My legal life: Olga Nechita, PwC

My parents always had extremely liberal views which at times felt out of place growing up in a post-Soviet Union era. Despite poverty and family struggles, basic human rights were enshrined in my values during my upbringing. Everyone believed I would become a humanitarian doctor when I got involved with UNHCR during my first year at medical school. Through my experience with them I realised my true vocation would be to become a lawyer. 

I pursued a legal qualification in the Republic of Moldova and qualified as an international and human rights lawyer. My legal journey brought me to the UK, where I initially arrived to learn English. I secured a small scholarship to cross-qualify at the University of Glamorgan, which is now part of the University of South Wales. I will always remain indebted to a very generous local couple who took me under their wing during my financial struggles as a young aspiring lawyer in a foreign country. It would take me another few years of voluntary work at a high street legal practice in Cardiff before I was able to secure my training contract and finally qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales.

I always used my language skills to support myself while pursuing my legal career, such as translating for refugees in detention. Their struggles and my own immigration journey made me pursue immigration law.

I first joined PwC UK in the private client immigration department in 2011. I was fascinated by their international reach, integrated services and investment in people. I had no doubt that I would be able to work on a variety of interesting and complex cross-border projects. I left PwC for a while to pursue a career in a private law firm and at another Big Four firm before returning to PwC. The decision to return was easy and driven by the opportunities that PwC offers through their policies and values.

'I will always remain indebted to a very generous local couple who took me under their wing during my financial struggles as a young aspiring lawyer in a foreign country'

I now lead the private client and private business immigration department. Working at PwC has allowed me to pursue my interests and specialise in a range of visa and nationality-strategic support, as well as complex cross-border immigration consultancy projects for high-net-worth individuals, their families and multinational businesses. I play a key role in advising on the implications of Brexit and consult regularly with Home Office policymakers and industry representative bodies on immigration policy development. The type of work I usually do requires provision of innovative and bespoke solutions. I am particularly proud of discretionary visa applications outside of the immigration rules, such as exceptional in-country applications for individuals unable to return to their countries of origin due to fear of persecution.

I also have a keen interest in promoting the economic benefits of migration. I have regularly tried to work with the Home Office and other stakeholders on optimising the immigration rules, providing evidence on the benefits for changes to the visa options available to international investors and entrepreneurs with the aim to attract inward investment into the UK. Most recently, I contributed to the inquiry held on citizenship policy – ‘Barriers to Britishness’ led by British Future – which examined the aims of the British citizenship policy.  

Working for a large professional services firm is very different to working in private practice. Especially working for PwC, which has one of the largest legal services networks by geographical coverage with a presence in over 95 territories. During my time here, I have been able to drive my own specialist private client and private business immigration practice while looking after my own development as a professional in the legal sector.

I am now entering another period of change following the acquisition of PwC global mobility and immigration practice by CD&R. This will create a new freestanding global mobility and immigration international practice. With this change coming into effect this year, I look forward to being part of the new global platform focused on a seamless cross-border experience, while accelerating investment in technology and new immigration services for my clients.