doozer01

Hey,

I'm new here and looking for some reviews if possible....
Sorry in advance if this has been discussed before but I can't find any posts relating to it...

I'm British but my fiancé is Canadian and we are planning to go down the spousal visa route through her. I have been in contact with a company called migrate-me. I have found some reviews on Trust Pilot but wondered if anyone in this community has dealt with their services before and had some real feedback?


Many thanks

Andy

plasticcanuck

Well you seem to know what you want to do so why pay consultants loads of money to do something you can easily do yourself. Entry to Canada through the spousal route is probably one of the easiest ways to do so. Read:-
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

scilly

The usual advice seems to be to avoid using consultants unless you have some very complicated "mess" such as 3 divorces.

They will only charge large amounts of money, and ask you to collect all the documents needed.

A consultant cannot get you entry to Canada if you are not eligible!

Why pay them several thousand pounds when you can do it yourself? It's going to cost you a lot of money anyway, and you would pay the consultant fees on top of that.

MelVan

Agreed. It seems daunting at first, but with patience and attention to detail (and help from the good folks here on BE) it can be easily done without paying for assistance.

My spouse and I thought we might engage some expert assistance, but once I started looking closely at the forms, the questions they asked and the information we had to hand, and reading the Wiki here, it made sense to save the money and DIY.

Hurlabrick

What everyone else has said! Do it yourself - unless you have lots of money and really don't care too much about a couple of thousand ££ when all they will do is send you stuff and tell you to fill it in anyway.

If you want advice and a bit of reassurance, then you have come to the right place - this forum!

Have a read of the wiki section for spousal sponsorship. Here:

Spousal Sponsorship-Canada : British Expat Wiki

and here:

Spousal Sponsorship-Canada/FAQ - New Application Forms : British Expat Wiki

SchnookoLoly

+1 for do it yourself. Read through the very helpful links which have been posted, have a stab at filling out the forms alongside the FAQ (which is laid out to help guide you through the forms), and then post back with specific questions if/when you have them. Save yourself a few thousand quid in the process!

Engineer_abroad

+1 go DIY. You pay someone to basically fill in the forms for you based on the information you collect. The only exception to this is if you have complicated backgrounds.

For info I have done both DIY and consultant in the past for different applications and with different circumstances.

doozer01

Hi guys,

Firstly thanks for the replies. Reasons behind myself and my partner wanting to use a consultant for the spousal visa is unfortunately we have a lack of supporting evidence of us living together for a large proportion of the last year (we've been together a little over a year). Migrate- me are quoting £1500 all in (excluding Finger printing and such which is obviously on me).. we don't have loads of money but we're hoping it would be less stressful getting someone to help us.


Many thanks

SchnookoLoly

If you don't have evidence, then using a consultant is not going to change that. Either you have enough supporting evidence, or you don't. The presence of using an immigration consultant makes no difference on that. How much do you have? We can probably guide you for significantly less...

BristolUK

I may be taking the words too literally but do you mean you don't have much proof at all (full stop) or do you really mean a proportion as in together the whole year but there was a chunk within it (beginning, end or middle) where you were together but not officially renting and proof of rent is therefore missing?

Or maybe it's that although you've been 'together' in a relationship but only living together for the last part of a year? How long actual living together?

doozer01

Sorry

To clarify we have been together (and living together) for our entire relationship which is a little over a year. We started at my parents and then moved to another address before unfortunately having to move back to my parents due to unforeseen circumstances. I have proof via bills etc of living at my parents but due to not knowing whether the other address would be a permanent move I never changed any of my billing addresses so the only paperwork I have to show is a hand signed tenancy agreeement (with both our names and signatures on). I apprlacate a consultant only puts forward your application but was hoping they'd be able to help me out more of a case forward.

Many thanks

Engineer_abroad

What about council tax, electric/gas, internet etc. at the second place?

christmasoompa

You may not have much proof of address but what about proof you've been acting as husband and wife and have 'combined your affairs' - wills naming each other as beneficiaries, life insurance in each other's names, joint trips abroad, joint bank account etc? That would all help too and in fact is usually more important. Shared address doesn't mean you're in a 'marriage like' relationship, could just mean you were roommates! So you need to show you've been husband and wife essentially, whilst you lived under the same roof.

If you don't have enough proof, then hiring a consultant is likely to mean you'll just lose even more money when your application is rejected. I wouldn't bother personally, as said above you've either got enough or you haven't, and if you haven't then you'll have to wait until you do have.

Best of luck.

scilly

what about photographs, evidence of holidays together, letters from friends and relatives ..... obviously your parents know you were living together??

As christmasoompa says .......... wills naming each other as beneficiary ........ get thee to a lawyer immediately!!!!

Novocastrian

What about doing all of the above suggestions and then waiting for a year?