Lawyer or consultant?

[Indrayani]

Hello all,

I am planning to begin my filing application for spousal sponsorship for New Delhi ( India) office.
My question is, would it be more definite of a process if I use the services of a lawyer for the application or if I use a friend who newly did a immigration agent course and certification and is not very specialized with India's cases. Knows more about Iranian cases.

I want to make sure I dont screw up the process for my husband's application hence the question as to what would be the best route.
I dont care if lawyers would charge more for the process as well....just dont want any problems as I cant deal with any more delays than have already happened. Been married since Nov 2011 and still not settled in canada with husband....

I know..what the hell, right?

 

[maplegal86]

Hello all,

I am planning to begin my filing application for spousal sponsorship for New Delhi ( India) office.
My question is, would it be more definite of a process if I use the services of a lawyer for the application or if I use a friend who newly did a immigration agent course and certification and is not very specialized with India's cases. Knows more about Iranian cases.

I want to make sure I dont screw up the process for my husband's application hence the question as to what would be the best route.
I dont care if lawyers would charge more for the process as well....just dont want any problems as I cant deal with any more delays than have already happened. Been married since Nov 2011 and still not settled in canada with husband....

I know..what the hell, right?

You could go for either lawyer or consultant. Or you could do it yourself. Check out the New Delhi forum: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/new-delhi-2012-applicants-t109821.16005.html

Personally my husband and I went over the application for 3 months and gathered tonnes of evidence before we submit it. It seems like getting a lawyer or consultant won't help much to speed up the process so if you are confident about your ability to understand and fill it up, do it yourself. It will save you money and have one less person to chase!

Is there anything specific about your case that you feel you'll need a lawyer or consultant?

 

[Indrayani]

Thank you for your reply,

And answering your question, no there isn't....mine is a very straight forward case with tonnes of evidence.
But the thing is that I am dont wanna screw up so am paranoid.
I have already gone through a lot of time living apart and am desperate to settle down..so thats the strong emotional component to it.

thank you for taking the time to reply!

- Indrayani

 

[maplegal86]

Thank you for your reply,

And answering your question, no there isn't....mine is a very straight forward case with tonnes of evidence.
But the thing is that I am dont wanna screw up so am paranoid.
I have already gone through a lot of time living apart and am desperate to settle down..so thats the strong emotional component to it.

thank you for taking the time to reply!

- Indrayani

No problem! That's what the forum is for.

I understand your feelings about paranoia. You could go to a consultant, leave a message on the New Delhi forum and ask for a reccommendation. But I have heard that immigration consultants can be a pain, so get one with good reviews. Or a lawyer, it's up to you.

And I understand the part about living apart. It's hard on all of us. But just hang in there, you'll get through.

 

[torontosm]

Thank you for your reply,

And answering your question, no there isn't....mine is a very straight forward case with tonnes of evidence.
But the thing is that I am dont wanna screw up so am paranoid.
I have already gone through a lot of time living apart and am desperate to settle down..so thats the strong emotional component to it.

thank you for taking the time to reply!

- Indrayani

If your case is straight forward, then I would suggest doing it yourself. The forms are all available online and are self explanatory. If you have any questions, you can always raise them in forums such as these. Save yourself the money as the immigration consultant will not be adding much value in your case.

 

[tow75]

My advice would be get as educated as possible about the whole process (this forum has taught me everything I need to know!) and maybe read some Appeal cases involving Indian sponsorships- just to see how VOs/immigration folk look at things. Having a lawyer/consultant won't make a difference in how quickly your application is processed, but choosing someone incompetent can have terrible consequences.

Me and my husband chose a reputable consultant with great reviews, and it was a terrible mistake. I was in school full time back then and we knew nothing about the procedure, so we wanted it taken care of by an expert. Our file was prepared by a secretary who wasn't licensed at all, and it was so badly put together that I'm surprised it didn't get refused as soon as CIC received it. Me and my husband were panicking on and off for a year waiting for news and reading things on this forum and elsewhere, but the consultant reassured us everything was fine and that we would definitely be approved. Near the end we finally got together all the proof and evidence we had, and really wanted to send it in to CIC to avoid an interview, but the consultant's secretary said it would be impossible to do it (when really it was possible and it could have saved us!!)We soon realized that the consultant knew less about the process than we did, and we were refused after an interview. If we had only done the research before, we would have known what our "red flags" were and could have explained them when we sent in our original application! Everything would be so much different right now if we'd done the whole thing by ourselves!

