I couldn't agree more with your post.
Talking from personal experience, I have gained knowledge from this forum MORE THAN all the lawyers( 3+ lawyers combined) I use previously before I finally decided to do my application myself. I can tell you without fear of contradiction that The amount of knowledge I have gained in this forum has been working in my favour. I am not sugar-coating anything. I am telling as it is.
Let me share with you a few experiences...
1) A lawyer charge me some money which she said she will need to file a case with the court so that IRCC was released a copy of a refusal letter. Her explanation did not make sense to me at all. She filled it in March 2021. Till now, we have not received a copy at all.
You don't need to be a fool to know that 1+ 1 is NOT equal to 3. but the lawyer insists it is "3". I came to this forum for advice on how I can do it myself.
@Ayanna explain everything to me. I did it myself. you will not believe I receive the refusal letter directly from IRCC in less than 24hrs. I contacted my lawyer and she was shocked how I got the letter. It was at this stage I begin to notice signs of how incompetent this lawyer is. Her accountant sent me an email with an invoice for me to start making payment so that the lawyer can start my application. In the email, it contains an agreement that clearly states money is NOT refundable.. There are so many red flags that I don't have the time to begin to mention. But this forum helps me see pass the deception of the lawyer.
Less I forget, you would not believe that the lawyer claim she did JD for me in March..Am like really? How is it possible she did with WITHOUT having a copy of a refusal letter to know why I am refused? Lastly, how was it possible she did it without her telling me and asking for payment before she start working? Most people will agree with me in this forum that
LAWYER WILL NEVER WORK ON A CLIENT APPLICATION IF THEY DO NOT RECEIVE AT LEAST A MINIMUM PAYMENT AGREED., I did not discuss anything about JD with her. H&C application is the ONLY service I discuss and wanted from her......
2) There was another lawyer that I contacted.
The advice she gave me is enough to make any stupid person go ahead to sell their kidney to raise money for the work that she is not sure will work. She told me I have to put in 3 different applications. This was what makes her work ridiculously expensive. Regarding this lawyer, the money was not really the issue for me, but rather there is a lot of red flags I notice about some things she said.
One thing I always notice with some lawyers are they are secretive about giving their client detailed information on what they intend to do or how they plan to do it. More or less like keeping clients in the dark. All they just want you to know is that they have completed and submitted your application. Next, they want their money. This forum helped me avoid falling for this scam....
3) I had a consultation with a 3rd lawyer.I can't give detailed information about what he said because I feel ashamed he said could be such a thing. But what I notice with this lawyer is that he want to do a program for me that he knows that I do NOT qualify for based on my circumstance but recommend it because he feels it is faster. He told me to forget h&c because it takes too long. When I ask him how much he will charge, He said 10,000 dollars( excluding tax)....Basically, he was looking for a CASH-COW he can make quick money from... Also, his advice did not make sense to me. I came to this group once again for advice to seek their opinion.
The experience above is just the tip of the iceberg. I don't have enough time to mention all.........One last thing, always check the work and written argument your lawyer has done for you. Some lawyers are fund of just writing something "generic" as an argument which gives an illusion that they have done their work. Just because a lawyer submitted 1000+ pages of document for your application does not mean he/she wrote something of "quality ". Always remember that quality is better than quantity
Here is what I will say which is why I agreed with
@wello711. This forum is about helping each other. The only way that can happen is by sharing each other's experiences in this group... That is how each and every one of us knows exactly the best approach in know-how to tackle your immigration problem...There is someone with the name @tony445 in this forum who was also able to obtain a copy of his refusal letter from IRCC from the advice I gave him on how he can obtain his refusal letter from IRCC without using a lawyer...Also,
@Katayoon is well experienced since she too has gone through h&c 3 times.
My point here is, if you are not sure of what to do, share your experience with others. that is the way you can do what to do and other will be able to learn from the experience.
I wish everybody the best in this forum and a positive decision. So mote be!
