Usman Aslam

Born in Pakistan, Mr Aslam had come to Scotland with his parents, Mohammed and Musarat and grew up in Kincardine in Fife.

“I was initially refused British citizenship, which I did subsequently get. However, the process that I had to undergo was quite humiliating – as was the treatment that I saw other immigrants receive during the process to become people who, as immigrants, have been the backbone of the UK.

That “appalling” experience, he recalls, inspired him to practice in an area of the law in which he is happy to describe himself as “The Home Office’s worst nightmare”.

After graduating from the University of Glasgow, Mr Aslam initially worked at immigration lawyers McGlashan McKay in the city, then Rea Law Ltd before joining Mukhtar & Co Solicitors, founded by Tuyub Mukhtar, three years ago.

“Mr Mukhtar specialised in mental health law and immigration & asylum law and aware of my interest in these areas, approached me to join the firm,” says Mr Aslam. For a relative newcomer, the firm has made a significant impression on highlighting the challenges it confronts to the wider public.

“I’ve often been asked by BBC Radio Scotland to talk about the issue of negative social media – fake news in fact,” he says. The team at Mukhtar & Co also engaged in filming with STV and the BBC on how differences to the law can be influenced and the firm has, he says, produced some “unbelievable results”.

“It’s an area of the law that can mean the difference between seeing a member of your family again – or not. And it’s sometimes literally the difference between life and death,” he stresses and is highly critical of the Home Office’s attitude regarding reuniting families.

Several of the cases in which he’s been involved have gained some prominence in the professional and general press. For example, the firm has helped Youssef Mikhaiel, an Egyptian student with a rare genetic disorder to win the right to stay in the UK.  This involved seeking the relevant court order to stop the removal flight and make representations to the Home Office which granted him the right to stay on medical grounds.

He also recounts the first case that landed on his desk of a Syrian journalist who wanted to reunite with his family, highlighting what he says describes as the Home Office’s “perverse” policies.

“This gentleman had two children under and three who were just over 18 and were told that the three daughters over 18 had to remain in a war zone as only the spouse and two children qualified to come here,” says Mr Aslam.

This was the first of several successful court appeals pertaining to reunited various family, whether they were over 18-year-olds, siblings, grandparents, nieces, nephews, uncles and aunts.

The highlight of his career so far, he recalls, was the case he presented before the Upper Tribunal which overturned the previous Law on Article 8 ECHR. That case is Al Hassan (Article 8, entry clearance, KF (Syria)) [2024] UKUT 00234 which involves the reunification of a Syrian national with her siblings, nieces and nephews.

He has been a committed supporter of the Refugees (Family Reunion) Bill initiated in 2018 by SNP MP Angus McNeil and introduced in September 2024, to remove some of the financial and bureaucratic barriers to achieving these reunions.

Mr Aslam explains that he took time out of his normal work pattern to travel around different parts of the UK persuading people to vote for the bill – and offers pro bono work to some refugee charities, as well as visiting refugee camps abroad – including in Iraq and Lebanon – to offer help.

As in all other areas of the law, the firm is adapting to change. “In 2025 the UK government’s focus is on bringing down net migration figures; however, in the UK it’s accepted that there is a shortage of workers.

“So, we are expecting a lot more requirement for compliance regarding what are known as sponsorship licences in cases where a company wants to employ someone with a particular skill from overseas.”

He anticipates some difficulties in this: “The government has – correctly – introduced the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill [to enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for disabled people and ethnic minorities].

“This could be problematic because sponsored people – ie, those who are being brought from abroad – and non-sponsored people who are already here would then have the same salary. As The Home Office has increased the threshold for what people from abroad should be paid, I don’t think this will work.”

He adds: “An additional problem is that it’s not just the increased fees in applying for visas, but also the increase in minimum income requirements for bringing a spouse over which has the potential to drive people apart.”

One of the major challenges Mr Aslam faces is “challenging and fighting anti-immigration rhetoric”. This includes social media and its claims about the numbers of people targeting the UK to make asylum claims. The reality, he believes is significantly different.

“Quite simply, nine out of 10 asylum seekers flee their country and go to a neighboring country. In Syria, for example, most asylum seekers go to Jordan, Lebanon or Turkey. Out of that, a tenth will flee to Europe and Italy, Germany, France, Spain – countries that accept far more than we do. Only a tiny trickle end up in the United Kingdom.”

He agrees that holding any political opinion is a right in our society, however much he may disagree with those on the ‘far right’.

“That’s why we live in a democracy. But the spread of fake news surrounding immigration is probably our biggest challenge and we must continue to engage with the public, trying to demonstrate why the job we do is so important.”

It’s a serious agenda but one which Mr Aslam tempers by walking his cocker spaniel Lola and he is a big football fan. Unusually in someone with a Pakistani Muslim heritage, he’s also an avid aficionado of Scotch whisky and has a not insignificant collection of malts. He admits to spending a lot of time on Islay and Jura enjoying the local product.

He’s quick to express gratitude in working for an employer such as Mukhtar & Co Solicitors, which he says has “allowed me to spread my wings and fly” – as well as being extremely accommodating regarding a neurological condition from which he suffers.

He adds that he would have been nowhere nearly as successful without the guidance of fellow firm Drummond Miller, and crucially the brains and support of Andrew Devlin of Themis Advocates, whose skills and expertise he greatly admires. “He’s been a big part of what makes the job fulfilling and he’s inspired me from the day I met him back in 2014.”

As the debate around immigration and asylum law continues to intensify, it’s an area that will require yet more inspiration in the coming years.