immigration lawyer needed? or not?

[needadviceandhelp]

Do you think an immigration lawyer actually helps with the spousal sponsorship process?

We have been together seven months and just got married. Our families and all friends are aware of our engagement however we did not tell my family about our civil ceremony because they are very against civil ceremonies. We had our two best friends at our ceremony and before that had a large engagement gathering and dinner with family present.
The proof we have includes: phone logs, skype logs, receipts for gifts, rings, ring appraisal, movie tickets, sporting event tickets, photos from engagement and wedding ceremony, matching tattoos of our wedding date, four letters from friends vouching for the authenticity of our relationship, etc. We plan on fully explaining why we didnt include family members and we are opening a joint account as well.

With all this proof does an immigration lawyer really help? Do they speed up the process or make it easier?

We are applying outland, i am a Canadian citizen sponsoring my spouse to Canada

 

[Jamgirl]

In my opinion, (blunt) save your money and do it yourself... there are plenty of us on here that can help you along and give you advice based on experience.

 

[Fencesitter]

Seconded. Save your money. It's not that difficult to do it yourself...this forum has a wealth of information...

FS

 

[JimM]

Do you think an immigration lawyer actually helps with the spousal sponsorship process?

We have been together seven months and just got married. Our families and all friends are aware of our engagement however we did not tell my family about our civil ceremony because they are very against civil ceremonies. We had our two best friends at our ceremony and before that had a large engagement gathering and dinner with family present.
The proof we have includes: phone logs, skype logs, receipts for gifts, rings, ring appraisal, movie tickets, sporting event tickets, photos from engagement and wedding ceremony, matching tattoos of our wedding date, four letters from friends vouching for the authenticity of our relationship, etc. We plan on fully explaining why we didnt include family members and we are opening a joint account as well.

With all this proof does an immigration lawyer really help? Do they speed up the process or make it easier?

We are applying outland, i am a Canadian citizen sponsoring my spouse to Canada

Sounds like you have plenty of evidence, so as long as you're comfortable with the paperwork no reason why you can't do it yourself. If there's anything in your relationship that might raise suspicion or cause problems. (large age difference, criminal record etc), it would of course be another matter...

 

[tamarindball]

If your application is pretty straightforward then I would recommend not using an immigration lawyer. I would only use one if there is a complex case. I can tell you my husband first went to an immigration consultant and he gave him a questionnaire to fill out and he told him he was eligible to sponsor me. Turns out some taxes are owing and so we went to two different immigration lawyers who said he could not sponsor me until those taxes are sorted out so now we are confused. When I called CIC office (finally got through today) they said only two things would bar the approval which are bankruptcy and receiving social welfare. However after telling the person what the immigration lawyers said about taxes, he said "well, CIC would of course do a thorough investigation with Revenue Canada so that could also cause a problem". If the lawyers hadn't mentioned or if I hadn't gone to these lawyers I wouldn't have questioned his response. So my application is delayed as a result. They said I could apply for extension to stay here but would have to have a good reason but financial support. Not even sure what to do. My husband is on ODSP and given his condition he needs my support as much as possible. We have been married for 4 years now but outside of Canada. Anyone has any suggestion