewing officer’s discretion. The role of the friend or companion is solely to provide emotional or physical support and they must not intervene during the interview. If they are not providing immigration advice or immigration services for financial gain, they do not need to be IAA regulated.

Further guidance on the professional conduct of immigration advisers during the interview can be found in the relevant interview guidance for your area. See - Asylum interview.

Pre-action protocols

If you receive a pre-action protocol letter (PAP) from an unqualified immigration adviser, you should firstly discuss the case with your senior caseworker.

You must then write to the unqualified immigration adviser using template letter 1.

You must also contact the applicant that the PAP is about using the relevant template 2 letter.

Judicial review

In judicial reviews it will normally be the Government Legal Department (GLD) who will be liaising with the immigration adviser.

If you have concerns that an immigration adviser is unqualified or is not regulated to the appropriate level, you should raise this with the GLD lawyer handling the case.

Appeals

If you receive correspondence about an appeal from an unqualified immigration adviser you must write to them using template letter 1.

You must also contact the applicant the appeal is about using the relevant template 2 letter.

You should then continue to prepare for the appeal as normal.

If, at an appeal hearing, you suspect the appellant is being represented by an unqualified immigration adviser, or an immigration adviser who does not have the required level of qualification, you must notify the Tribunal and contact the Appeals Litigation and Administrative Review Team (ALAR) to ask them to investigate.

Examples of what to look out for and which might be referred:

• representative giving evidence
• representative coaching witnesses
• poor performance
• inappropriate behaviour (this includes abusive, bullying or threatening behaviour)
• representative trying to mislead the court, etc.
• McKenzie Friends (A McKenzie Friend is a person who provides support to individuals representing themselves in court, helping them navigate the legal process without being a qualified lawyer - investigations have shown that many unregulated individuals will often pose as McKenzie Friends)

Further representations

This section tells you how to handle further representations from an unqualified immigration adviser or an immigration adviser who is registered with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) but does not have the required level of regulation.

Protection and Article 3 claims

In all cases where further representations are provided by an unqualified immigration adviser in support of a protection or Article 3 claim they must be considered substantively.

You must write to the legal immigration adviser using template letter 1.

You must also write to the applicant the representations are about using template letter 2(d).

If the applicant is in detention, the letter should be served to the applicant via the relevant team.

Applicant not detained and no removal scheduled for within 5 days

If you receive further representations from an unqualified immigration adviser and the applicant is not detained and there are no removal directions set for within five days, then you should respond in line with the general principles.

Removal scheduled for within 5 days

Where further representations are received in cases which are scheduled for imminent removal these should be referred to the relevant team for consideration.

If you receive written representations from an unqualified immigration adviser and the person’s removal is scheduled within 5 days, you must write to the immigration adviser using template letter 1.

You must also contact the applicant the representations are about using the relevant template 2 letter.

If the applicant is in detention, the letter should be served to the applicant via the relevant team.

If the case has not been referred to relevant team you must do so.

Removal scheduled for within 24 hours

Where further representations are received in cases where removal is scheduled for within 24 hours, the case will usually be considered by OSCU.

In these cases, or in cases where (due to logistics or flight times) you are unable to directly contact the applicant to confirm they would like the representations considered before their scheduled removal, you must consider the substantive issues raised in the representations before removal.

You should not correspond directly with the immigration adviser, and you should not discuss the case with them or provide them with the outcome of the consideration.

You must enclose a copy of the representations submitted with any decision or response. You can use the wording in template letter 2(d) in your decision or response.

Safeguarding

You must be aware that there may be individual protection needs or safeguarding concerns regarding applicants. Therefore, depending on the individual circumstances, it may be appropriate to share information with third parties in their best interests, such as the police or relevant safeguarding agency. You must be vigilant that a dependant may be at risk of harm and be prepared to refer cases immediately to the relevant Safeguarding Hub for referral or to a relevant safeguarding agency where child protection issues arise.

You do not have to stop making the decision whilst a safeguarding issue is investigated. However, you must speak to your technical specialist or senior caseworker to check whether service of the decision is appropriate, or if the safeguarding issue needs to be considered together with the application / asylum claim. You must make a referral to the relevant Safeguarding Hub in order for safeguarding staff to liaise with the statutory authorities.

If you become concerned that an applicant / claimant may be in danger, you need to take immediate action to ensure their safety. Where there are child welfare or protection concerns that may involve safeguarding issues within the family unit the case must be referred immediately to the relevant Safeguarding Hub, who will refer the case to the relevant local authority. There is no requirement to obtain the consent of any adults involved as safeguarding the child is our primary responsibility. In an emergency you must refer the case to the police without delay. The relevant team can also offer specialist safeguarding and welfare advice on issues relating to children, including family court proceedings and complex child protection cases.

Medical reports

This section tells you how to handle medical reports from an unqualified immigration adviser or an adviser who is registered with the Immigration Advice Authorities (IAA) but does not have the required level of regulation.

The general principles for handling correspondence from an unqualified immigration adviser also apply.

Important principles for detained cases and asylum cases

In detained cases, medical reports do not need to be considered under the Adults at Risk policy where the medical practitioner or healthcare professional is not registered with the relevant healthcare professional regulator in the UK.

