A Word from the Consultant

 

2018 September         Difference between Immigration Consultant and Lawyer

The following categories of professionals are legitimate paid representatives under Immigration and Refugee Protection Act S91 of Canada:

1. a member in good standing of a law society of a province
2. a member in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec
3. a member in good standing of Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC)

All these three categories of professionals are allowed to represent the applicants dealing with Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) as well as represent the applicants to appear in hearings of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) on appeal cases. However, when it comes to judicial review to Federal Court on refusal cases, only a lawyer can represent the applicant.

Who should you retain, an Immigration Consultant or Lawyer? I would like to share a case with you.  Many customers misunderstand that people offering immigration services are lawyers.  When customers call me lawyer, I will explain to them seriously and patiently that I am an Immigration Consultant, not a lawyer.  A lady contacted us last year and would like to sponsor her little daughter for permanent residence.  The lawyer she intended to retain was away for vacation therefore she came to us.  She also misunderstood that I was a lawyer.  After I clarified with her, the lady concluded that she did not need to go elsewhere for a lawyer.  She was impressed of my honesty and integrity to tell her the truth.  She was confident that I was reliable and she would not be cheated.  She finally retained our service and we succeed to get permanent resident status for her daughter this month.

Thus, whether lawyer or not is not the key.  As far as the one is legally registered and is competent to help you, that may be your right representative.  Another significant point worth mentioning is, service quality amongst Immigration Consultants may vary, same for Lawyers.  So, for your best interest as a customer, you are highly recommended to shop around before you decide to retain the one who can gain your trust and confidence.

 

2017 December     Why you need a Consultant?

Many customers have the same doubt that if they know English and how to fill out the form, why bother to pay for service by Immigration Consultants and Lawyers? It is fair enough for customers to have this doubt, but why still so many people (particularly those native born and from English speaking countries) still retain service of Immigration Consultants and Lawyers?  The point is not just you know how to fill the form and English or not!

If what you need is simply filling out the form, yes you do not need a professional consultant or lawyer, you may only need a capable clerk at high school level. You neither need a consultant or lawyer if everything is fine simply following information in the instruction guide.  It is true that there are considerable simple and straight forward applications are done by applicants themselves with success.  However, this does not imply that every application is simple, straight forward and will be successful.  You still need professional advice and assistance in many situations.

No matter how good is your English and how competent is your clerical skills, the best experience you have may be just from one or two applications. Every case is unique, no matter how perfect the forms are designed and how comprehensive the instruction guide is written, they are so generic that will not be able to suit specific circumstances of each and every applicant.  Professional consultants and lawyers handle immigration related cases every day, they possess good knowledge in legislative requirement and are experienced in dealing with the responsible government authorities.  A competent consultant or lawyer will give you professional advice as well as assistance to include necessary information and documents in addition to the standard forms and checklist to make it a good application.  So, be clear that the key services provided by consultants and lawyers are their professional knowledge and experience which is more than paperwork.

What is the difference between Immigration Consultant and Immigration Lawyer? This will be shared in next article.

 

2017 September         How I started

During my human resources management career in Canada, I witnessed many foreign students and workers who were unable to obtain proper guidance and assistance when encountered with issues on immigration or visa application.  Without any professional training and qualification, I could only sympathize with them.  It was not until I took the opportunity to enroll in the Immigration Consultant program that I entered the field myself and have since been able to lend a helping hand to the others.

As a matter of fact, immigration consulting is easy to deceive people. (Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean it is a deceptive industry.) Clients pay a fee in exchange for a chance and hope for success.  As long as they are told ” Yes, you can” or “No problem”, clients will be willing to spend hundreds and thousands, and in many cases, end up losing both their money and their status.

An immigration consultant cannot guarantee a positive result from an application whatsoever because the decision lies in the hands of the authority.  The Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council therefore stipulates that an immigration consultant can only charge the customers based on their service provided, not on the results of the application.  Be cautious when someone promises no service fee or there will be refund upon unsuccessful application, an indication that they are either unlicensed or going against a professional regulation, which is different from compensation made to clients when the application is rejected due to mistakes or negligence of the immigration consultant.

To handle every case with our best effort and integrity is the core value of Rockies Immigration.  Every customer is different.  There are some who will not take any action without absolute certainty while others will take the slightest chance.  We are here to offer honest advice to every customer’s unique situations.  Based on the pros and cons of every possible approach derived from our analysis, customers can make an informative decision according to their circumstances.