Katie is a Partner in the Immigration department and heads up the private client team within the department. She has worked in UK immigration law for over 15 years and is celebrated as a leading practitioner for high-net-worth individuals, families and globally mobile clients.
Areas of Expertise
Katie’s practice encompasses the full spectrum of individual immigration matters, including:
- Family and relationship-based immigration — advising on spouse and partner applications, family settlement, nationality registration, and complex international surrogacy and adoption matters where immigration intersects with family law.
- Nationality, EU-based rights and global mobility — guiding clients through British citizenship, registration, the EU Settlement Scheme and long-term international relocation.
- Immigration and criminality — advising individuals with historic or recent criminal convictions on UK entry, residence and the impact of the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) regime, including specialist work in the entertainment and sports sectors.
- High-net-worth and entrepreneur immigration solutions — assisting business leaders, investors and global talent applicants, with a particular focus on the Global Talent visa.
- Working with the firm’s international protection team to advise clients on asylum, humanitarian protection and human rights based claims.
Selected Matters & Client Focus
Katie is regularly called upon to handle high-stakes immigration cases for HNW individuals, international families and clients whose circumstances require bespoke strategic thinking. Her pragmatic approach to sensitive or unusual immigration issues has resulted in complex successful outcomes.
Thought Leadership & Media
Katie is a recognised thought leader in individual immigration law. She contributes regularly to specialist publications, authors blogs on historic-criminal-conviction and visa issues, and co-authored a chapter for Resolution on immigration for family-lawyers. Her recent media commentary includes features in Spears and Travel & Tour World on the ETA scheme. She delivers training to legal professionals on surrogacy and adoption immigration issues, and speaks at conferences including AIJA and ThoughtLeaders4 (TL4).
Professional Recognition
Katie is ranked in Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Spears, and Citywealth.
Memberships & Advocacy
Katie is a long-standing and active member of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) and engages in policy and lobbying work aimed at modernising the UK immigration system. She brings both practitioner insight and strategic advocacy to her role.
What clients and directories have said
Katie Newbury is a very competent practitioner. She is both reliable and hard-working."
Chambers and Partners, High Net Worth, 2025
She is very calm and smart, with very good judgement."
Chambers and Partners, 2025
Katie Newbury is outstanding. She is really knowledgeable and at the top of her game, offering practical and strategic advice as well as day-to-day client care."
Legal 500, 2025
Katie is super knowledgeable."
Chambers and Partners, High Net Worth Guide 2024
Katie Newbury is very experienced, diligent and personable. She has an experienced, quick-thinking, entrepreneurial approach."
Chambers and Partners, High Net Worth Guide 2024
Katie is a great technical lawyer."
Chambers and Partners, High Net Worth Guide 2023
Katie is excellent with standout knowledge and commitment."
Chambers and Partners, High Net Worth Guide 2023
Katie Newbury is incredibly passionate and extremely bright."
Legal 500 UK 2020
Katie Newbury is very knowledgeable across the spectrum."
Legal 500 UK 2020
Katie specialises in complex and challenging personal immigration instructions, such as applications for Tier 1 applications, nationality and human rights matters, as well as international surrogacy and adoption issues."
