QWE confirmation overseas: getting legal work abroad confirmed
Published by FQPS Academy, which also offers QWE confirmation. Every rule below links to the SRA page it comes from.
Does QWE abroad count?
Yes. The SRA says QWE can be gained in England or Wales or overseas, and it does not need to cover English and Welsh law. You will need that law for the SQE assessments, but you do not have to learn it at work. Overseas work has to meet the same tests as any other QWE.
The tests your overseas experience has to meet
- It involved providing legal services: advice, assistance or representation on how the law applies or on resolving a legal dispute.
- It was real-life legal work. Simulated legal services do not count.
- It gave you the chance to develop at least two of the competences in the Statement of Solicitor Competence.
- It took place in no more than four organisations in all, counting any in England and Wales.
- It adds up to at least two years full time or equivalent.
- It is confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP.
It can be paid or voluntary, and the organisation does not have to be one the SRA regulates. The SRA will not tell you whether your own role counts, so work through its questions first, or try ours: Free QWE checker.
Sources: SRA: Qualifying work experience for candidates (updated 26 January 2024); SRA: Recording your qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023); SRA guidance: Solicitors and COLPs confirming qualifying work experience (updated 29 September 2021); Legal Services Act 2007, section 12
Who can confirm overseas QWE?
Regulation 2.2 of the SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations applies to every organisation you worked in, in any country. Its COLP or a solicitor of England and Wales working in it confirms. Only if it has neither can a solicitor of England and Wales outside it confirm.
| Your situation | Who confirms | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| A solicitor of England and Wales works in the organisation | That solicitor, or the organisation’s COLP if it has one. | An outside solicitor cannot confirm, even if the solicitor there is slow or refuses. |
| Your supervisor is qualified locally and is also a solicitor of England and Wales | Your supervisor. | They are a solicitor working within the organisation, so regulation 2.2(b) applies. |
| The solicitor who supervised you has left, or you have | They can still confirm the period they reviewed your work for. | For work you did after they left, they also need feedback from the person who supervised you then. Another solicitor of England and Wales in the organisation, or its COLP, can confirm instead. |
| Only lawyers qualified locally: no COLP and no solicitor of England and Wales | A solicitor of England and Wales outside the organisation, who has direct experience of your work. | Only after reviewing your work for the period and getting feedback from the people who supervised you. |
| You are a qualified lawyer, admitted to practise abroad | Nobody: QWE does not apply to you. | You pass SQE1 and SQE2, or are exempted, and meet the other admission requirements. |
A lawyer qualified only in another country cannot confirm your QWE unless they are also a solicitor of England and Wales, or are the organisation’s COLP. The SRA cannot accept confirmation from any other qualified lawyer or barrister unless they are also a solicitor or COLP it regulates. Regulation 2.2 does not require the person who supervised you to be a solicitor, and an outside solicitor needs feedback from the people who supervised you.
Regulation 2.2 looks to the organisation’s COLP and to a solicitor working within the organisation, not to an office. If you worked in an overseas office of a firm that has a COLP or solicitors of England and Wales elsewhere, for example in London, ask the firm who will confirm. If the office is part of that organisation, its COLP or one of those solicitors confirms, and an outside solicitor, FQPS included, cannot.
Sources: SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, regulation 2; SRA: Recording your qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023); SRA: Qualifying work experience questions and answers (updated 3 October 2023)
Can a solicitor of England and Wales in the overseas firm confirm my QWE?
Yes. If a solicitor of England and Wales works in the organisation where you worked abroad, they or its COLP confirm your QWE. Any solicitor on the roll of England and Wales counts, wherever they practise, and the SRA says they do not need a practising certificate.
Find out who can confirm
Ask your supervisor or HR whether anyone in the organisation is a solicitor of England and Wales, including lawyers who are also qualified locally.
Agree it with them first
Make sure they know they will be asked to confirm your QWE before you apply. The SRA contacts them once you submit.
Share your records
Give them your training diary or portfolio for the period. The SRA says a solicitor can state what evidence they need to see before confirming.
Record it in mySRA
Record each completed period as a separate application, with their name and SRA number. They confirm it in their own mySRA account.
If they will not confirm, regulation 2.2 still does not let an outside solicitor step in, because the organisation has a solicitor. The SRA’s steps for a refusal are in our guide: Employer won’t sign off your QWE? Every step in mySRA: How to get your QWE signed off.
Sources: SRA: Qualifying work experience for candidates (updated 26 January 2024); SRA: Recording your qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023); SRA: Dealing with a refusal to confirm qualifying work experience (updated 19 February 2025); SRA Glossary: overseas, solicitor
QWE confirmation overseas when there is no COLP and no solicitor of England and Wales
In a local law firm, in-house legal team or NGO abroad, every lawyer may be qualified locally. Where the organisation has no COLP and no solicitor of England and Wales, a solicitor of England and Wales outside it who has direct experience of your work can confirm your QWE, once they have reviewed the work you did for the period and received feedback from the people who supervised you. That is what our QWE confirmation by a solicitor is for.