However, where the medical report is being considered solely as part of an asylum claim, rather than in relation to the suitability of detention for that individual (whether or not the person is detained) you must refer to the medical evidence in asylum claims guidance. This includes information on how to consider medical evidence, including the credentials of clinicians and the appropriate weight to be attached to medical evidence when assessing the asylum claim.

What to do when you receive a medical report

If you receive a medical report from an unqualified immigration adviser, you must write to them using template letter 1.

You must also contact the applicant the correspondence is about using the relevant template 2 letter.

In addition, you must write to the medical practitioner who wrote the report, using the relevant template 3 letter. This letter explains that the immigration adviser who submitted the report is unqualified and asks the medical practitioner to confirm they are happy for the medical report to be considered. The letter also informs them that if we receive any further medical reports which have been commissioned by the unqualified immigration adviser, we will inform the relevant regulatory body and will reserve the right not to consider the report.

The approach taken, and the time limits for responding, will vary between different business areas and depending on whether the individual is in detention.

In some circumstances you will need to substantively consider the medical report whilst you are waiting for confirmation from the applicant and the medical practitioner.

Informing the healthcare team in detained cases

In all detained cases where a medical report is received, you must make the relevant healthcare team aware of it if the applicant is detained in an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC). You do not need to wait for confirmation from the applicant or the medical practitioner of the details of the report before sharing the report with the healthcare team. You must notify the relevant healthcare team even if the medical report is not being considered substantively.

It is important that this step is taken in order to ensure that the relevant healthcare team has sufficient safeguards, referrals, or treatment in place for the applicant, or that the care plan is updated, as appropriate.

When a medical report must always be considered substantively

A medical report written by a regulated healthcare professional must always be considered substantively, when the following criteria is met:

• the individual has responded within the specified time limit and agreed for the medical report to be considered, even if the medical practitioner has not responded
• the medical report raises issues of urgency (such as a risk of suicide or self-harm or where removal is imminent) even if no confirmation has been received from either the individual or the medical practitioner
• the medical report supports a protection or Article 3 claim or further submissions in relation to such a claim

If the medical practitioner responds and withdraws the medical report it should still be accepted and considered under the Adults at Risk policy if the applicant is detained (unless the reason for withdrawal is that e.g. the medical practitioner no longer stands by the report, or the report is not associated with that case).

When a medical report does not need to be considered substantively

For reports that do not meet the criteria in the previous section and do not need to be considered substantively, the report must be retained on file in case the applicant asks for it to be considered at a later date. Where possible, you should also put a clear note on the relevant case working system stating that the report has been retained on file and explaining why it has not been considered at that time.

Medical report raises urgent issues

If the report raises urgent issues, for example where it expresses concern that the individual is at immediate risk of suicide, you must take appropriate action immediately, referring accordingly to the Assessment Care in Detention and Teamwork (ACDT) process for those in IRCs, or Assessment Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) for those in prisons, ensuring appropriate safeguarding actions are taken.

In reports where no urgent issues are identified, you will not need to consider the report until the applicant has confirmed they would like it to be considered. In such instances you should await a response from the individual concerned, allowing 5 days from the date the letter was sent (from the relevant Home Office record) for them to respond for detained cases and 14 days from the date the letter was sent for non-detained cases.

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Applicant is not detained

Where the applicant is not detained you must consider the medical report in line with the relevant guidance and take any appropriate action.

If an immigration adviser is found to be unqualified referral should be made directly to the relevant team outlining your concerns.

For further information, see the section: Making an IMS referral.

Reporting a medical practitioner

If a medical practitioner continues to submit medical reports commissioned by an unqualified immigration adviser, you must write to them using template letter 3 (b) - further medical report. This letter advises them that we will be informing the medical practitioner’s regulatory body and, where appropriate, that we will not be considering the report. You must copy the relevant correspondence to their regulatory body using template letter 4 - letter to medical practitioners’ regulatory body.

Medical reports in detained cases

Where you receive a medical report and the applicant is in detention you must review the contents of the medical report in accordance with the Adults at Risk policy. If the report relates to a protection or article 3 claim, you must also follow the guidance in the protection and article 3 claims section.

Adults at Risk (AAR) level whilst waiting for confirmation

While you are waiting for confirmation from the applicant or medical practitioner the individual’s AAR level will not need to change.

The AAR level will change only once further consideration is given to the report (and if it results in a change to the AAR level), unless we receive other professional evidence in line with the AAR policy which impacts on the AAR level.

Protection and Article 3 claims

In these cases, you should write to the applicant using template letter 2(c).

You must consider the report in line with protection medical evidence policy which is set out in the Medical evidence in asylum claims guidance. This applies whether or not the applicant is detained.

You should also refer to the appropriate sections of the guidance if the individual is detained or the report raises urgent issues. If there are no urgent issues, then you should consider it within usual timeframes for your business area.

If the medical practitioner withdraws the medical report it should still be accepted and considered under the Adults at Risk policy if the person is detained (unless the reason for withdrawal is, for example, the medical practitioner no longer stands by the report, or the report is not associated to that case).

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