Every question you type into Immigranta gets answered by a pipeline, not a person. This document describes that pipeline honestly — the sources it reads, the process it follows, the confidence it measures, and the situations where it will say it doesn't know. It also explains, without hedging, what Immigranta is not: it is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for a regulated adviser.
The sources
The corpus Immigranta searches is built from official UK government sources. The primary documents are:
- The Immigration Rules — the complete set of rules published under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971, maintained on GOV.UK. These are the authoritative legal text. When a caseworker makes a decision, they apply these rules.
- Statements of Changes — HC-numbered documents laid before Parliament that amend the Immigration Rules. Each statement is incorporated into the corpus as it is published.
- UK Visas and Immigration guidance — the policy guidance, modernised guidance documents, and caseworker instructions that UKVI publishes alongside the rules. These explain how Home Office staff are expected to apply the rules in practice.
- Visa and citizenship guidance notes — structured documents published with application forms that describe what applicants must provide and why.
What is a Statement of Changes? A statutory instrument that amends the Immigration Rules. They carry an HC number (e.g. HC 693) and are laid before Parliament before taking effect. The Home Office publishes a consolidated version of the rules, but tracking individual changes requires following each Statement separately.
The corpus does not include legal blogs, newspaper articles, forum posts, social media, or practitioner guides. The rationale is straightforward: official decisions are made against the official text, and that text is public.
How often it updates
Immigranta checks for new and updated documents every day. When the Home Office publishes a Statement of Changes, or updates a guidance page on GOV.UK, the system picks it up and refreshes its knowledge within one to two days.
This matters when rules change at short notice. In July 2025, for instance, the general Skilled Worker salary threshold rose from £38,700 to £41,700, alongside a higher minimum skill level and a new hourly rate floor — all taking effect on the same date. During any such transition, Immigranta's answers reflect the most recent version it has processed. If you are asking about guidance published in the last day or two, it is worth checking the GOV.UK source directly to be sure.
How answers are produced
When you type a question, the pipeline does four things in sequence:
- It rewrites your question into a precise search query. Conversational references ("you mentioned earlier", "same as above") are resolved against the conversation history so each retrieval step works on a self-contained query.
- It retrieves relevant passages from the indexed corpus. The retrieval uses both the semantic meaning of your question and exact legal terminology — SOC codes, visa category abbreviations, section identifiers — to surface the most applicable chunks from the Immigration Rules and guidance.
- It generates a grounded answer using only those retrieved passages. The generator is explicitly instructed not to use general knowledge: every claim must be supported by the retrieved context. If the context is insufficient to answer the question, the system says so rather than extrapolating.
- It attaches citations — document name, section identifier, and a direct link to the GOV.UK source. The citations appear alongside the answer so you can verify each claim against the original text.
The system also produces a confidence score for each answer. Low confidence does not mean the answer is wrong; it means the retrieved passages only partially address the question, or the rules contain conflicting signals. In those cases, Immigranta will tell you that its confidence is limited and suggest you verify with an official source or a regulated adviser.
On citations. The links in each answer go to live GOV.UK pages — the same pages a caseworker would consult. If an answer cites "Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker, paragraph SW 8.1", you can read that paragraph yourself. If the paragraph says something different from what the answer claims, that is an error we want to know about.
What Immigranta is
An information tool. It reads official UK immigration guidance and explains what it says.
It is useful for:
- Checking whether you meet the headline eligibility criteria for a particular route
- Understanding salary thresholds, qualifying periods, and English language requirements
- Getting a plain-English explanation of a section of the Immigration Rules
- Understanding what documents an application typically requires
- Following up on a specific paragraph or requirement you encountered in official guidance
The citations mean you can treat Immigranta as a research starting point, not just a black box. If an answer points you to Appendix Skilled Worker, you can read Appendix Skilled Worker. The tool is designed to make the rules more navigable, not to replace them.
What Immigranta is not
Immigranta is not a solicitor, a barrister, or a regulated immigration adviser. It does not provide legal advice. This distinction is not a technicality buried in terms and conditions — it is a meaningful difference in what you are receiving.
A regulated immigration adviser reads your actual circumstances: your travel history, your current leave, the specific wording of a refusal letter, the facts of your family situation. They apply professional judgment to your case and take responsibility for that advice under a regulatory framework — the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) for advisers, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for solicitors, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) for barristers. If their advice is wrong and causes you harm, there is a complaints process and, in some cases, professional liability.
Immigranta cannot:
- Read your documents or your immigration history
- Apply the rules to your specific circumstances
- Predict how a Home Office caseworker will exercise discretion
- Advise you on whether to apply, when to apply, or how to present your case
- Represent you in an appeal or administrative review
- Take professional responsibility for any recommendation
This matters most when the stakes are high. Settlement applications, out-of-time applications, refusals, overstay situations, sponsorship compliance failures, and indefinite leave to remain decisions can have consequences — removal from the UK, re-entry bans, loss of settled status — that are very difficult to reverse. For those situations, the cost of a wrong turn is severe enough that a qualified human adviser is worth the expense.
A note on uncertainty. When Immigranta expresses uncertainty in an answer, that signal is honest. The confidence score reflects a real measurement of how well the retrieved evidence supports the claim — it is not a legal disclaimer. Treat low-confidence answers as a prompt to seek a second opinion.
When you need a regulated adviser
Some situations are well-served by an information tool. Others require professional judgment that no information tool can provide.
An information tool is probably enough if you are in the early stages of understanding a route — checking whether you meet the threshold criteria, understanding what the process involves, or preparing questions to ask an adviser. It is also useful for straightforward, well-established situations where the rules are clear and your circumstances are uncomplicated.
You should speak to a regulated adviser if you are making an application that could affect your ability to remain in or return to the UK; if you have had a previous refusal, a condition breach, or an overstay; if your situation involves family members whose status depends on yours; if your employer's sponsorship licence is under scrutiny; or if you are considering an appeal, judicial review, or other legal challenge.
Finding a regulated adviser
All immigration advisers practising in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland who are not solicitors or barristers must be registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). You can search the register on GOV.UK:
Find a regulated immigration adviser — GOV.UK
The OISC register is organised by competence level: Level 1 covers straightforward applications, Level 2 covers more complex applications and some appeals, Level 3 covers the full range including judicial review and Upper Tribunal proceedings. For complex or high-stakes matters, look for a Level 3 adviser or a solicitor with an immigration accreditation from the Law Society.
Immigration solicitors are regulated by the SRA. The Law Society's Find a Solicitor tool lets you filter for immigration specialists. Barristers practising immigration law are regulated by the BSB.
Be cautious of anyone who is not registered. Providing immigration advice for payment without OISC registration (or solicitor/barrister status) is a criminal offence in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Reporting errors
Immigranta's answers are only as accurate as the sources it has read. Gaps happen — a newly published rule change, a guidance page that updated yesterday, or simply a question the system hasn't handled well before. If you find an answer that is wrong, outdated, or misleading, please let us know.
The quickest way is the thumbs down button in the chat — it captures the conversation automatically so we can see exactly what was asked and what was returned. Alternatively, you can email hello@ruac.tech with:
- The question you asked
- What the answer said
- What you believe the correct answer to be, with a source if you have one
We read every report. They are genuinely useful — they help us spot where our sources are out of date, where the wrong passages are being matched to a question, and where answers are being drawn too confidently from limited evidence.