toby said:
I don't really know the circumstances of the case and without the specifics I can't say what is needed to improve the likelihood for a case to be approved at the visa office level, ADR or hearing.
But I can give some good insight into the question of professional help.
My recommendation is to hire someone if you are already involved in the appeal process.
Even if the appellant is articulate, I don't see it as a good idea testing your ability to deal with the IAD rules and everything else, for the first time, when your own case is on the line.
You can get a minister counsel who has been doing this for years. If you go to a full hearing hire someone.
The ADR is a different story because even if the minister counsel does not consent to the appeal you can go to the full hearing. Having said that , I did help many clients, who were in the clueless category, present a stronger case during the ADR.
If you are facing an ADR, at the very least go for a consultation with sponsorship appeals specialist that will break down the ADR conference process for you and perhaps look over the documentary evidence you have. With due respect to all the do-it-yourselvers in all the Canadian immigration forums online, I don't think trying to save $150-$250 consultation fee by avoiding a meeting with a lawyer or CSIC member who has the experience with the IAD makes much sense. The sponsor in most cases is in Canada. It is not that difficult to book an appointment with someone who has that kind of experience.
I think the problem for most people is that they simply don't know how to go about it. Being an industry insider it is probably easy for me to define in my head exactly the kind of service I would seek and what would be a reasonable fee.
I, as the appealing sponsor, would contact someone with experience and after verifying the practitioner particular experience with these case would do something along the lines of mailing them a copy of the record and a cheque for ~$150 and ask them to extract the main issues raised in the CAIPS by the Visa Officer. Then book a meeting and pay another $150-$200 for that consultation.
The advice you will receive will help you understand the case. You will take that knowledge to the full hearing if you don't win at the ADR stage.
There is something very naive (naturally) in some of the comments I read here when contrasting that with minister counsel's questions either at the ADR or the full hearing. People in bogus relationship cannot fool them. And even if you are in a real relationship they will grill you before consenting. And when grilling they come from different angles. The scope is much greater than " show me photos and phone bills". In most cases the minister counsel does not care about those things. They will go through the sponsor's passport to verify trips or look for a specific document in connection to a specific question/issue/concern. They are much more concerned with the timeline of the relationship development, number of visits, financial standings of both parties, knowledge of each other. sometimes they use the case to nail the sponsor for his or her own sponsorship case(when the sponsor was applicant) if they think the sponsor was brought to Canada through MOC.
Professional help with reapplying can also be useful ,but here I think your actions can determine if and to what extent professional assistance is required. Someone can go and live with the applicant for 2 years before reapplying, have kids and make the case nearly a slam dunk by the time CPC-Mississauga get the new application package.
