Hi again everyone,

Guess what? I'm asking advice again! But this time it's not about my sons disability.

I'm posting this on both the Canada forum, and the Immigration forum to ask opinions on this;-

Who, out of the U.K. immigrants reading this post, used a migration agent to sort their visa's out, and who just acquired the forms and did it themselves?

I realize it can be a lot cheaper doing it yourself, but would it generally be money well-spent by hiring a proffessional, someone who does this for a living, someone who can phrase things properly, present things properly, etc.

And finally, would the use of a proffessional give me that added little edge in attaining a visa?

Look forward to your opinions. Take care,

Kev.

I think that you will find that most of the UK citizens have completed the forms and sent off for all the relevant checks etc. themselves. I haven't come across too many Brits using consultants. From what I've read it doesn't seem to make any difference with time-lines; you either have a good case or not. I suppose if you were scrappling about for extra points then a consultant could be useful but most of the info is easy to find and the forms are not particulary daunting.

I did it myself.

Consultants cannot - just because they are consultants - expidite cases, nor do they have special access to insiders or any other power that you do not have.

What consultants do have - or should - is a thorough knowledge of immigration law, operating procedures, conventions and current "issues of the day." In that capacity their professional counsel, just like an attorney's, can be extremely valuable.

A good consultant should assess your situation, inform you of what immigration benefits and any legal relief that may be available (for complications) and, as importantly, prevent you from doing something stupid: remember, the adage is that most applications are denied because the applicant did not adhere to the instructions.

Consultants will tell you this, which of course is what you want to hear:

"Statistically, your chances of succeeding are increased if you are represented by a qualified attorney. But expert representation is not demanded by the Canadian immigration authorities".

They have to mention the latter part of that quote, as part of their duty, but what they will rather tell you is that, pay me to do it for you, as you have more chances of getting accepted.

I always say to people, as long as you can read and write, then you can do it yourself. Its all about organisation, and attention to detail. By paying a consultant, you are still doing all the run around yourself anyway.

Unless you have "wonga" coming out of your wazoo, do not pay out that kind of amount i have been reading about here. You can use that money to get yourself some qualifications here in canada, may be its just the way i think.

I couldn't agree more. The way it went with us was we hired a consultant and then had to worry about him getting things done right as he kept making mistakes

I second Mick's opinion, if you can read and right do it yourself. I think you will be able to put that money to better use when you get to Canada or you could spend them on a fact-finding mission to the province of choice and call it an investment into your immigration .

Good luck.

My wife and i are using a Canadian immigration company, they are canadian and used to operate from the UK, they moved back to Canada and set up there own company, they have been no end of help and advise, i have a German wife which i met while serving in the Army, they have helped in getting forms translated for my wifes qualifications, they have emailed us weekly , they arranged for a b&b when i went for a visit last year,they even call me on my mobile phone in the UK to let me know how things were progressing, we are now in the system, and our PR application was submitted in December 2003, and we got our AOR in Feb 2004, now we sit and wait, it is not quicker, but the advise we got from a company based in Canada that has been doing this type of work for years was invaluable and i reccomend them no end. The boss of the company is regularly in he Uk doing assessments and interviews, it costs £50 but worth it to hear what can and maybe will happen, all forms were in PDF fomat, we did it on the PC, sent it 1 day, next day it came back with corrections and recomendations, this wouls take weeks in some cases,YES we did all the paperwork filling and police checks ect...... but they also advised on circumstances that we had to get put right:- for instance, i have a criminal record, in that i was found guilty of ABH over 22 years ago, yet it still showed up on my police check..... 1 email later and i had a Statutory decleration form emailed back. got it signed by a solicitor, this saved in my view a cpl of weeks in getting the forms submitted. if you want their details please mail me or ask, and NO i am not touting for them... i just think they have been tremendous in helping us. Good luck.

Sounds like you are getting your money worth, i hope all works out fine for you in the end. Do remember though, that now that its in the system, they can't do anything else about it.

Like you said, you did most of the run around, am going to ask you though, don't you think you could have handled all that by yourself, how much is all this costing you?

Once it is in the system it can be added to, a case number can be added to at any time, i may qualify as a doctor tommorrow, and i am sure the Canadian Gov't would like to know this fat chance, BUT yes cases can be added to. i recently got some of my Army quals converted to NVQ's and then the Canadian equivalent and these have been added to my case file. As for my application, it originally was for a PNP application, but when the Canadian Gov't dropped the points system i qualified for PR ........ But because i was with the Immigration company already, they said they would hold the price for me....... RESPECT........ costs £2970. Bargain. Me wife and 2 Tennagers, the dog will cost more, but he dont need a job

Criminal record issue is precisely the type of complication that would justify an attorney/consultant's help. Not handled properly, these types of issues can create an awful mess.

For a straight forward petition, provided you can read and follow instructions, I agree that mickj, it can quite easily be done without professional advice.

But not all petitions are straight forward. Often there are child custody issues, criminal backgrounds, previous marriages, visa overstays and whatever else...these things can rapidly become complicated with waivers and affidavits and all sorts. So that's why I don't dismiss "consultants" out of hand.

By "not being able to do anything about it", i meant, they ( lawyers ) cannot speed up the process. Did they tell you they can do that?

Well of course you have to inform immigration of any updates, and most of this can be done online, change of address et al

If i won the lottery it might speed it up, and yes i understand "IT DOES NOT MATTER WHO OR WHAT YOU KNOW, IT WONT GO FASTER" just submit and sit back and ponder good luck to all that are trying