Immigration Consultants

[Skyler White]

Hi

I am relatively new to this. Would really appreciate if senior members could throw some light on the advantages of getting an immigration consultant for the process. There are consultants available by the dozen for the purpose and they charge a bomb. Hence, I want to understand some key aspects.
1. How easy or difficult is it to apply and manage the documentation/application filing for Express Entry on your own?
2. Will there be any substantial value add by a consultant or is it more in terms of general guidance and co-ordination support?

thanks!!

 

[karenn1617]

Hello,

Well answer to your questions are -

1. How easy or difficult is it to apply and manage the documentation/application filing for Express Entry on your own?
It is easy to do all the things yourself - say started by understanding the process -
A. Booking for IELTS - you have to do yourself - it is as easy as booking a movie ticket
B. Collecting and sending your documents for ECA - you have to do yourself - Collecting your education documents - only you can do while sending it to WES for ECA evaluation - it is again simple as sending a courier to your friend or relative.
C. Once done with A. and B., scan all the documents which will be required during filling up Express Entry form - i.e. passport scan, IELTS results, ECA evaluation done by WES (report), your understanding on how and for what you can claim the points for.

2. Will there be any substantial value add by a consultant or is it more in terms of general guidance and co-ordination support?
Now if you think, IF you can't do the first step yourself, then you can consider hiring consultant my friend while there is NO substantial value in adding a consultant.

Hope it helps.

K

 

[Intocanada]

Waste of money to have an immigration consultant. Unless there is some serious problem, there isn't a need for consultant. This forum is an excellent knowledge base.

 

[Dennia]

In my experience, a consultant is a person who's is goin to wrk fr ur money, in some cases a ridiculous fee. They will not have the care u will show fr ur documents to be sent,updated and so on.

If u have the time, u can find all the information online and apply fr EE easily without any help.

Consultants dont have any spl contacts in CIC or the province fr ur PNP, they r just a help provided to people who cant do things on their own. They will not speed up ur process in any way(they will just slow u down in my opinion)

 

[Abhishek901]

Hi, I am also weighing the pros and cons of taking services of a consultant. I can do the tasks mentioned here myself but what about keeping abreast with changes in the processes? Knowledge about these processes is the bread and butter of consultants, so won't they be more up to date with the latest happenings? I can do my own research and running around but I do not want to lose out for not being able to keep myself updated with changes. Is my concern valid?

 

[Asivad Anac]

Hi, I am also weighing the pros and cons of taking services of a consultant. I can do the tasks mentioned here myself but what about keeping abreast with changes in the processes? Knowledge about these processes is the bread and butter of consultants, so won't they be more up to date with the latest happenings? I can do my own research and running around but I do not want to lose out for not being able to keep myself updated with changes. Is my concern valid?

Valid concern and that is one major reason people prefer consultants. But let me also assure you that this forum is, more often than not, far ahead of consultants because of it's p2p nature and knowledge exchange. Being on this forum is akin to hiring 100s of consultants for free with the downside that you need to sift through the material and use your own brains as well!

 

[ntwkengg]

Valid concern and that is one major reason people prefer consultants. But let me also assure you that this forum is, more often than not, far ahead of consultants because of it's p2p nature and knowledge exchange. Being on this forum is akin to hiring 100s of consultants for free with the downside that you need to sift through the material and use your own brains as well!

Very true.... and you are one of the brain....

 

[katja2684]

I worked with a consultant to prepare my EE profile and later my application.I don't consider it a waste of time at all.
I was actually relieved that she clarified questions that people here on the forum were having contradictory opinions about.
I don't regret I paid her the legal fees, it was for my own peace of mind and she deserved every penny.
Don't get me wrong, I think many people are perfectly capable to manage this without a consultant. For me, it worked out the other way around.

 

[kyxy]

I worked with a consultant to prepare my EE profile and later my application.I don't consider it a waste of time at all.
I was actually relieved that she clarified questions that people here on the forum were having contradictory opinions about.
I don't regret I paid her the legal fees, it was for my own peace of mind and she deserved every penny.
Don't get me wrong, I think many people are perfectly capable to manage this without a consultant. For me, it worked out the other way around.

Hi there. I have an immigration representative/consultant myself. Last month he forwarded me the said file number but when I try to check on ECAS it doesn't work. Could there be anything wrong here?

 

[kyxy]

First off, ECAS only works after an application in response to an ITA has been submitted. I assume this is the case?

Yes I believe so. Because he already gave me the file number, which means if we follow the EE process ITA is already done. Maybe it is the representatives detail that I need to put in order to check it?

 

[kyxy]

No, the application number is typically the same from starting the profile until post-AOR. You can't take that as a sign that your application has been successfully submitted.

Just to be very clear:

Did you receive an ITA?
Did your consultant tell you they submitted your application?

If the answer to both questions is "yes", then ask your consultant to send you the AOR. It's a PDF document that says that your application was received by CIC.

If you have this document, you can be fairly sure that all is going well with your application, even if you don't have ECAS access yet.

As what I know the file number is the AOR am I right? I mean AOR contains the file number.

Yes my consultant told me that he submitted my application and he already got a pre-approval letter which I guess is the AOR and contains the file number. The file number is like this E0xxxxxxxx so I assume it comes from the immigration already as what I've researched.

Well I hope it would be okey.