An outside solicitor can confirm overseas QWE only if the organisation where you did the work has no COLP and no solicitor of England and Wales working in it.
An initial guidance call
Your designated solicitor talks your overseas experience through with you and tells you honestly whether it is likely to count. If they find you are not ready, you get a full refund.
Review and supervisor feedback
They review your work for the period, from your training diary or portfolio, and get feedback from the people who supervised you abroad, as regulation 2.2 requires.
Confirmation in mySRA
You record the period in mySRA and name our solicitor, who, if satisfied, confirms it in their own mySRA account. In our experience, the SRA notifies you of the outcome often within 24 hours of the solicitor confirming. From £275.
If you are not sure which route applies to you, book a free 30-minute call and we will talk it through with you.
Source: SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, regulation 2
How does the solicitor get feedback from a supervisor abroad?
Regulation 2.2 requires an outside solicitor to receive feedback from the person or persons who supervised your work. It does not say how. The SRA’s guidance for firms accepts that supervision itself can happen in person, remotely or in a hybrid way.
Brief your supervisor first
Tell them a solicitor will contact them and why, and send a one-page summary of your dates, role, main matters and competences. Offer two or three call times in their local time, naming the time zone.
Agree the language
If your supervisor is not comfortable discussing your work in English, tell the solicitor early and agree how the feedback will be given.
Get the main points in writing
Whether the feedback is a call or an email, ask your supervisor to confirm the main points in writing, with their name, role and contact details.
Protect client confidentiality
Remove client names and confidential details from any work you share, and check your employer’s rules on sending documents outside the firm.
These are practical suggestions, not SRA rules. The solicitor confirming your QWE decides what evidence they need to be satisfied. An outside solicitor must also receive feedback from the people who supervised you.
Sources: SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, regulation 2; SRA guidance: Meeting our standards for good qualifying work experience (updated 5 November 2026)
Do lawyers qualified abroad need QWE?
No. The SRA says qualified lawyers do not need two years’ qualifying work experience, and that QWE does not apply to UK or overseas qualified lawyers who want to become solicitors of England and Wales. Regulation 3.1 sets out what they need, and QWE is not part of it.
For the SRA, a qualified lawyer holds a professional legal qualification that gives rights to practise in England and Wales or in another jurisdiction. Regulation 3.1 starts there: the SRA must recognise that qualification. To apply for an SQE exemption, you must already have been admitted in the jurisdiction you rely on.
What else a qualified lawyer needs
A degree or equivalent
A degree in any subject, or a qualification or experience the SRA accepts as equivalent.
SQE1 and SQE2, or an exemption
You pass both unless the SRA exempts you, because of your qualification or experience, from SQE2, SQE1, or FLK1 or FLK2 of SQE1. It will not exempt you from a part you have taken and failed.
Character and suitability
You pass the SRA’s background checks and meet its character and suitability requirements.
English or Welsh
You show you are proficient in English or Welsh. Passing SQE2 is one way to do it.
Applying for an SQE2 exemption
If you hold a law degree from abroad but not a professional legal qualification that gives you rights to practise there, you are not a qualified lawyer for these rules. You take the SQE route like any other candidate, and your overseas legal work can count as QWE if it meets the tests above. Check what the SRA has decided for your qualification in our SQE2 exemption finder by jurisdiction, or read SQE exemptions for foreign lawyers.
Sources: SRA: Qualified lawyers (updated 14 October 2025); SRA: Employers and qualifying work experience (updated 19 February 2025); SRA: Approach to qualified lawyers seeking admission (June 2024); SRA: Applying for an SQE2 exemption (updated 27 October 2026); SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, regulations 3.1 to 3.3
What records to gather for international QWE
The solicitor confirming your QWE has to satisfy themselves about the period and the work, and can tell you what evidence they need. For work abroad, gather it while you still can: the SRA accepts that a solicitor may not be able to confirm QWE where no records are available.
Your QWE record
A training diary or portfolio showing what you did and which competences it gave you the chance to develop. The SRA’s training template is optional.
Proof of dates and hours
Your contract, offer letter or a letter from HR with your start and end dates and whether you worked full or part time. mySRA asks for both.
Your job description
It shows the role involved legal services. The SRA mentions a job description as one way a solicitor can check a past role.
Work samples, redacted
Advice notes, letters, research or drafts you prepared, with client names and confidential details removed.
Your supervisors’ details
Name, role, email, phone number and time zone for each person who supervised you, and whether any of them is a solicitor of England and Wales.
