Rosh72

Hello

I am about to depart with my hard earned cash but before I do, I thought it might be a good idea to put a post up on this forum.

Has anyone heard of or even had experience with 'Campbell Cohen'?
(www.canadavisa.com)

Whether it is good or bad experience I would love to get some feedback on this soon.

Really want to get the ball rolling on our immigration venture to Calgary.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Regards
Roshan Bappoo

rubberduckofdeath

Hi,

When I first started looking into our application for PR, I spoke to a couple of agents. Campbell Cohen was one of them. They made promises about calling me, emailing me etc and never made good on them. When I called them, they were rude and blunt on the phone.

Personally, based on that experience, I'd avoid because that was how I was treated before I'd even parted with any money. I don't know what they'd be like once they *have* my cash...!

In the end, I'm glad I didn't use a consultant as I saved a bag of cash and it wasn't too hard.

Reidies

We didn't use a consultant as they don't quicken up your application at all. So if you want to save money, just follow CIC's instructions to the letter and do it yourself.

Rosh72

Thank you for the 2 replies. In response to the second reply, I would prefer to do it myself but my circumstances are not so straight forward and in my opinion will require professional guidance.

Main problem being is my trade does not fall in any of the job categories where there is demand in Canada. Besides, I have been a self employed Freelance Graphic Designer for the last 8 years and would find it difficult having to work for someone else again.

My wife has been working part time for HSBC for the last 10 years.

Federal skilled worker probably wouldn't work for us. Hence the reason for some professional advice.

Regards
Roshan

Reidies

Good luck with your application, My OH has worked for the last 17yrs through his own limited company. When we arrived he set up something similar here ( I thinks it's called Incorporated) and it was quite straight forward to set up. Although he started a job yesteday as a paid employee!!! ( paid holidays/sick benefits and Health insurance is such a novelty!!!)

BenB2

Hi,

I am with them. I have found them acceptable, considering this in context of the number of hours I would expect them to put in for the amount of money I am paying them.

Through my company we use a lot of professional contract services, so I guess I may have a slightly different perspective on what things cost and what you can expect in return for them.

For my budget, I personally view this as a small expense in the grand scheme of all the expenses associated with emigrating. While it is true that they can not accelerate the assessment of your file through the queuing process. I still believe, that where they do help speed things up is through helping you prepare a very thorough file and supporting evidence - one that will avoid requests for additional documents and associated delays and more brought forward dates.

The stage I am talking about is between moving from Received By Visa Office to in Processing, to the next phase medicals requested. This is where CIC assess your application and evidence, it is this stage where a file that does not have sufficient evidence or is lacking documents may end up getting rejected out of hand or delayed by the VO requesting additional evidence.

When it comes to lawyers each of us individually has to make their own determination about whether they want to use one in the context of their individual circumstances / time line wishes.

Look at it another way, if I was asking you to hire me and pay me 80K a year for the next 40 years as part of the contract, would your company hire someone that had not bothered to provide the best possible proposal document. When you consider the cost in this context, I think the proposal of whether or not to spend the money speaks for itself. And when you assess the levels of service you receive, you need to turn it back into man hours of labor. When you are not paying for free bl*w jobs, champagne and caviar - then you should not be surprised when you don't receive them.

I would rather retain a professional that spoke bluntly and managed expectations with realistic expectations than one that candy coated it. This is not about people or personal, this is a business transaction about achieving a very specific goal.

If you feel you can work with Campbell Cohen in that professional context I think they will work well for you and save you money and time over their competitors.

Hope that is of some help.

Kind Regards

Ben

lovekan

HI

Rosh

i am using them at the moment.

befor ei stated my immigartion process i enquired with a lot of agencies naming a few being canadavisa.com, immigration.ca, global visa, migration expert, and lots more... i started by doinga self assessment on their website and then waiting for thei rresponses.

next step for me before i picked on was to ask them the questions about my situation so eg in your case asking them and clearly telling them what your situation si and seeing how they reply and whats their advise. a lot of them will tell you how they woudl go abt doing your visa.

next if possible speak to them if you are unclear of something.

next searching them on google and looking at forums where people have given comments abt their agencies etc.

and trust me when you do the above you will start shortlisting them as you will know who is more confident in answering your questions etc.. and also then compare fees etc.. some o fthem had rediculas fees like 5000k or 6000k i cut them out of my list staright away.

when canadavisa when you send them email they respond withing 5 days as there is time difference so you need to be prepared for that.

initial enquiries with them are all answered by mr cohem himself and once you pay them or enrol with them they appoint case officers to hand different steps of the process.

like you will get a dedicated case ofiicer who will look after the initial submittion. then onces you get the 1st AOR then 2nd case officer will be appointed to followup and help you with documents submittion like they wuill drive you like give you a dead line by when you need to send all documents and answer all questions if you have any.

3rd case officer will handle post submittion stage.

my advise is you before you pay anyone ask them all the question coz every agency speacialised in certain things.

so ask them all your doubts and see who is confident enough to answer you satisfactorarily. and then go ahead.

Good Luck../

Rosh72

Are you happy with their service so far? Do you find Campbell Cohen efficient and professional? Hope you don't mind me asking but what stage are you at in your application?

lovekan

I have received my 2nd aor

Rosh72

That's great, how long has it taken so far?

RubyRose

I used Canadavisa, and I cannot fault them at all. They were absolutely professional from start to finish and dealt with all my problems speedily and efficiently - as my case was rather complicated. I started off being married, then separated and finally divorced. They had solutions to every single phase and it wasn't costly at all.

Think about why you may retain their services.

regards
Ruby.

Jim Humphries

I can say that Campbell, Cohen are well experienced and competent immigration advocates.