which is faster? having a lawyer to represent you in migrating or doing it alone

[shantle]

which is faster? having a lawyer to represent you in migrating or doing it alone with a cic? is it safe to have a lawyer? how much will it cost me to have one? who can you recommend the best? i am from the philippines...

 

[GK]

Using a lawyer doesn't fast track the process in any way. Any lawyer that says he/she can fast track you is trying to scam you.

 

[BCguy]

All applications are treated equally with or without lawyer,That being said Politically Connected Lawyers is a different story.If your Lawyer is one of those Yes.But those are rare.For example I know a Former Member of Parliament who is a Immigration Lawyer.He is very effective But expensive.You only use people like this If you have lots of resources or you have problems.For example you score less then 67 points,Then you may have to use Ministerial discretion,which not all people have access to.But the Immigration minister has the power to waive Immigration Requirements

 

[cherrywyf]

Do it yourself, just AEO(from HRSDC) could speed your application.

 

[sherman]

I fully agree with fellow members. Lawyer can not speed up directly but a good represented case will face less process difficulties. If you have complications regarding education/ work experience etc, you may use services of a good and qualified laywer otherwise, better do it yourself.

 

[explorer_bkk]

Lawyers or immigation expert is no requirement of CIC however the expert advice of immigration expert would save time and money

 

[AlberMex]

It is slower with a lawyer...at the end it could take 3-4 months more.

 

[claxtonCT]

Use a lawyer only if your case is a difficult one, like when you need some legal background knowledge to be able to get thru, IE: a gay binational couple never married trying to immigrate as a couple and living in other countries or situations such as unsettle divorce or pending child custody. On the other hand if you have a plain simple background (only one marriage, all documented, work all documented, etc) then you would throw your money out the window because the immigration lawyer would do exectly what you could do yourself.

Also be on the lookout I can assure you there are more scammers than real lawyers out there

As to if its faster I dont think it makes it faster, because if you use a representative all correspondence between you and CIC will have to go thru the representative, so instead of sending docs to CIC directly you will have to send it to you lawyer for him to analyse and then send it to CIC, sometimes they take from days to weeks to do just that depending on how busy they are. At the end this could add 1 or 2 months of plain paperwork shifting.

The cost of canadian immigration lawyers in Canada runs from anything between 1000 to 7, 8000 dollars

good luck

 

[IT applicant]

I would say use a lawyer if you don't have much time to spend finding out which is the right way for the process/docs submissions etc..Again even with time,sometimes you are left wondering as there is no clear direction due to lack of info..

But having said that pitfalls might be that you are totally dependent on your lawyer..e.g you have to wait till he responds to your query to finalise something and no doubt good lawyers are very expensive..
But yes the process gets expedited with good lawyer as you might face less clarifications from Immigration,which might delay your process

Hope this helps..

cheers!

 

[jtob]

if you have the money but not the time to research the application process, i would say hire a lawyer to do it all for you.
if you want to save $$and have all the time to sit in front of a computer with internet. you can do it yourself.

 

[vivenhs]

Hi,
i suggest spend as much time as possible reading/consulting the CIC website as well as the threads in this forum - very2 useful, members are knowledgeable - willingly sharing their views and FREE.

vivenhs

 

[Hzhane]

For having a lawyer because they can know what to do in a fast way.



_________________
California Orange County Lawyer

 

[aanbaan]

Re: which is faster? having a lawyer to represent you in migrating or doing it a


frankly, from CIC or CHC's perspective, it does not make a ziltch of a difference.

it depends on you... and the lawyer you are hiring.

all the information is available on internet. If you have some time to spare for research yourself, do it yourself. If not, then you can hire a lawyer. most lawyers will give you the information on phone or in person... so, you may end up saving time on reading the instructions...

plus there will be 1 level of screening before your application is forwarded to CIC.

Beware: some lawyers will not help you in anything apart from arranging your docs in order and mailing them across... they won't help in getting PCCs and formatting the language in your application

 

[abhi_hola]

it is slower with a lawyer if you nfill up stuffs & provide accurate documentation; it actually will save you at least 2 months if you DO NOT go to a lawyer! As well as at least 2000 USD!

 

[nicholas30]

It's just that a lawyer will guide you in the correct way...like filling up the forms correctly in case if you have doubts, help you with the procedures & information.

It wont affect the speed of your application.