Appraisals and feedback
Reviews, one-to-one notes or emails commenting on your work. The SRA’s guidance asks firms it regulates to keep records of supervision arrangements and, where appropriate, significant feedback.
We found no SRA rule on the language of QWE records. The solicitor confirming your QWE has to satisfy themselves about your work, so they may ask for English translations of key documents, such as your contract, job description and supervisor feedback. The certified translation rule we found is on the SRA’s SQE exemption application page; its QWE pages do not mention one.
Keep it all in one place with our QWE record template, which has a filled-in example for each competence.
Sources: SRA: Qualifying work experience for candidates (updated 26 January 2024); SRA: Recording your qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023); SRA guidance: Solicitors and COLPs confirming qualifying work experience (updated 29 September 2021); SRA guidance: Meeting our standards for good qualifying work experience (updated 5 November 2026); SRA: Applying for an SQE2 exemption (updated 27 October 2026)
Overseas QWE: common questions
Can QWE count at a foreign firm the SRA does not regulate?
Yes. The SRA says QWE can be obtained in an organisation it regulates or in one it does not, in England and Wales or overseas. The work still has to meet the same tests as any other QWE.
Can a lawyer qualified in another country confirm my QWE?
Only if they are also a solicitor of England and Wales, or are the organisation’s COLP. The SRA cannot accept confirmation from any other qualified lawyer or barrister unless they are also a solicitor or COLP it regulates.
My supervisor abroad is not a solicitor of England and Wales. Who confirms my QWE?
If the organisation has a COLP or any solicitor of England and Wales, they confirm. If it has neither, a solicitor of England and Wales outside it who has direct experience of your work can confirm, after reviewing your work and getting feedback from the people who supervised you. Regulation 2.2 does not require the person who supervised you to be a solicitor.
Can I combine overseas and UK work for my two years of QWE?
Yes, as long as the total is at least two years full time or equivalent and comes from no more than four organisations. Each organisation’s period is confirmed separately, by the right person for that organisation.
Does overseas QWE need to cover English and Welsh law?
No. The SRA says QWE does not need to cover English and Welsh law. You need that knowledge for the SQE assessments, but you do not have to gain it through your work experience.
Do my QWE documents need to be in English?
We found no SRA rule that says so. The solicitor confirming has to satisfy themselves about your work, so they may ask for English translations of key documents. Exemption applications are different: there the SRA requires certified translations.
What if I cannot reach my old supervisor abroad?
If an outside solicitor is confirming, they need feedback from the people who supervised you, so try each of them for that period. The SRA accepts that a solicitor may not be able to confirm QWE, for example where no records are available.
Can FQPS confirm QWE I did abroad?
Yes, if the organisation where you did the work has no COLP and no solicitor of England and Wales working in it. If it has either, they should confirm instead. Otherwise one of our solicitors reviews your work, gets feedback from the people who supervised you and, if satisfied, confirms it in mySRA, from £275.
The SRA rules and guidance, read on 8 November 2026: SRA: Qualifying work experience for candidates (updated 26 January 2024); SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, regulation 2; SRA: Recording your qualifying work experience (updated 12 April 2023); SRA: Qualifying work experience questions and answers (updated 3 October 2023); SRA: Dealing with a refusal to confirm qualifying work experience (updated 19 February 2025); SRA: Employers and qualifying work experience (updated 19 February 2025); SRA guidance: Solicitors and COLPs confirming qualifying work experience (updated 29 September 2021); SRA guidance: Meeting our standards for good qualifying work experience (updated 5 November 2026); SRA: Qualified lawyers (updated 14 October 2025); SRA: Approach to qualified lawyers seeking admission (June 2024); SRA: Applying for an SQE2 exemption (updated 27 October 2026); SRA Glossary: overseas, solicitor; Legal Services Act 2007, section 12. More on who confirms: Who can confirm QWE?
No COLP and no solicitor of England and Wales where you worked abroad?
One of our solicitors reviews your work, gets feedback from the people who supervised you abroad and, if satisfied, confirms your QWE in mySRA, where the rules allow a solicitor outside your organisation to do it. Unlimited support, and a full refund if they find you are not ready.
More on getting your QWE confirmed
No COLP or solicitor where you did your QWE? An FQPS solicitor reviews your work, speaks to your supervisor and, if satisfied, confirms it in mySRA.
The SRA rule on who confirms: the COLP, a solicitor where you worked, or an outside solicitor only if there is neither.
Getting QWE signed off in mySRA, step by step: what to prepare, what the solicitor checks and how long it takes.
What to do when your firm refuses to confirm, your supervisor has left, or there is no solicitor to sign off.
A free QWE record template with a filled-in example for each competence, in Word and PDF.
Paralegal and legal assistant work can count as QWE. Who signs it off, and what to do if your firm has no COLP and no solicitor.
Check your work against the SRA’s QWE questions in two minutes, and see who can confirm it.