Legal 500 UK, 2019
Katie is establishing a strong reputation in the field for being “very, very good on the immigration side of international surrogacy and international adoption."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide, 2019
She’s very impressive, knowledgeable and hard-working."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide, 2019
Her input into the academic sphere does not go unnoticed, as peers recognise that the “articles and blogs she puts up illustrate her capabilities,” demonstrating that she “always has interesting and impressive points to say."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide
Professional societies and Memberships
- Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA)
- Law Society
- AIJA (Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats / Association of young lawyers)
- Listed as a Citywealth Leader in Immigration
Talks, interviews and articles published
Katie regularly gives talks, writes on immigration law matters, and is quoted in the media, including:
- New Eta Travel Requirement for Visitors to the United Kingdom - National Law Review, January 2025
- US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and 43 other countries face new ETA requirements before traveling to the UK from January 8: What more you need to know? The Travel and Tour World, January 2025
- Government gets to work on 40 bills - New Law Journal, July 2024
- Positive reaction to Keir Starmer's 40-bill agenda for reform - New Law Journal, July 2024
- King's Speech 2024 - Immigration - Lexis UK, July 2024
- Britons with foreign partners rush to beat visa salary rule change - iNews, April 2024 (subscription required)
- Kingsley Napley: Definition of unmarried partner in Appendix FM of Immigration Rules will change this week - electronic immigration network, February 2024
- UK Business Immigration: what to expect in 2024 - New Law Journal, January 2024
- Government announces major changes to legal immigration, raising minimum skilled worker salary and income requirement for spouse visa to over £38k. Electronic immigration network, December 2023
- Insights into UK Immigration - PCD Group, December 2023
- 'Don't fall in love with someone foreign': How new UK immigration rules could tear families apart. Yahoo!news, December 2023
- Regular presenter of training on Alternative Ways of becoming a parent with MBL
- BBC Radio 5 Live ‘Wake up to Money’ on the increased UKVI fees in July 2023
- AIJA joint Labour and Immigration and M&A Seminar in New York on global migration beyond the crisis June 2023
- TL4 Private Client Non Dom Tax session on immigration options and strategies for non-doms in May 2023
- IBA Webinar on Electronic Travel Authorisation in May 2023
- How The Uk Visa Scheme Expansion May Plug Labor Gaps, Law360, August 2023
- IBA Biennial Global Immigration Conference on a panel looking at the world in crisis in December 2022
- KN International Protection summit in November 2022
- KN Routes to Parenthood seminar in September 2022
- Seen & heard - 86% were granted asylum or another form of leave, Law Society Gazette digital magazine, September 2022
- Westminster Forum Projects conference on business innovation discussing the challenges of UK immigration in September 2022
- Afghan female judge fleeing Taliban appeals after Home Office refuses UK entry, The Observer, August 2022
- Moderated a panel at the AIJA Seminar on Gender and Inclusivity in International Families in London in June 2022
- Moderated a panel at KN for London Tech Week looking at underrepresented founders in tech in June 2022
- Legal 500 Legalease podcast regarding Ukraine, displacement and immigration in 2022
- Webinar in association with Queen Mary University School of Law ‘Are women asylum seekers made vulnerable by UK asylum procedures’ in February 2022
- BBC Newsnight to discuss the Nationality and Border Bill in December 2021
- Moderated the labour and immigration law session at the hybrid AIJA annual congress in August 2021 on working from anywhere
- Covid-19: doctors’ visas are automatically extended for one year, The BMJ, 2 April 2020
- International student urges Government to backdate visa reforms, This is Local London, 11 September 2019
- Law Commission proposals could transform international surrogacy, Free Movement, 11 June 2019
- UK Visa 180 day rule changes, The American Magazine, April 2018
- International surrogacy - the legal challenges for US nationals bringing a surrogate child to the UK, The American Magazine, April 2018
- UK Immigration Authorities complete a ‘180’ on absences from the UK, The American Magazine, April 2018
- Brexit Unspun Podcast - Katie, alongside the FT's public policy correspondent, discusses who will have the right to remain after Brexit, Financial Times, 6 November 2017
- AIJA's 55th Young Lawyers' Congress in Tokyo, August 2017
- Telling Stories, Not Statistics, TEDxYouth talk, June 2017
- Why Though? My thoughts on Retaining the Net Migration Target - HuffPost, 12 May 2017
- Mrs May Speech Leaves EU Citizens in Limbo, HuffPost, 19 January 2017
- Katie reflects on the impact of the UK’s recent & future hostile migration environment, New Law Journal, July 2016
- Q&A session and presentation on how Brexit may affect French nationals living in the UK, South Kensington in July 2016
- What should EEA citizens living in the UK do next? - LexisPSL Immigration interview, July 2016
- AIJA's Spring Half-Year Conference in Chicago, May 2016
- International surrogacy and the need for specialist advice, LexisPSL Immigration interview, December 2016
- Kingsley Napley's International Families & Investors event titled "Could Brexit spell High Net Worth exit" in July 2015
- Scots Family Law conference in Edinburgh, 2014
- IBC Citizenship by Investment & International Residence Summit in London, 2014
- AIJA's 52nd Congress in Prague, 2014
- Addressing the challenges of overseas surrogacy, LexisPSL Immigration interview, 2013
Further information
Katie read law at Pembroke College, Cambridge and completed her Legal Practice Course with distinction at the College of Law in Bloomsbury. She trained at a niche immigration firm in London before joining Kingsley Napley in January 2012.
