Alex Piletska
Senior Associate

Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law

Alex Piletska has a wealth of experience in private immigration and is able to advise on a wide range of cases, including family and human rights applications, as well as skilled work migration. She has a particular interest in complex citizenship and nationality cases, vanishingly tricky Adult Dependent Relative applications, Judicial Review and technical procedural issues like validity and variations.

Alex is on the distinguished Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law. She is a Correspondent writing popular explainers on human rights, personal and family immigration, as well as important developments in skilled and business immigration for Free Movement, the immigration lawyer’s bible, and sits on the panel of experts for immigration and the Q&A panel at LexisNexis.

She is a Correspondent covering everything from personal, family and skilled migration to business immigration for Free Movement, the immigration lawyer’s bible, and has written popular explainers for them on most major developments in UK immigration law since she started writing for them in 2019.

Alex is a co-founder of the award-winning Ukraine Advice Project UK, a non-profit initiative set up to link qualified lawyer volunteers to Ukrainians affected by the conflict seeking free legal immigration and asylum advice. The pro bono project won multiple awards, signed up more than 600 lawyers and helped more than 4,000 families escaping the conflict.

After studying English at the University of Cambridge, Alex was awarded a First in her Cognitive Psychology BA at the Open University, before completing an MSc in Experimental Psychology at the University of Sussex in 2014. Alex was awarded a Merit in her Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) at the University of Sussex, where her freelance writing career began.

Alex previously worked at Turpin Miller LLP from 2017 to 2025, where she qualified as a solicitor in August 2020. She simultaneously completed her LLM (LPC) with the University of Law, achieving a Distinction (80%). Alex was promoted to Joint Head of the Private Immigration team before leaving to join Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law working across all UK immigration and nationality law matters in September 2025.

She is ranked an “associate to watch” (Human Rights, Asylum and Deportation) in Chambers and Partners 2023, 2024 and 2025. She was also ranked as an EDI (‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’) Champion in 2023 and 2024; and she is ranked in the Legal 500 as a “key lawyer” in 2024 and 2025.

Alex is a keen mushroom forager, she loves to read and she never says no to a game of D&D.

Recent articles posted by Alex Piletska

British citizenship

Alex Piletska comments in Lacuna Magazine

Alex Piletska comments in article on Ukrainian immigrants losing UK settlement option
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Home Secretary

Alex Piletska writes in Free Movement

Alex Piletska analyses ‘earned settlement’ ILR changes in new article
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Royal Courts of Justice CC David Castor

Alex Piletska writes for LexisNexis

Alex Piletska writes Lexis practice notes on Article 3 medical immigration claims
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Shabana Mahmood

by Alex Piletska

Earned settlement: Home Secretary’s ILR changes announced on 2 November 2026
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Alex Piletska immigration lawyer

Alex Piletska writes in Free Movement

Alex Piletska writes new briefing notes on how 3C leave works for Free Movement
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Chambers UK

Vanessa Ganguin, Philip Trott, Ben Maitland, Alex Piletska awarded rankings in the 2027 Chambers UK legal guide

Chambers UK ranks Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law and lawyers higher in 2027 guide
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