We are planning on applying for our visa and everything ourselves but have just had a thought that it may be harder than we first thought! Is anyng one doing it themselves and managing? Or is anyone using an agent and finds them invaluable?

My hubby is a nurse and so needs to register in manitoba which he is doing at the moment

He has contacted the local hospitals and awaiting replies.

All that is left is to wait for the hospitals to reply and fill out the forms for the provincial nomminee programme etc, and they seem straight forward unless ive missed something

The choice is yours of course, but with a nursing job you get support from the HR department and the process is relatively straight forward so you shouldn't have too many problems. If you do encounter something you are unsure of it is unlikely that you won't find an answer on here.

thats great, just having a wobble! Will carry on as we are and annoy everyone to death by asking silly questions

I have spoken to people who have used agents and there has been a mixed response from them. Some thought they were great and loved paying upto 10,000 for some one to fill in the forms for them. Others have real horror stories and wish they spent their money else where.

Agents ask you the information and then put the inforamation on to a form.

As a society we are getting totally useless at filling in forms. I was in the Police and we use to have courses how to fill in forms!!! Name, address, date of birth. It sounds silly but you can go to the post office and pay a total stranger to check your passport form before you mail it off. She is not checking that it is correct.... she does not know your address date of birth etc, she is just checking that you have filled in every box. AND THAT IS THE SECRET to filling in forms. FILL IN EVERY BOX.

I have relatives who when applying for immigration had the same form returned twice....... for missing boxes!!

So if you want my opinon, agents are great if you are totally terrible at filling in forms. Agents claim that their applications get processed quicker than anyone else....well they do not, but they do fill in every box and thus no returns wasting time.

summing up...... if you are able to answer every question, save your money and do it all yourselves ( we did).

If you need someone to help you fill in every box ( and no disrespect but you are out there and people make money from you) then use the service, they are there to help you to get here quicker and it can be money well spent.

The system is meant to be designed so you can do it yourself without hiring a lawyer/consultant. However it all comes down to the individual.

How good are you at form filling & providing a solid case to back up claims? How good are you at researching the various ways to immigrate?

We did it all ourselves, and with help on here got through the process. Worth noting that without this site we'd be back in the UK still waiting....

As posted above, with PNP employer will support the process so it's not like you're on your own...

I'm with Helen on this. Save the money if you can. You will end up doing all the research and providing all the info anyway...why not go that extra step and fill in the forms. Moreover, I don't think any agent will be as precious over the quality/accuracy of the content as you will be yourself. We did it ourselves...takes a methodical approach and some patience to gather all the papers but it is not rocket science.

Eamonn

Hi,

While I am closer to the beginning of the SW PR process than the end (docs & supporting evidence all prepared, gathered, notarized and triple checked & ready to send the whole lot to CIC) - so at this stage it is difficult to judge based on success or failure - because I havent got to that stage yet with CIC ....

But I can say, the immigration lawyer I am using has gotten me to change things and do things differently on the forms that never occurred to me in my initial slavish preparations that I sent to them. I would be the first to admit the application seems the better for it. Plus it is re-assuring to know someone else who knows what they are doing has crawled all over it as well.

I dont claim to be the world's best form filler - but I am certainly no where near the worst either - there are definitely things that under advice has been changed and I suspect the forms are now more inline with the best possible presentation of the information / CIC guidelines.

So far I am happy - and the service of the lawyer in question dont stop at simply form preparation but through submission, application tracking to interview preparation.

Where I stand now I am glad I have retained their services in my particular case with this specific law firm.

Everyone's situation is obviously different - the view I have personally taken is that in the scheme of the total costs of moving continent, life, job & ultimately citizenship - where we consider not only the total financial costs but also elapse time costs / querries - that the immigration lawyer fees I am paying are small / reasonable in the grand scheme of things -given what I am trying to achieve if it helps get to where I want to be.

Just my 2c

Ben

I used an agent years ago as I didnt wonna screw the forms up, major mistake he was a complete muppet and I had to take over when my med requests arrive, complete waste of money IMO

Obviously I am biased, because I am an immigration lawyer. I would be wary about paying fees to an "agent" because, most often, all they are capable of doing is filing out the forms. If you get into real trouble, they don't have the ability to help you. What's more, quite often they don't spot major issues ahead of time because they don't have a comprehensive understanding of the law. You would also be surprised about the fees. In my experience, "agents" are usually more expensive than Canadian lawyers.

About the process being transparent, that's not always the case, but certainly what Immigration Canada wants you to think. They have their own agenda, and there are many instances when they do not tell people the whole truth about the state of the law. (Ask me about the residency rules and I will tell you something completely different from what they will tell you.)

Asking the High Commission for advice is a little bit like asking Inland Revenue to help you fill out your tax return. You will get information, but you may not be told all of your options, what is in your best interest or how you might overcome obstacles.

Finally, we are all human, and sometimes the government makes mistakes. Without legal representation, you are not in a position to challenge them. The immigration process is a lot more than just about filling out forms.

If you are not going to do it yourself I strongly suggest getting an agent who is not a lawyer. You can look on the immigration threads here for people who have given sound advice for free over an extended period, these are people who depend on their reputations for future business and who will go out of their way to protect that reputation. If you do engage such a person and it doesn't work out you can take action against that person in small claims court.

If you engage a lawyer and it doesn't work out, you have no recourse, you can complain to their professional body but complaints such as "took money provided no service", "provided inaccurate advice" are so common that the law society has radio buttons for these on its web site. These are not complaints that are going to be taken seriously. You could engage a second lawyer to chase the first one but that's just going to be good money after bad.

Obviously someone who's already prepared to admit to being a lawyer has no reputation to lose but in a sense that's irrelevant the lawyer won't actually handle your case; some clerk, probably a recent immigrant will do that. Better to choose someone who has a decent reputation on one website than someone who, by dint of his trade, is already less trustworthy than the man on the Clapham omnibus.

That's a rather harsh welcome for a new member to this site. You obviously haven't done your homework.

Indeed someone hasnt hugged a tree for a while

I'm a midwife just going through the PNP process and I'm doing it all myself. I've just passed my exams and am eligible for registration in BC. If you don't mind filling lots of paperwork in (which if your OH is a nurse, should be second nature...lol), then I would say do it yourself and save a small fortune. I've found it all to be pretty straightforward up to now.

That's a red rag to a bull if ever I've seen one..... I'm off to fetch some popcorn....

Hi
We have just picked our visas and did it all ourselves.
It is not rocket science just do exactly what they say, nothing more and differently not less.
It saves you money and cuts down on time all your documents are in the post or getting lost in it or sitting on someones desk thats on holiday, so increasing your waiting time.
Lee