One of the things I pride my practice on is the fact I maintain a positive relationship with several immigration consultants across Canada. In fact, in my opinion immigration consultants serve a very valuable role. Many consultants are able to provide services at a more affordable rate than lawyers, can provide services in different languages, and often come from a background (former Government, IRCC, immigrant/refugee, or CBSA) that gives them a unique insight that can be useful for clients.
I have met some amazingly passionate consultants in Vancouver who work in areas ranging from running their own private practice to advising designated-learning institutes. A topic for another blog post but I will post a list down the road.
On the flip side, particularly in the City of Vancouver, there are a lot of very shady and incompetent immigration consultants. Many of whom are either ghost consultants or registered consultants who don’t touch their own work (outsourcing to non-consultant assistants) or were never properly trained in the first place.
Some of the common issues arising from negligent work of unqualified/trained consultants includes the following:
- having applicant’s sign off on forms they have never seen;
- having applicant’s hide or not disclose work history, previous refusals, or criminal records;
- having applicant’s sign off on their own forms (no mention of the consultant) while paying the consultant for their services;
- having the applicant set up with a “friend” of the consultant who happens to have a business that will subsequently “hire” them to give the perception of work;
- recommending the applicant a specific educational program or job without revealing that they are receiving a commission;
- not adequately keeping the client in the loop on what activities have occurred on file including requests for further information;
- recommending that the client make an initial investment or transfer in order to pursue business immigration options (note: all provinces don’t allow for this); and
- not submitting any cover letters or legal bases for applications.
In addition to clients seeing us for the above issues, as immigration lawyers, we pick up a lot of work from consultants who simply have hit a barrier in the process or a fork in the road.
Consultants often call us up after refusals asking us if we can help take on their client and assist them through the appeal, reconsideration, and/or judicial review processes. Qualified consultants can themselves go to appeal and do the reconsideration process, but often times they are eager to ensure that the client has a strong legal position.
We often help out the client through their mess (limited scope retainer) and many times even recommend that the client can probably proceed with the help of the consultant on their file. Our law society rules prohibit us from splitting any legal fees from consultants and our retainers are always with the end client.
Why don’t see an immigration lawyer earlier? Your authorized representative does not have to be your sole representative.
If you are an individual who is physically sick and has let us say is having unexplained headaches, it makes sense for you to try and get to the root of it. Often times that involves going to see other doctors or arranging for other specialist appointments as need be. If the situation worries you, and you are uncertain of what is happening, you aren’t sitting wait for an emergency prognosis. You are being proactive and looking for solutions.
Immigration law is the same way. You may have a family doctor (your consultant, in this example) who has helped you throughout the process. However, if there are signs of hiccups or you begin having doubts on what is going on – it is probably a sign you need some independent legal advice on what is happening on file.
How to go about asking for your file from your conusltant?
Your immigration file belongs to you. Any immigration representative (doing their proper job) should be keeping you in the loop and providing you any document you ask for. In my case, I send screenshots to my clients, ask my clients to review all final documentation with me before it goes out, and send them copies of immigration correspondence.
Once you have that information, go see an immigration lawyer for one hour and book a consultation. Go over your concerns with them. Often times you may even be surprised that the issue is not with your consultant, but with immigration or due to some grey area in immigration legislation and policy. After the consultation, you will be in a position to either continue with the consultant or switch counsel. If you go with your consultant, you will have better knowledge of the remedies and be able to address or foresee any shortcomings. If negligence as occurred, you may be in a position to approach your consultant for a refund.
Too often, these days, I have seen client files come to me at the stage where the harm has already been done: misrepresentation allegations have already been established, deadlines have passed, and even removal orders already issued.
Second opinions are life saving.
As lawyers too, we often ask for second opinions. While respecting client confidentiality, we often ask each other and seek out experts in the field to help address issues. In fact, the Immigration Lawyer’s Bar has a whole Listserv dedicated to lawyers sharing their client’s legal situation with each other.
It is NEVER a mistake to ask for a second opinion and to seek a lawyer’s advice (even if it is for one hour) and it could make the difference for you down the road.
