A concerned client of Andrew Miller
Feb 11th 2009, 3:36 pm
#196
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 161
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
The maximum no. of points you can score for Basic ability in French as a second language is 2 points (even given basic ability in Reading, Writing, Spaking and Lstening)
The real issue in my view is the number of years of schooling.
I am really sorry, but it seems to me you will need to find some different strategies in order to qualify - it is probably possible in your case, even if not easy.
In which Province does your brother live (is it BC?), also does he know someone who can offer you a permanent skilled jiob?
The real issue in my view is the number of years of schooling.
I am really sorry, but it seems to me you will need to find some different strategies in order to qualify - it is probably possible in your case, even if not easy.
In which Province does your brother live (is it BC?), also does he know someone who can offer you a permanent skilled jiob?
Last edited by Ron Liberman; Feb 11th 2009 at 4:09 pm.
Feb 11th 2009, 3:50 pm
#197
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Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Victoria, B.C.
Posts: 283
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
(you don't have to answer if you feel it's too personal for an open forum like this, I'd understand)
Feb 11th 2009, 4:03 pm
#198
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 5
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
Hi There,
I was going to post on here as soon as I read the thread but didn't with fear of it being suspended like the previous post. If you read the previous post you will note that I am a paying client of Mr Miller too. I only got Mr Miller's attention to my emails when I posted the last thread on here. Anyway long story short he is ill (apparently) and I say apparently as I really don't know what to believe anymore. Afoks has been posting on his behalf on here and also replying to some of his "paying" clients. I indeed have had correspondence with Afoks but I have to say I am sceptical as to whether it is a seperate person... his emailing, use of words, tone of emails etc is exactly the same as Mr Miller's....
Anyway there is no point in contacting CSIC they can't do anything since he is no longer a member with them. I have already been down this road. Also, Mr Miller CANNOT represent you he can simply advise you on your application. He CANNOT submit this application on your behalf since he is not a registered CSIC member with a valid membership number. I have been advised that if your application has been submitted with him as a representative there is the chance of it being rejected.....
He maintains he does have other employees within his company who are registered members but will not pass that information on to their clients for use in the form so therefore you are lead to believe there are no such other employees.
What have we done to try and get a refund.... well Mr Miller has agreed to refund us an element of our money but once our PR application is completed. We submitted our application by ourselves, Mr Miller has done nothing to warrant the $4500 we paid him.... He is refusing to pay us the element of refund he has offered now. so I doubt very much whether we will receive it at all. He basically said that he would refund us $1500 which is the element for full representation. If our application is rejected then we can either have the refund to instruct a new representative or he will use that money to instruct one on our behalf (like I would trust him to do anything now....).
So long story short is I don't know what has happened to Mr Miller, there is no-one that I am aware of within his company who is dealing with clients on his behalf and the liklihood of you getting your money back is extremely slim. I have given Mr. Miller/Afoks 30 days I believe from middle of January to respond to me with a satisfactory reply before I contact the local RCMP as this is fraud. No doubt we will get a reply from AFOKS now...
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this is the way it is I am afraid.
I have to say I find it all very strange Mr Miller was devoted to this site and banged on so much about the importance of being a member with CSIC to then himself not renew his membership. The only reason for this what I can see is that CSIC changed their rules around September time and all consultants had to sit a test of some sort which included an English element. My guessing is that since Mr Miller is Polish (I have only just found this out) he didn't have the English capabilities of passing the test.
Anyway if you want any more help then just let me know.
Tracy
I was going to post on here as soon as I read the thread but didn't with fear of it being suspended like the previous post. If you read the previous post you will note that I am a paying client of Mr Miller too. I only got Mr Miller's attention to my emails when I posted the last thread on here. Anyway long story short he is ill (apparently) and I say apparently as I really don't know what to believe anymore. Afoks has been posting on his behalf on here and also replying to some of his "paying" clients. I indeed have had correspondence with Afoks but I have to say I am sceptical as to whether it is a seperate person... his emailing, use of words, tone of emails etc is exactly the same as Mr Miller's....
Anyway there is no point in contacting CSIC they can't do anything since he is no longer a member with them. I have already been down this road. Also, Mr Miller CANNOT represent you he can simply advise you on your application. He CANNOT submit this application on your behalf since he is not a registered CSIC member with a valid membership number. I have been advised that if your application has been submitted with him as a representative there is the chance of it being rejected.....
He maintains he does have other employees within his company who are registered members but will not pass that information on to their clients for use in the form so therefore you are lead to believe there are no such other employees.
What have we done to try and get a refund.... well Mr Miller has agreed to refund us an element of our money but once our PR application is completed. We submitted our application by ourselves, Mr Miller has done nothing to warrant the $4500 we paid him.... He is refusing to pay us the element of refund he has offered now. so I doubt very much whether we will receive it at all. He basically said that he would refund us $1500 which is the element for full representation. If our application is rejected then we can either have the refund to instruct a new representative or he will use that money to instruct one on our behalf (like I would trust him to do anything now....).
So long story short is I don't know what has happened to Mr Miller, there is no-one that I am aware of within his company who is dealing with clients on his behalf and the liklihood of you getting your money back is extremely slim. I have given Mr. Miller/Afoks 30 days I believe from middle of January to respond to me with a satisfactory reply before I contact the local RCMP as this is fraud. No doubt we will get a reply from AFOKS now...
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this is the way it is I am afraid.
I have to say I find it all very strange Mr Miller was devoted to this site and banged on so much about the importance of being a member with CSIC to then himself not renew his membership. The only reason for this what I can see is that CSIC changed their rules around September time and all consultants had to sit a test of some sort which included an English element. My guessing is that since Mr Miller is Polish (I have only just found this out) he didn't have the English capabilities of passing the test.
