Is EE Agent Really Necessary?

[bilkentli]

Hello everyone,

Since I am new to Express Entry, I would like to ask for some suggestions. Some people use agents to complete their EE profiles etc and pay for the consultation but some people do everything by themselves. I know both parties have their PR.

Is it wrong to continue the process without an agent? What are the risks involved? I really want to make it right but do not want to spend my hard earned money on something that is not really necessary. I know you have to collect your own papers and documents. They cannot do it for you. What do those agents do actually, what is their real contribution to the process? I don't want to risk anything by not hiring one.

I am sorry if there is any agent on the forum and I believe you do your job very professionally but I am looking for some answers.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

 

[zagcollins]

Their contribution is zero if you bother to do your own research and apply on your own. Their inputs are significant if you are lazy/don't have the time to do your own thing.

 

[santhkum90]

Hello everyone,

Since I am new to Express Entry, I would like to ask for some suggestions. Some people use agents to complete their EE profiles etc and pay for the consultation but some people do everything by themselves. I know both parties have their PR.

Is it wrong to continue the process without an agent? What are the risks involved? I really want to make it right but do not want to spend my hard earned money on something that is not really necessary. I know you have to collect your own papers and documents. They cannot do it for you. What do those agents do actually, what is their real contribution to the process? I don't want to risk anything by not hiring one.

I am sorry if there is any agent on the forum and I believe you do your job very professionally but I am looking for some answers.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

In my opinion, you have all the information available in the forums to apply on your own. The agents mostly just verify the documents you send to them, even that some of them screw up. Save your money, apply on your own.

 

[amittan]

Couldn't agree more with the responses. I hired a law firm and provided them all the documents and they couldn't even upload it properly. Hence my ITAwas rejected. Now I am starting again the whole process on my own.

 

[Vitesze]

To be fair, my situation is pretty straight forward (single applicant, already had all the documents I needed), but I find the whole process to be very easy to understand. In my opinion, anyone who reads a few of the help topics here on the forum, and makes sure to follow everything closely, should have no issue with the PR process (except in some complicated cases)

About half a year ago I tried calling a Canada-based PR Agent, just to understand what the rates etc. were and also with some questions about my overall PR eligibility - he gave extremely brief and general answers, only allowed max. 5 minutes for our conversation, and mentioned that "answering any specific questions starts at a $50/question rate". Another PR Agent I contacted, refused to even chat without money upfront.

I understand that these kind of people are popular targets for people looking for "free advice" - but the whole impression I got from the situation (also based on how much a friend paid for her PR Agent) is that a lot of them are total money-wolves that reap the benefits not of a super-complicated immigration model, but uneducated people that refuse to sit down and just google and ask around for a few hours to understand everything themselves

 

[keebs]

Hello everyone,

Since I am new to Express Entry, I would like to ask for some suggestions. Some people use agents to complete their EE profiles etc and pay for the consultation but some people do everything by themselves. I know both parties have their PR.

Is it wrong to continue the process without an agent? What are the risks involved? I really want to make it right but do not want to spend my hard earned money on something that is not really necessary. I know you have to collect your own papers and documents. They cannot do it for you. What do those agents do actually, what is their real contribution to the process? I don't want to risk anything by not hiring one.

I am sorry if there is any agent on the forum and I believe you do your job very professionally but I am looking for some answers.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

An agent is not necessary. Any assistance you may need can be sort on this forum

 

[immiknowhow]

With so much help available online and also process being very transparent and simple. No agent is required.

 

[p_d2058]

Couldn't agree more with the responses. I hired a law firm and provided them all the documents and they couldn't even upload it properly. Hence my ITAwas rejected. Now I am starting again the whole process on my own.

Hi,
Can you tell me which law firm you used? The one that caused a rejection.

 

[p_d2058]

To be fair, my situation is pretty straight forward (single applicant, already had all the documents I needed), but I find the whole process to be very easy to understand. In my opinion, anyone who reads a few of the help topics here on the forum, and makes sure to follow everything closely, should have no issue with the PR process (except in some complicated cases)

About half a year ago I tried calling a Canada-based PR Agent, just to understand what the rates etc. were and also with some questions about my overall PR eligibility - he gave extremely brief and general answers, only allowed max. 5 minutes for our conversation, and mentioned that "answering any specific questions starts at a $50/question rate". Another PR Agent I contacted, refused to even chat without money upfront.

I understand that these kind of people are popular targets for people looking for "free advice" - but the whole impression I got from the situation (also based on how much a friend paid for her PR Agent) is that a lot of them are total money-wolves that reap the benefits not of a super-complicated immigration model, but uneducated people that refuse to sit down and just google and ask around for a few hours to understand everything themselves

Most agents are garbage. So I agree with you. They are not lawyers. I applied through an attorney - and not an agent. My experience with the attorney was fine. I am, however, going to say that you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT need a lawyer/attorney or agent to apply. With some research, you can do everything on your own. The only reason I used a lawyer was that I honestly did not have time. I had a demanding work schedule and way too much traveling for me to do research and get into finer details on my own. Having an attorney meant I could ask them anything I wanted via email/phone - and I wouldn't have to spend time researching it. This works for people in my situation (people who basically do not have time). But if you have a little bit of time to do your research, I am going to say what everyone else has already said - do not spend your money on agents/lawyers.

 

[mr.preetsingh]

Hello everyone,

Since I am new to Express Entry, I would like to ask for some suggestions. Some people use agents to complete their EE profiles etc and pay for the consultation but some people do everything by themselves. I know both parties have their PR.

Is it wrong to continue the process without an agent? What are the risks involved? I really want to make it right but do not want to spend my hard earned money on something that is not really necessary. I know you have to collect your own papers and documents. They cannot do it for you. What do those agents do actually, what is their real contribution to the process? I don't want to risk anything by not hiring one.

I am sorry if there is any agent on the forum and I believe you do your job very professionally but I am looking for some answers.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Its up to you. Both ways your target is to get PR. There are two ways, you will need to decide which way you would like to go. Think about yourself, if you can do research and prepare everything yourself, then only apply yourself. There are a lot of users who do so many errors. So, think before proceeding.

 

[medwiz]

Bottom line: if you have no time or don't want to make the effort in a little bit of research..go for a consultant (after making sure they are reputable and competent)

I honestly think there's no need... moving and deciding to settle Permenantly in a new country is a life changing decision for yourself and your family...morever the actual PR application process is only just step 1...you need to think about what you intend to do once u actually be there...work.. housing...schools...etc etc...no consultant will help you fully with that as far as I'm aware...and if u don't have time to think about these more important things then maybe you're not actually ready to move to Canada (at least not yet)

Maybe if your case is not straight forward then hiring a lawyer to handle a specific aspect of the application is a good option
All the best

 

[DanFariasM]

It might take you a bit longer to gather particular info since an agent will know how the process works and what documents are needed but it's not really mandatory. In this forum you will find several tutorials, the ones pinned on the express entry section should be enough to get you going, and if you have any doubt, we are all here to help each other