Canadian Immigration Bulletin

CANADIAN CONSULATE and/or INLAND OFFICE

Clients sometimes wonder whether or not they can just go to a Local CIC Office or a Foreign Consulate Office and get the advice they need from them.

There are eight main branches of regulatory offices in the Canadian Immigration System. These are as follows:

The Case Processing Centres in Mississauga, Vegreville and Sydney ( different functions),
The Human Resources Offices in Canada,
The Local CIC offices in Canada,
The Refugee Determination Division, in Canada,
The Foreign Consulate Offices around the world,
The Area Processing Office, in Buffalo N.Y.
The Inspection Officers at the Ports of Entry into Canada,
Designated Medical Practitioners both in and outside of Canada.

None of the aforesaid offices or persons can authoritatively speak for and bind the others. Furthermore, these offices or persons are just too busy to give a client individual personal attention. They are not in the business of planning and arranging client’s affairs so that they become eligible for Canadian Immigration. (Just the way Canada Revenue Agency is not in the position to advise clients how to arrange and plan their affairs to minimize their tax liability.)

These offices or persons are much better at administration and enforcement, than advising and planning for clients.

DUAL FUNCTION

Many clients are unaware that the immigration authorities have a dual function. Firstly, they have the responsibility to process applications for immigration status. Secondly, they are required to report and prosecute violations of the immigration laws. This is an obvious conflict of interest.

Consequently, an innocent inquiry or application may result in a client being prosecuted for an offence. The material disclosed during the inquiry or application, becomes the starting point for an investigation that leads to a prosecution. Therefore it is best to have the assistance of an experience immigration lawyer before making inquiries or applications.

LEGAL ASSISTANCE

Clients often wonder whether they need to hire a qualified Lawyer or whether they can do it by themselves. Theoretically, if a client had all of the qualifications which a competent Immigration Lawyer has, then, in a simple case they could do it by themselves. However, it may take them many years of unnecessary delay to gain status.

Even competent lawyers often hire other lawyers to represent them. Don’t forget the legal maxim-"A client who acts for himself has a fool for a lawyer". It is very difficult to remain objective when acting for oneself.

Furthermore, clients often feel they do not qualify for Canadian Immigration when in fact they do; because they did not attend upon a competent Canadian Immigration Lawyer who will thoroughly analyse their individual situation.

CAN I JUST FILL IN THE FORMS ON MY OWN?

The practice of law consists of the following:

The filling in of forms,
The modification of forms,
The supplementation of forms,
The making of submissions, based on the application of the facts to the law.

Anyone can fill in the forms and get rejected. The non refundable application fee is then forfeited. It takes no skill to get rejected. However, it does take skill to submit a competently prepared application, supplemented by more that just the minimum documentation that the forms request.

EXPENSE

Clients are often concerned about the expense of legal fees. However, we have all had the experience of trying to do something ourselves when it would have been cheaper to hire someone who was experienced and qualified to do the work. Many times it costs more to correct the error than it would have originally cost to have paid a professional to do it right in the first place.

ELIGIBILITY

There are APPROXIMATELY 32 TEMPORARY CATEGORIES available and there are APPROXIMATELY 17 CATEGORIES that can be used to obtain permanent residency. Obviously, it is important that a though analysis be conducted so that a client can make sure that he or she is eligible for all appropriate categories or visas.

NON LEGAL HELP

People often feel that they can use a non-lawyer or interpreter. This problem was commented on by a knowledgeable New York lawyer who was a former member of the board of governors of the New York chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. His comments also apply to Canadian Immigration.

"I am writing to you because I am concerned with the ever increasing numbers of disreputable persons who advocate, and permit the practice of fraud and deceit on the immigration service. They victimize the general public and tend to destroy our American ethics. By the time the victims visit a reputable lawyer they have little or no funds remaining to pay a reasonable fee to try to salvage their cases. These persons who prey on the general public are the many ‘notarios’, ‘travel agents’, ‘immigration consultants’, ‘some Q.D.E.’, ‘foreign-lawyers residing in New York’, ... There are many others."

NON LAWYER IMMIGRATION CONSULTANTS

Client often want to know if the can just use a non lawyer immigration consultant.

Mr. Stuart had a client contact him who went to a non lawyer Canadian Immigration Consultant. The consultant took a lump sum fee and left Canada without doing the work competently. The application was rejected by the case processing centre. The client came to Mr. Stuart and he did the work and successfully got the client permanent residency.

A lawyer is required by The Law Society to put his retainers in trust and not use the funds until he has completed the work and sent his client an account.

Recently some non lawyer Canadian Immigration Consultants were charged with fraud and alien smuggling.

Non lawyer immigration consultants are an unlicensed group and consequently some are honest and competent and some are not. Unfortunately, it is only after the fact that a client finds out which category he or she is dealing with.

HOW CAN YOU HELP

Keep in mind that you are paying for a lawyers time and advice. However, a lawyer cannot change the truth. Therefore, you can help by being truthful and frank with our office about what you have done and what your situation truly is.