Avissfamily

Hi have any of you used a lawyer to do your immigration process? If so, has it been worth it? Is it quicker and is the stress off you. if not how long does the process take doing it yourself?
Cheers, any advice and tips at this beginning of applying point would help us greatly.
Thanks

iaink

Lawyer makes no difference to timeline EXCEPT that they should ensure you dont forget anything or make an mistakes on the paperwork that will take time to correct.

All the letters and paperwork you need to submit will still need to be gathered by the applicant,so that doesnt really help, and timelines are just as uncertain with a lawyer as without. Really you pay the money for peace of mind that nothing has been forgotten, and to know that forms have been checked by someone who has done this before.

Avissfamily

Thanks for that, we are quite removed from the nearest canadian embassy, so are really considering it.

George-Ang

We used a Canadian immigration Company, peace of mind was had because its what they specialize in, they sent us all the forms and made sure everything was in order before they submitted it, but it does not speed up the process.
Good luck.
George

achak

We have used Abrams and Krochak. Although it doesn't speed anything up it has given us great peace of mind. It's not difficult to get all the paperwork together but as it is such an important job I feel better knowing I have done it all properly and we stand the best possible chance of being successful.

Regards

Angela

Smokey

We had no confidence and so hired a lawyer. In theory Iank is quite correct....they check and check so things don't go wrong. That would be why our forms received back had mistakes in it and we had to send our valuable cheque back to them twice in Montreal coz they kept changing things that didn't need changing. They didn';t answer what we thought were a couple of important questions and point blank refused to order our CAIPS notes when we were called for an interview. You don't necessarily get peace of mind

You should know, however, we got through anyway

wensamjam

Hi Avissfamily,

we use an immigration agency, and have found them really useful and helpful. We are going to Nova Scotia, and have just got our interview date today, so going to meet with our agency to go through everything. But it is really peace of mind, not that it gets your application any faster, it doesn't. If you want a number for the agency then pm me. We are going to Fall River, just outside Halifax.

Avissfamily

Thanks a number ,ight be useful. Problem is we're working in qatar for the foreseeable future and there is no Canadian embassy here so will have to use a lawyer or agency.
Do these people help you find jobs too???

iaink

Is there no postal service in Qatar? Just cos there is no embassy or CHC doesnt mean you need to waste money on an agent.

If in Qatar you just have to apply through the CHC in Kuwait, as long as you would have no problem (visas etc) attending an interview there if required. If thats a problem , then apply through London.

I would be extremely suspicious of any agent offering to help find you a job. It just doesnt happen. As you probably knowm any paid agent would have to be either a Lawyer registered with a canadian provincial law society or a member in good standing of CSIC. Anyone else CANNOT act on your behalf for money.

Avissfamily

Hmm, really don't fancy dealing with people in Q8, been there done that. Maybe we'll apply through London or just do more research for a well-reputed lawyer. Just out of interest how long has your process taken, and are you done yet and what oh what is an AOR???!! You can tell we're green at all this!
Thanks

iaink

I'm long done with the process, and have been in Canada 7 years on Friday, initially on a work permit, but as a PR since 2000. I am now a canadian citizen. Applying while living in Canada it took about 10 months to get PR back then (Pre 9-11), and my employer paid for there lawyers to help out with th paperwork etc, so it was pretty pain free for me.

AOR is "acknowledgment of receipt"...the first step along the way. You'll pick it up as you go along!

I made a decision early on that I was not going to obsess on how the application was proceeding, it would come when it came. I see the poor lost souls in the immigration forum obsessing on there eclient status, and Im glad I decided to just let it happen in its own time!

Good Luck

cello

We are using these people, Abrams and Krochak.
They were quite good early on. (We are probably a straight forward case.)
Then they were crap!
Dropped the ball on the new form for use of representative.
They forgot to mention the changes, so I sent our forms via UPS, then they checked them over and noticed that they sent us the old form and didn't update it.
Even though we had been in contact many times, even just the day before I sent an email stating that I was going to be shipping the documents the next day.
The crap part is they way they handled my complaint. Didn't! Just said that forms change from time to time.
So much for a good service.
They talk a good talk early on but once they have your business it changes.
I had to re-send the new forms at an extra cost of £35!
So be careful, the forms are not really difficult but you do need to be very accurate.

THUNDER 0

[QUOTE=cello]We are using these people, Abrams and Krochak.
They were quite good early on. (We are probably a straight forward case.)
Then they were crap!
Dropped the ball on the new form for use of representative.

Had the same myself over the Xmas. More courier costs!

Make sure you read the submissions properly as well. There were about 8 errors in the original draft they sent me. Ranged from misspelling names, having other peoples names and the classic line that my experience in IT would be useful as a welder in Canada!

Second attempt only had two mistakes though so they got better..... (Cut and paste should only be attempted by those who know how to use it)

Papers all finalised and sent to London now so the long wait begins. Hopefully it will end with me living in Calgary with my sons who are already there.

achak

They e-mailed us a copy of the new form and asked us to complete and return to them. In fact the only crap service we have recived has been from UPS. They would only give me a 12 hour time frame to collect our application so we went through the post office.
Is anybody else using Abrams & Krochak as we have paid an awful lot of money to them and I would hate to think they are crooks. Although we are a reasonably straight forward case we have only just got enough points and that is why we went through these people in the first place..
Hopefully you are a one off case.

THUNDER 0

To be fair, we've had no problems with A & K.

If the CIC change a form then it isn't A & K's fault (but we all still like a moan or two). The errors in the legal submissions I found funny rather than annoying. I used to write appeals submissions for the DSS so I know all about cut and paste and they obviously hadn't been checked at their end. Only took a couple of emails to sort and all papers are sent off now.

A & K have a money back guarantee so there shouldn't be a problem. Their exclusion list is quite hefty but as long as you have done as they have asked you should be ok. I even took the IELTS exam... Strange experience.