Immigration Consultant/Lawyer?

[huskylover]

I want to sponsor my boyfriend to come to Canada as soon as I can. I though I could sponsor him as a conjugal partner but it looks like it will have to be as common law partners or as spouses. I really want our application to get approved the first time and I feel I have a lot of questions about the whole process. Should I get the help of an immigration consultant or a lawyer? Is it worth the money? I am meeting with an immigration consultant friday just to talk and she said her sponsorship package is $2400!!! Or $100/hour for legal advice. Is this the going rate? I also spoke with a lawyer before and he said he would charge $240 just for a consultation and then go from there. I am still finishing school and $2400 is a lot of money for us. What should I do?

 

[canadausa#11]

You should take the time to read up and research the process so you can complete it yourself. Really its not too difficult if you take the time to do your research, this forum provides pretty much everything you need to know.

 

[confusedhusband]

I want to sponsor my boyfriend to come to Canada as soon as I can. I though I could sponsor him as a conjugal partner but it looks like it will have to be as common law partners or as spouses. I really want our application to get approved the first time and I feel I have a lot of questions about the whole process. Should I get the help of an immigration consultant or a lawyer? Is it worth the money? I am meeting with an immigration consultant friday just to talk and she said her sponsorship package is $2400!!! Or $100/hour for legal advice. Is this the going rate? I also spoke with a lawyer before and he said he would charge $240 just for a consultation and then go from there. I am still finishing school and $2400 is a lot of money for us. What should I do?

When We started the paper work process , I was also overwhelmed with lots of things, it seemed like a lot of work. I thought We need to hire a lawyer but then this forum has helped me a lot and I got everything sorted out asking questions in this forum. I personally feel you can do it yourself without having to hire a lawyer. All the best !!

 

[scylla]

You should expect to pay $3K to $5K for a good immigration lawyer. But you don't need one. Most of us here have done it on our own.

You're right about conjugal - you don't qualify under this category. You need to wait until you are either married or common law to apply.

 

[SamHom]

It depends. Are you somewhat stupid? Get a lawyer. Are you average? Toss a coin. Are you above average (even if it's just a little bit)? Do it yourself.

If you end up doing it yourself, make sure to do a lot of reading and ask a lot of questions on this forum.

The only people that really need a lawyer are complicated cases, people that are dumb or people that don't speak english very much. Or, I guess very busy people, but even then I would prefer to do it myself because many lawyers in this business are so incompetent it's ridiculous.

 

[huskylover]

thank you for all of your responses! I feel confident I can do it on my own now. I am so glad I found this forum.

 

[mikeymyke]

A recent example of why you shouldn't use a lawyer

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/inland-spousal-sponsorship-interview-tomorrow-morning-t400992.0.html

 

[Mhunter]

It depends. Are you somewhat stupid? Get a lawyer. Are you average? Toss a coin. Are you above average (even if it's just a little bit)? Do it yourself.

If you end up doing it yourself, make sure to do a lot of reading and ask a lot of questions on this forum.

The only people that really need a lawyer are complicated cases, people that are dumb or people that don't speak english very much. Or, I guess very busy people, but even then I would prefer to do it myself because many lawyers in this business are so incompetent it's ridiculous.

This is so funny. Just because you hire a lawyer doesn't mean you are "somewhat stupid"... I have applied for many visas and never had any issues, however when I started to apply for PR I was a bit overwhelmed and I did not have much time. I hired a lawyer I have seen in the past and have had many friends use with no issues. I paid just under 5k and that was including the CIC fees. Yes you can find dodgy lawyers so it's good to do your research, yes you can do it yourself but in my opinion, I do not want to mess up my application so I hired one.
Just because you choose to do that does not make you stupid. Ultimately the decision is up to you, I thought about it for a couple of weeks then hired my lawyer, had my application done in 3 weeks and it took so much stress off of me which I cannot thank my lawyer enough for. Good luck!!

 

[SamHom]

No, it doesn't mean that. However, if you really need a lawyer for an uncomplicated case, you're either stupid, don't speak English well or just very busy...just like I said in my first post.

I never said that everyone that gets an immigration lawyer are stupid. Read my post again. Getting a lawyer and needing a lawyer are two different things.

I got a lawyer too. Payed several thousands. After going through the process, I realize that it was a waste of money. My case was not complicated. I speak English well. I wasn't busy. I'm not an idiot.

So to make it clear, if you are not stupid, speak english, have an uncomplicated case and are not busy, there really are no reason at all the hire a lawyer.

 

[canadausa#11]

$5000 for a common law sponsorship for an Australian? Damn I need to become an immigration lawyer.

 

[SamHom]

$5000 for a common law sponsorship for an Australian? Damn I need to become an immigration lawyer.

Actually immigration lawyers generally don't make as much as most other lawyers. It's kind of a starting gig for many, which is why the quality is fairly low.

 

[canadausa#11]

Actually immigration lawyers generally don't make as much as most other lawyers. It's kind of a starting gig for many, which is why the quality is fairly low.

Was more a comment on the ease of work for that fee.

 

[scylla]

Was more a comment on the ease of work for that fee.

Probably not nearly as easy as you think. You need to be familiar with all of Canada's immigration programs (not just family class) - including FSW, FSTW, CEC all of the different Provincial Nominee streams (most provinces have multiple streams), as well as Quebec Skilled Worker, and how Express Entry does or does not work in combination (and how the EE draws work) - also the other economic classes like Start Up. You need to know which programs require job offers (along with LMIAs) - which ones don't, which require ECAs, minimum IELTS, which have POF requirements and who can bypass POF, which ones have minimum education requirements (e.g. at least a bachelors), which accept only skilled workers and which accept semi-skiled or unskilled. Who qualifies for a BOWP and when - is it when you receive a nomination, at AOR, when you submit your application after getting ITA? And that's just scratching the surface. You also need to be able to address questions like: I'm an international student who finished my degree and then applied for a PGWP within 90 days after complete my course work and while my study permit was still valid. I accidentally failed to pay the $100 open work permit fee and my PGWP was refused. I'm now in the 90 day restoration period but my study permit has also expired. What do I apply for? Do I restore my status and apply for the PGWP? Or do I restore my status back to a student and then apply for the PGWP? What are the fees I have to pay? (Note - this question gets asked on this forum all of the time and is probably one of the simpler examples.)

I cannot answer a number of the questions above which is why I'm not an immigration consultant or lawyer - and am keeping my day job.

 

[canadausa#11]

Misinterpreting my comments though. While I agree that you have to have a deep and educated knowledge(well as we have seen from peoples experiences with some lawyers on here, you don't seem to have to have a great knowledge on the right processes) of all aspects of immigration to be a immigration lawyer, this wasn't a comment on that variety of knowledge and some of the expert advice they can provide on difficult cases. It was purely a comment on the $5000 fee for a pretty straight forward Australian spousal application. If you put the work into become a lawyer and there is the demand for that work and fee then more power to them though.

And to be fair, I guess they can charge those sort of fees for spousal cases help because their time is very sought after on more difficult and expertise required cases.

 

[Mhunter]

Was more a comment on the ease of work for that fee.

If you are able to i don't see why not.