Vietnam sponsorship

[thanh245]

Hey just wondering if anyone who did spousal sponsorship used the service of a immigration consultant in vietnam? My parents are bugging me to use someone they know in saigon, vietnam. This dude is gonna charge me roughly $700 for his service. But iam already doing most of the application myself and it doesnt seem that hard. Reading the 22 months application wait is freaking me out. Will a consultant really improve my chances and wait time since they help so many people with applications? I really do not want to wait the 22 months??

 

[Fencesitter]

Do it yourself. You don't need to spend money on a consultant. I did my own research and then found this site...so in essence, CANADAVISA.com was my consultant.

As for speeding up the process, I'd be really annoyed if consultants get preferential treatment. Why should a consultant be able to speed things up? That would strike me as extremely unfair to the rest of us who worked hard and did it ourselves.

Just my two cents...

FS

 

[canadianwoman]

Consultants cannot speed things up. They cannot guarantee a successful application. If you do not know what you are doing and have not found a site like this where you can ask questions, then a consultant may help you avoid errors that could derail your application. If you don't have much time and just want a consultant to do everything, well, keep in mind that it is still the sponsor and applicant who have to gather all the evidence and all the documents, and explain their story. They may save a little time, but on the other hand the consultant might cause delays - everything has to go through his or her office, for example.

Now for people who are not native speakers of English or French, or who have a complicated case, I suggest you do use a consultant or immigration lawyer.

 

[willy0275]

Thanh, my ba xa is also from Saigon and I spent almost 8 months there last year. As canadianwoman says, you don't need a consultant. Your application must look legitimate and I feel using a consultant for the whole process could even make things worse as it won't feel as personal.

The main thing to do is to get a lot, lot, lot of proof that your relationship is genuine. Dozens of pictures, description of each of them, proof of hotel, airplane, restaurant, etc. A consultant can't do that for you.

 

[RCVmini]

I wouldn't hire a consultant either, the application from the Canadian side although a pain in the a$$ is completely do-able on your own.

My wife and I went to see one of these consulting companies and all they really offered was to help fill out the paper work. Just like the consultants on this side in Canada don't really do much IMO. In once case the most respected company in vietnam told us to fill it out ourselves for that very reason and told us we didn't need them.

Where they do help is if you were a vietnamese local trying to navigate the visa application on your own without any uderstanding of english. In those cases it was more for those who were requesting a vistor/tourist/student visa.

Just follow the steps on the website, be sure to read the guides AND have someone look over the application.

As well as others have said include lots of photos, travel/flight ticket stubs etc to help prove the relationship.

I don't think a consultant is needed unless your situation is complex. In fact there have been ads on TV from the government of canada warning people that consultants aren't needed and any who say they can make things go faster are not telling you the truth and are tying to scam you.

On another note, 22 months is the AVERAGE processing time from ALL countries who go through the Singapore VISA office.
The actuall average I've seen from friends and on these boards seem to be about 8-10 months.

If you need an interview that can delay things unless you are willing to go to Singapore for an earlier interview. I'm already prepared to do that as I have friends in Singapore who can help bring my wife to the interview office in Singapore if needed.

 

[Jimbob]

Hello, I would like to share my experience. I agree with previous comments made in regards to hiring a lawyer in VN or Canada for that matter. I did hire one in HCMC ($700) because of the language difficulty and my limited time. If I'd had lots of time to do the research and wait around, I would have done it myself.
I mailed my sponsorship package to Mississauga March 7th and it was received on the 13th. I called them today and they told me the wait is now 90 days (not two months). I asked why? I was told "Volume"....now we wait..................

 

[RCVmini]

Do you have the number for the CPC in mississauga? I just got my package returned because they said I was missing IMM1344 IMM0008 which was IN THERE but looks like no one checked that section of my package.