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On average, how much does a lawyer cost for Common-law PR application?

denbert

Full Member
Nov 4, 2014
26
1
I'm thinking of getting a lawyer to do all the paperworks as I am just soooo tired of all these.

How much will it cost me?

Thanks!
 

MaryLou6

Hero Member
Oct 23, 2014
397
25
Category........
Visa Office......
Mississauga, INLAND
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
11-09-2014, common-law
Doc's Request.
OWP received May 26.2015, SA & AIP August 31, 2015, DM on September 3, 2015
AOR Received.
14-10-2014
Med's Done....
upfront
LANDED..........
24-09-2015
I'd say, with a retainer and all from 1-5K in general. Might be more dependent on the lawyer.
 

DanSlh

Champion Member
Dec 24, 2014
1,279
81
124
Brazil
Category........
Visa Office......
Sao Paulo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-03-2015
AOR Received.
17-04-2015
File Transfer...
07-05-2015 AOR2............: 15-05-2015
Med's Request
Upfront
Med's Done....
19-02-2015
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
22-06-2015
VISA ISSUED...
25-06-2015
LANDED..........
02-07-2015
But do you have any red flag?
Because I think in a straight forward application, all a lawyer can do is show which forma you need to fill out.
At the end, you will have to do the forms by yourself.
 

DanSlh

Champion Member
Dec 24, 2014
1,279
81
124
Brazil
Category........
Visa Office......
Sao Paulo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-03-2015
AOR Received.
17-04-2015
File Transfer...
07-05-2015 AOR2............: 15-05-2015
Med's Request
Upfront
Med's Done....
19-02-2015
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
22-06-2015
VISA ISSUED...
25-06-2015
LANDED..........
02-07-2015
denbert said:
DanSlh, good point.

maybe I just do it all by myself. the horror of all these paperworks :eek:
At first it looks a bit scary but trust me: it's pretty easy since you don't have aby red flag.
Any question about forms you can ask on this forum, it won't be a problem.
Good luck
 
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floomy

Hero Member
Dec 17, 2012
791
22
Category........
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
DanSlh said:
But do you have any red flag?
Because I think in a straight forward application, all a lawyer can do is show which forma you need to fill out.
At the end, you will have to do the forms by yourself.
Agreed.
unless you have a situation to hire lawyer, you would not need them.
who would know your story more than you do when it fills out all those forms about relationship.

plus their fee would start from CAD 5000 (one of my friend hired for his pr- not sponsorship, and paid 5000.)
 

PM1983

Full Member
Aug 22, 2014
40
1
For everyone on this thread - a good lawyer in Toronto will cost between CAD 3300 and CAD 4000.
Anything below that and you're getting into the "seedy" territory. Telling you by experience.

The low-cost lawyers treat you terribly once they realize yours is a "straightforward" case.
Straightforward means - when your spouse didn't have a criminal background, wasn't rejected from entering CA, wasn't overstaying and going out of status.

Mine was a straightforward case and it was pathetic the way 2 low cost law firms treated us. Last minute cancellation of meetings, not providing a payment receipt, asking to be paid in cash only etc. etc.

We decided enough is enough and invested ourselves into a highly experienced, empathetic law firm. It cost us an arm and a leg, but it was soooooo worth it!!
The stuff they put into our application was amazingly detailed, and included documents we hadn't even thought of.

So my advice- if you feel you need a lawyer, go and invest in an established law firm. This is a question of your whole life, afterall.
 

Ponga

VIP Member
Oct 22, 2013
10,429
1,476
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IMHO, there are two types of applicants that use a lawyer.

1. Those with real red flags, such as criminality, non-genuine relationship with their sponsor, etc..

2. Those that simply can't be bothered to do the work...which really isn't work. Who knows their story better than they do?


Yes, it's a daunting task...especially the racing mind that overwhelms you after the application has been mailed, but...you'd still have those same concerns/fear/ anxiety, etc., after the lawyer mailed the application...but would have ~ $4k less in your pocket!
 

km9203

Hero Member
Aug 9, 2015
670
101
Med's Done....
Sent with app
Hey Denbert!

We used an immigration lawyer because it was provided through my common-law spouse's work. He was an expat in the UK and his company used the lawyer to sort his visa etc so they helped us out sorting out my options for applying for PR. No criminal record for either of us but used it because his work recommended them.
We used Egan in Calgary - they also have offices elsewhere. http://www.eganllp.com/EL/en/Services they do both business immigration and PR.

Their service was exceptional but pricey (around $5,000-$6,000 but they are a respected & legit immigration law firm). We would both really recommend them and it was worth the money. It was reassuring to have a second pair of eyes look over our forms and make sure we had answered everything correct. One of the main reasons applications are sent back is because something is filled in wrong.

This forum is really great too for asking Q's and if you don't want to spend that much money then I would recommend using here! We hadn't discovered until after we applied. :)
 

Canadianinlove

Hero Member
Apr 21, 2015
557
17
Category........
Visa Office......
POS
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
07-04-2015
AOR Received.
01-05-2015
File Transfer...
01-06-2015
Med's Request
Upfront
Med's Done....
13-02-2015
Interview........
29-10-2015
Passport Req..
30-10-2015
VISA ISSUED...
30-10-2015
LANDED..........
02-11-2015
I actually hired an immigration lawyer.
My husband and I knew that our application was going to be questioned.
He was married when we met and we got married quickly after his divorce.

We were able to complete all of the documentation and the application pretty much by ourselves. The hardest part was organizing it all.

We have paid in total 4700.00 to our lawyer.

We did this because we know our situation does not look good so we wanted to get a lawyer upfront.

But to be honest, he hasn't done anything for us to this point that we couldn't have done on our own. If we didn't have red flags I would have kept the 4700 and went a vacation!