I think there are lots of bad consultants and bad lawyers. For our next application we will need to use a lawyer, but we've chosen one of the best in Canada (it'll be crazy expensive but oh well!). There are some good ones out there though. I would go with someone who has great testimonies from clients and has won some tough appeal cases.
Oh, and I've heard of both lawyers and consultants withholding information for money (our consultant wouldn't give us letters from CIC unless we paid him a certain amount).

I hope this helps!! Good luck with your application, and I hope you and your husband are reunited soon

 

[co16062012]

My advice would be get as educated as possible about the whole process (this forum has taught me everything I need to know!) and maybe read some Appeal cases involving Indian sponsorships- just to see how VOs/immigration folk look at things. Having a lawyer/consultant won't make a difference in how quickly your application is processed, but choosing someone incompetent can have terrible consequences.

Me and my husband chose a reputable consultant with great reviews, and it was a terrible mistake. I was in school full time back then and we knew nothing about the procedure, so we wanted it taken care of by an expert. Our file was prepared by a secretary who wasn't licensed at all, and it was so badly put together that I'm surprised it didn't get refused as soon as CIC received it. Me and my husband were panicking on and off for a year waiting for news and reading things on this forum and elsewhere, but the consultant reassured us everything was fine and that we would definitely be approved. Near the end we finally got together all the proof and evidence we had, and really wanted to send it in to CIC to avoid an interview, but the consultant's secretary said it would be impossible to do it (when really it was possible and it could have saved us!!)We soon realized that the consultant knew less about the process than we did, and we were refused after an interview. If we had only done the research before, we would have known what our "red flags" were and could have explained them when we sent in our original application! Everything would be so much different right now if we'd done the whole thing by ourselves!

I think there are lots of bad consultants and bad lawyers. For our next application we will need to use a lawyer, but we've chosen one of the best in Canada (it'll be crazy expensive but oh well!). There are some good ones out there though. I would go with someone who has great testimonies from clients and has won some tough appeal cases.
Oh, and I've heard of both lawyers and consultants withholding information for money (our consultant wouldn't give us letters from CIC unless we paid him a certain amount).

I hope this helps!! Good luck with your application, and I hope you and your husband are reunited soon

me and my wife decided to use a lawyer as well because of our jobs and some of the forms that were there we really didnt understand at the time nor did we know about this site, its a new application and still in process thou, 1. the lawyer had his secretary filled out the forms and they made some really simple errors that if it wasn't for me and my wife carefully reading after every page we would have being screwed. 2. having a lawyer doesn't make the process go any faster or smoother. 3. the amount that they charged are really expensive, 4. we had to be calling the lawyer constantly till at one point had had to send a very "WORDED'' email complaining about his services.

In the end thou he did organised the file properly even labeling the stuff that they would look for, my advice is if your going to use a lawyer you have to follow up everything constantly,if you not sure as in what to do i think your at the perfect place already since someone can guide step by step.

 

[Wyz]

Hello all,

I am planning to begin my filing application for spousal sponsorship for New Delhi ( India) office.
My question is, would it be more definite of a process if I use the services of a lawyer for the application or if I use a friend who newly did a immigration agent course and certification and is not very specialized with India's cases. Knows more about Iranian cases.

I want to make sure I dont screw up the process for my husband's application hence the question as to what would be the best route.
I dont care if lawyers would charge more for the process as well....just dont want any problems as I cant deal with any more delays than have already happened. Been married since Nov 2011 and still not settled in canada with husband....

I know..what the hell, right?

I started off using a consultant because lawyers are attached with hefty fees (I know someone who filed with a lawyer and it cost about $2000). So I thought, this consultant should be fine as they did it for free and they know what they're doing since they cater to those with low income.

BOY was I wrong! The day I was going to mail out my package, and I had filled each and every thing my consultant gave me, I ended up reading some fine print and then going online and finding out that he never gave me my region specific form!!! ??? Turned out in that form, it specified all the photos and all the original degrees of my sponsored husband that I had to submit. Needless to say, that caused a huge delay while I got him to mail me his original degrees and filled out the region specific form and gathered all the things specified in this form, so another month went.

Once all complete, I looked over it about 10 times or so and then finally decided it was good enough to send out. All this to say that if you want something done right, you should just do it yourself. If it seems daunting to you though, this immigration forum's members usually help you out very well and if you are still unsure than go with the lawyer as a last resort. However, in your case, you seem to know your English and understand the basic concept so I don't think it will be a problem for you to fill out. Yes it will take time, but just because the forms are detailed, not because they're hard to understand.

Good luck!