Lawyer? nescessary? avg prices?

[erinblaak]

I've heard a lot of lawyer disaster stories.
Do most people hire lawyers or try to do it themselves?
also what is a good price to pay a laywer.
I have heard of so many people paying way too much, and having errors in paperwork.
anyone in ontario near GTA know of a good honest lawyer?

 

[scylla]

Most people here are doing it themselves.

If you want a good lawyer in the Toronto area - I think you're looking in the neighbourhood of $5K (based on quotes that two of my friends received from reputable attorneys).

 

[erinblaak]

do you think it improves your chances?

Most likely they are just there to
make sure you provide all the correct paperwork and information etc.
submit them to the right places etc?

 

[Canadagirl85]

do you think it improves your chances?

Most likely they are just there to
make sure you provide all the correct paperwork and information etc.
submit them to the right places etc?

i think it depends on how complicated your case is. filling out the paperwork is pretty straight forward if you read and download the guide they have online! Me and my wife did it our selves no lawyer nothing and our application was fine. .

 

[rjessome]

Most people here are doing it themselves.

If you want a good lawyer in the Toronto area - I think you're looking in the neighbourhood of $5K (based on quotes that two of my friends received from reputable attorneys).

$5K seems high. But prices often depend on overhead as well. $2.5K or thereabouts for a small practitioner. No fancy office to pay for.

 

[LuckyJinx]

I think we paid 3grand

 

[cantor2537]

Unless you have a complicated case, or can't read English I would not hire a lawyer or consultant.

 

[IndianOcean]

Our lawyer charged us 2.000$ and ended up not sending our application and lying to us for months.. We decided to do ourselves and trust me, it was the best decision ever.
If you have a routine case, don't think you need a lawyer. You can fill up the form yourself, and if you have any questions, just ask here on the forum!

 

[cililoca]

I personally think a lawyer is a waste of money!!!!!!!!!!!! in this case of course!!! But I guess if you don't speak English you may really need one then...

 

[Belinasha]

I am a law clerk and I would recommend you doing your application yourself. A retainer for a lawyer is anywhere from 2k-5k. Once you pay that retainer, it's on the law clerk to do the work which is just basically filling out the forms and gathering the supporting documentation. A law clerk will request all these documents from you, but they are docketing their time to correspond with you at around $150 per hour, plus the time to work on the case. The lawyer will docket for the time spent looking over the application. You will be docketed for anything and everything including emails, paper, copying, each telephone call ect. Basically, you're paying a lot of money when you'll be doing most of the work (providing supporting documentation.) You're paying them $$$ to fill in the forms for you and make sure it's hopefully correct. You would not believe the amount of mistakes that are made even on the simplest of cases! You're best bet would be to gather your supporting documentation, fill out your forms and take them into the free duty counsel lawyer at your nearest courthouse. They can look them over free of charge, you'll just have to wait in line to speak with one of them.

 

[Mrslwsn]

Waste of money. We did our app on own, and everything was smooth. As long as yu follow directions and send adequate proof, you are good to go?

 

[computergeek]

An attorney is justified in a case where there is a high potential for problems, such as criminal inadmissibility, or for applications processed in visa offices with a high likelihood of being denied.

If your case is straight-forward, you are better served filling out the application on your own. If you are uncertain, it might be worthwhile finding someone familiar with Canadian Immigration to look over the application (so they can spot things that you might have missed) after you believe it is complete.

However, if a problem arises during the processing of your application it does make sense to find a skilled attorney. The trick is to find one who is "skilled". In my case I ran into a medical inadmissibility issue. I picked an attorney with a track record of successfully navigating the issues. When I go back and look at the letter that he wrote to the visa office as part of the response to the fairness letter, I now appreciate that he was framing things even at that point. While my application was rejected, that groundwork is making a difference now that we are in Federal Court. The legal arguments for the judicial review application still have me surprised at their impact. That he had experience in a prior case with the same medical officer has proven to be invaluable ("in a prior case of similar circumstances the medical officer said 'insurance is critical to the decision process' and in this case the medical officer said 'insurance is immaterial to the decision process'").

So I know that people here love to bash lawyers, and for doing routine tasks like filling out straight-forward immigration applications they don't add much value. But there is a time and place for them. The challenge is to find one who will do a good job for you in those circumstances.

Good luck with your application, no matter what you decide.

 

[CdnRNUSN]

My husband and I have also inquired about fees. I have had 3Gs and up quoted. I have had a lot of friends that have used lawyers themselves but say that its better if you do it yourself and save that money. The paper work is insane as we all know! But I have learned to tackle it day by day so I am not over whelmed. Our case is fairly straightforward. I think!? LOL! So far its been ok...lots of reading and collecting of info but that's the price we're willing to pay. I am running into a couple of questions that I was maybe thinking about consulting a lawyer about but so far we're tackling it ourselves.

But if you have that extra 3+ grand stashed away somewhere and can't even be bothered with the paper work sure! But we opted not to. Good luck!

 

[erinblaak]

An attorney is justified in a case where there is a high potential for problems, such as criminal inadmissibility, or for applications processed in visa offices with a high likelihood of being denied.

would anyone happen to know where i could find information on which visa offices have higher or lower success rates?

Does anybody have information on the office in Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil?

If we have everything in order, and sufficient proof i am hoping everything is fine!


im pretty sure my case is straight forward...he has no criminal record, is hard working young, healthy as a horse and with a lot of proof so im sure we would be fine.
yes i prefer to do the paperwork myself anyways leave no room for error

i just wasnt sure if a lawyer was needed for any other reasons.

thanks to everyone for your invaluable advice ;D

 

[GOGOGO]

Here is a link to the GC Open Data that provides the quarterly report showing some statistics about Permanent Resident Applications based on data in the past 12 months. This includes number of cases passed and refused, processing time, and have capability to breakdown by visa offices.

http://www.data.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=5175A6F0-1&xsl=datacataloguerecord&metaxsl=datacataloguerecord&formid=427337D0-7C36-4FED-8428-C6A63F8C19B3

would anyone happen to know where i could find information on which visa offices have higher or lower success rates?