Qualifying as a Foreign Lawyer: the SQE Route

If you are already a lawyer in another jurisdiction, the SQE route to becoming a solicitor of England and Wales is shorter than it is for other candidates: no qualifying work experience, and possibly no SQE2. This free PDF sets out the whole route in order, from your first mySRA application to admission.

Updated October 2026 · checked against the SRA’s qualified lawyer, exemption, screening and admission pages, the SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations and the SQE website on 9 October 2026.

Who counts as a qualified lawyer

The SRA defines a qualified lawyer as someone who holds a professional legal qualification which confers rights to practise in England and Wales or in another jurisdiction. To be admitted you need a degree or an equivalent (an overseas equivalent counts), SQE1, SQE2 or an exemption from it, character and suitability, and proof of English or Welsh. You do not need two years’ qualifying work experience: the SRA recognises your existing qualification and experience.

SQE1 and SQE2 exemptions

If your title is on the SRA’s list and you qualified through that jurisdiction’s full route, you can apply for an agreed exemption. Otherwise you apply individually, with work samples and supervisor references. The SRA decides within 180 days of a complete application. It will not exempt you from an assessment you have failed or are awaiting results for, so apply before you sit. For exemptions in depth, see our SQE for foreign lawyers page, the SQE exemptions guide and the SQE2 exemption finder by jurisdiction.

Sitting the SQE from abroad

SQE1 and the SQE2 written tests run at Pearson VUE centres in the UK and in many countries, though the SQE2 written tests are not offered in the USA, Canada, New Zealand or Central and South America, and no SQE assessment runs in Ukraine, Belarus or Russia. The SQE2 orals are in person in England and Wales. You must pass SQE1 before SQE2, you have three attempts at each part, and six years from your first assessment to pass everything.

Degree, English and screening

• Degree: Atlantic Data checks an overseas degree against UK level 6 through mySRA.
• English or Welsh: passing SQE2 proves it. If you are exempt from SQE2, use the same qualification if it was assessed in English or Welsh, or an approved test such as IELTS Academic UKVI at 7.5, no more than three years old.
• Screening: the checks depend on where you lived for 12 continuous months in the last five years. Results must be no more than six months old when you apply for admission.

What is inside the PDF

• Who counts as a qualified lawyer, and the route on one page
• SQE1 and SQE2 exemptions, a decision tree and what the SRA rejects
• Sitting the SQE from abroad, with 2026 to 2027 dates and rules
• The degree check and the English or Welsh requirement
• Character and suitability, and which screening checks you need
• Admission, the practising certificate and certificates of good standing
• A worked timeline, a costs table, eight quick cases and a route checklist

Frequently asked questions