How to choose the best immigration consultant - 5 tips to protect yourself from fraud

The choice to make Canada your new home is an important one, and it requires a lot of thought and consideration. The process of immigrating could be complicated and confusing. Thus, it is advisable to always work with a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC)

To give you peace of mind, it is recommended to have a detailed consultation with an accredited Canadian immigration consultant to ensure that you qualify for a visa or an immigration process. More importantly, a regulated Canadian immigration consultant  should be honest and provide a realistic assessment of your chances of securing the best pathway for you and your family.

An experienced immigration consultant, will be able to anticipate what can go wrong and make recommendations to improve your chances of success. Also, he/she can make the Canadian immigration process much smoother. However, finding a suitably qualified consultant can be a task within itself. 

The following points will guide you to choose the right RCIC:

> The consultant should be authorized by the Canadian government

As an applicant, you must check that your immigration consultant is an authorized one. A Canadian immigration consultant must be registered with the ICCRC (Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council).

All ICCRC members have a certificate of authorization as well as a photo ID card which will clearly identify their name and license number. All ICCRC license numbers start with the letter “R” and are followed by 6 digits.

To check if the consultant met the government requirements and it’s licence is valid, you can go to CCRC website. 

> The Consultant should provide a range of solutions

If your aim is Canadian permanent residence, a consultant should select the skilled worker program which clearly fits your profile and which result in you being granted Canadian permanent residence in the quickest timescale.

If you, at first, do not qualify for a permanent resident visa or don’t have a good prospect of success, a consultant should outline study or work options which will enable you to enter Canada on a temporary basis. The consultant should then explain how these temporary visas lead to permanent residence and create your own personalized roadmap.

> The consultant must know the Canadian job market

The most important factor in Canadian immigration cases is your work history. A good consultant will assess your previous and current job titles and compare it to Canadian occupational standards. A key element of the immigration process is to correctly identify your Canadian occupational codes and show how your work experience matches the essential duties in the Canadian code. Failure to do this correctly will result in your application being refused.

If your profession is a regulated occupation in Canada, a consultant will inform you of any licensing procedures and help you to start the process. This information will form an integral part of your visa application as you will need to demonstrate to the visa office that you are ready to work in Canada.

It is a mandatory requirement to have your qualifications and experience assessed by a designated third party who will perform a conversion against Canadian standards.

> The consultant must be aware of changes and updates in immigration processes.

Studying and understanding the laws and regulations is extremely important once changes may happen all the time and any small update may be the opportunity to proceed (or not) with a client’s application.

> The consultant can count on a specialized team for support:

Although each consultant can work independently, having a team of other consultants may help to increase the chances of success, even in the most challenging cases.

e-Visa Immigration has a team of 9 experienced regulated Canadian immigration consultants, working together to support each one of our clients!

5 tips to protect yourself from fraud:

1 - Be careful of anything that sounds too good to be true

• Using a representative will not draw special attention to your application or guarantee that it will be processed faster or approved

2 - Beware of representatives who encourage you to give false information in your application

• It’s against the law, and you could be denied entry into Canada or deported after you arrive

3 - Don’t sign blank application forms - never sign forms or documents unless you can read them. If you don’t understand them, ask someone to translate it.

4 - Make sure your representative updates you on your application often

5 - Protect your money and remember:

• The government ’ll never call you and ask you to deposit money into a personal bank account

• The government will never ask you to transfer money through a private money transfer company

• The government fee are in Canadian dollars and they’re the same around the world

• Any time you pay your representative, get a signed receipt

Check out the video we prepared about this topic:

And remember, you can count on the e-Visa team for every step of your immigration process!

Contact us.