Yuichi Sekine

Yuichi Sekine is a Partner, head of the Business Immigration team in the UK, and a member of Bird & Bird's International HR Services Group. He is a native speaker, reader and writer of Japanese. His primary practice area is Immigration Law.

He leads the UK Business Immigration practice, advising employers on the strategic management of international talent across global workforces. Working with FTSE 100 companies, multinational corporations and high-growth businesses, he helps organisations navigate complex immigration requirements, manage regulatory risk and support their broader business objectives through effective workforce mobility strategies.

As a dual-qualified UK and US lawyer, he brings an international perspective to cross-border talent and mobility issues. His clients span a broad range of sectors, including aerospace, pharmaceuticals, financial services, energy, retail, technology, media, telecommunications and the creative industries.

He advises on all aspects of UK business immigration, including Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility visas, sponsor licence strategy and compliance, right to work requirements, business visitor issues, settlement applications, European immigration matters, corporate restructurings and Home Office enforcement action. He regularly supports clients through compliance audits, investigations and civil penalty matters, and a significant part of his practice involves advising on the immigration aspects of international expansion, cross-border transactions and global mobility programmes.

Before moving to London in 2010, he spent nearly a decade as a business litigator in Los Angeles with a global disputes practice. Between 2010 and 2013, he worked at a major consultancy firm, where he expanded the immigration services provided to Japanese corporate clients and delivered training programmes and immigration briefings to assignees, HR professionals and senior executives.

Prior to joining Bird & Bird, he practised at a leading Chambers-ranked immigration firm in London and spent a year on full-time secondment at a multinational investment bank and financial services group, advising senior stakeholders on UK immigration and global mobility matters.