Ok so I used a law firm. I was pleased with the speed of the process although some people who filed after me were several weeks quicker. I waited almost 90 days for my card to arrive after landing.
My conclusion from other people’s experience on the forum is: Processing times depend on CIC and their volume and ability to process and as we've all seen, this can fluctuate quite a bit. Having your documents submitted by a lawyer will not speed it up IMHO. (Provided of course, the documents you submit don’t have any errors in them).
For me it was a no-brainer as instead of paying for a lawyer to handle the third work permit for me eventually, my employer agreed to pay for the PR process which was great - so the only thing I paid was the IELTS test and the medical exam as well as some passport photos. I was also very lucky as they have since changed their policy and don’t do this any more.
I very rarely dealt with a lawyer at the firm, it was usually administrative coordinators at the law firm who provided me with a to do list / check list and the exact forms which were applicable to my situation.
My case was pretty straightforward, and I had very few questions. Knowing what I know now, I could have answered them by reading the CIC website more closely, read the forum and clarify questions on the forum when in doubt.
If I had to do it again, I would do it myself. Whatever you do, there is no replacement for thinking for yourself and reading instructions thoroughly as whether you hire a lawyer or not, nobody is going to do that for you. Seems obvious but with some of the questions on here “pls advise what I need to do to immigrate to Canada (I can’t be bothered to read the CIC website)”, I sometimes think it’s not.
I can fully appreciate that there are people who have a more difficult situation, being with family, difficulties to obtain police clearance from certain countries, previous rejection etc. In such cases, I do believe that a lawyer can make a huge difference if you manage to find a good one for your specific problem. I’d rather pay a lawyer for the consultation than doing the admin process for me.
My advice for anyone wanting to do the application by themselves is to do it, read lots, and just be very diligent in organizing documents and following instructions. The CEC toolkit is a great support for step by step instructions and then of course the forum for most questions if in doubt. Consider making a small donation for the upkeep of the CEC toolkit and giving back to the forum by sharing your experience which can help others.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck to everyone!
