do we need a lawyer to do the paperwork

[scottinus]

my soon to be wife and I are two intelligent people (at least we think...).

is the paperwork too important and difficult to fill out ourselves?

do most people pay lawyers to do the work just to be safe?

any advice would be great!

 

[catarina]

Well Scottinus, we are certainly not an intelligent couple, but we did everything ourselves without any helps from lawyers. which I believe most of everybody in this forum doesn't use any lawyers either.

but it certainly needs a lot of works and specific skills to be able to understand those words they put on the forms, which I believe intelligent people like you and your soon to be wife should be able to do it.

regards,

Catarina

 

[GK]

We did it all by ourseves.

 

[canuck_amuck]

Same here. Just make sure to read everything over several times to make sure you didnt miss a check box. Their wording in some spots is kinda shady.

 

[scottinus]

thanks everyone....

i just didn't want to try to do it ourselves if people have found it hard to do and ended up getting delayed.

any other advice is always appreciated

 

[revinder]

You can do it yourself. But if you are paranoid or afraid you might make a mistake..take it to the lawyers office.

 

[Anatolia]

It is just pain in the butt, that is all. A lot of work, but we did ourselves. Actually I did it myself. My husband just got his documents from Peru. Also I think that for the Questionaire section can be done even better if you do it yourselves. Much more "from the heart", much more creative.

 

[paixpeace]

we file everything for lawer i recommend to do everything by ur self because some lawer will charge u even with phone calls but if u have enought money that u dont want to save for other things u can ask for lawer

 

[RobsLuv]

No offence to attorneys or consultants out there but I always thought it made the most sense for people who understand either English or French, and who are relatively intelligent, to do the paperwork themselves - and save the $$$ to hire an attorney if they should have to appeal a refusal. That was what we did - and it turned out we were glad to have done it that way because we did end up in appeal. However, knowing what I know now, IF you have any "issues" with your application that cause you to suspect that you might eventually need that appeal attorney, consult with one first to make sure you put your "best foot forward" and - hopefully - avoid appeal. If you have no issues, there's no reason at all why you can't put together the paperwork yourselves. The attorney isn't going to collect your evidence or documentation for you anyway, and having an attorney representing you does nothing to expedite processing. Basically you'd be paying a lot of money for someone to type up forms in the computer from the CIC website and print them out for you, and for their advice. IF their advice is worth it - go for it. Otherwise, save your $$$.

 

[Misanthrope]

No, you don't need a lawyer to do the paperwork.

However, if you have realized your case has any of the typical snags that could lead you to appeal (as ours does and I wish I had looked at case law and read people's interview and appeal horrors earlier) then I think a lawyer can be helpful in appraising the quality of your evidence and coaching for interview. We're two weeks to the interview, and I'm still thinking a last minute evaluation of strong points, how to handle things and some critical interview coaching is well worth $1000, if it saves multiple thousands plus a year or more of separation misery or relocation stress and cost during appeal. I found a very experienced immigration lawyer who used to be an IAD judge and is of my husband's ethnicity and has connections to the community, its issues and biases, and the trends at that embassy. Well worth $1000 an something I cannot provide. The kind of well connected friend I do not have, but money can temporarily buy. Still thinking on it.

Is your case complicated at all? Many people here could tell you, as could a search in CANLII for terms spouse genuine and "appeal allowed". The ones where the appeal was allowed shows you where the borderline issues are, the ones the IOs make mistakes on. Presuming that genuine is the typical concern. For other people it is admissibility and so on.