Anyway if you want any more help then just let me know.
Tracy
We are in the same situation as you. We have tried to contact Andrew Miller without success via telephone and e-mail over the last 3 months. We have paid him £2,000 and we want our money back as he has done absolutely nothing for us. It sounds as though you are in the same situation - is there anything we can do?? it seems ridiculous that he should be allowed to get away with this, especially when you look at the numerous e-mails on this site.
Steven Haynes
Feb 11th 2009, 4:13 pm
#199
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 161
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
By all means, ask your MP to support the recommendations of the Standing Committee. I suspect you may not agree with all of them, but certainly giving CSIC statutory authority to prosecute unregulated consultants seems to be something on which we can all agree.
Feb 11th 2009, 9:17 pm
#200
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: Newcastle, UK to London, ON
Posts: 123
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
Dear Tracy,
We are in the same situation as you. We have tried to contact Andrew Miller without success via telephone and e-mail over the last 3 months. We have paid him £2,000 and we want our money back as he has done absolutely nothing for us. It sounds as though you are in the same situation - is there anything we can do?? it seems ridiculous that he should be allowed to get away with this, especially when you look at the numerous e-mails on this site.
Steven Haynes
We are in the same situation as you. We have tried to contact Andrew Miller without success via telephone and e-mail over the last 3 months. We have paid him £2,000 and we want our money back as he has done absolutely nothing for us. It sounds as though you are in the same situation - is there anything we can do?? it seems ridiculous that he should be allowed to get away with this, especially when you look at the numerous e-mails on this site.
Steven Haynes
Feb 12th 2009, 2:46 am
#201
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 12,830
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
When trying to contact a business you are having problems with, tather than e-mails you may want to send registered letters to the last known address. E-mails will not be considered as adequate attempt to make contact from a legal stand point.
If a business is a registered company, e.g. Incorporated or Limited, then a search can be undertaken through the provincial or federal govt. depending in whether the registration is federal or provincial. The address this comes up with would be the one to send the registered letter to. In the letter state your claims and demands. Don't waffle on about how you feel, just get to the point.
I am not advocating any one take actions against any individual, this is just a view on processes.
https://www.bconline.gov.bc.ca/products.html#cso
A corporate search can also be made though Service Canada locations.
If a business is a registered company, e.g. Incorporated or Limited, then a search can be undertaken through the provincial or federal govt. depending in whether the registration is federal or provincial. The address this comes up with would be the one to send the registered letter to. In the letter state your claims and demands. Don't waffle on about how you feel, just get to the point.
I am not advocating any one take actions against any individual, this is just a view on processes.
https://www.bconline.gov.bc.ca/products.html#cso
A corporate search can also be made though Service Canada locations.
Feb 12th 2009, 3:03 am
#202
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,687
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
If you have paid money, but not received the service you paid for, then you can make a claim in the Small Claims Court. It only costs a couple of hundred dollars. See here:
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/civil...aims/index.htm
If you know where the other party has their bank accounts you can arrange for the money to be seized by the court until judgment. That tends to get people's attention.
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/civil...aims/index.htm
If you know where the other party has their bank accounts you can arrange for the money to be seized by the court until judgment. That tends to get people's attention.
Feb 12th 2009, 9:42 am
#203
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Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: Black Creek, Vancouver Island since December 2012
Posts: 1,385
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
If you have paid money, but not received the service you paid for, then you can make a claim in the Small Claims Court. It only costs a couple of hundred dollars. See here:
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/civil...aims/index.htm
If you know where the other party has their bank accounts you can arrange for the money to be seized by the court until judgment. That tends to get people's attention.
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/civil...aims/index.htm
If you know where the other party has their bank accounts you can arrange for the money to be seized by the court until judgment. That tends to get people's attention.
Feb 12th 2009, 9:45 am
#204
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Joined: Aug 2006
Location: Newcastle, UK to London, ON
Posts: 123
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
At the end of the day that could easily come to £1500 potentially - you've paid around £2000+ already, so there's a huge percentage lost simply to recover something that's rightly yours!
Last edited by cserpent; Feb 12th 2009 at 9:48 am.
Feb 12th 2009, 10:05 am
#205
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Location: Black Creek, Vancouver Island since December 2012
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Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
It so happens that there is an initiative underway to press for implementation of the Standing Committee Report, which would give CSIC the statutory authority to prosecute unregulated consultants.
Please note I am not saying that Andrew Miller has done anything wrong - I have no personal knowledge of this - but will be speaking to my MP over the next few days about this, as allowing CSIC to discipline people that are not its members, or who are former CSIC members, is an important issue that in my view needs to be addressed. In the U.K. the law definitely does allow the authorities to prosecute persons giving UK immigration advice who are not registered.
Therefore if nothing happens to resolve this matter within the next few days (and I hope it will!) anyone who wishes can please feel free to PM me with details of any issues they are prepared to share. Wiith your permisison, I will pass them on to my MP as examples of why these legislative changes to CSIC's statutory authority need to be brought into effect.
I think we will have a stronger CSIC if these changes are made.
Please note I am not saying that Andrew Miller has done anything wrong - I have no personal knowledge of this - but will be speaking to my MP over the next few days about this, as allowing CSIC to discipline people that are not its members, or who are former CSIC members, is an important issue that in my view needs to be addressed. In the U.K. the law definitely does allow the authorities to prosecute persons giving UK immigration advice who are not registered.
Therefore if nothing happens to resolve this matter within the next few days (and I hope it will!) anyone who wishes can please feel free to PM me with details of any issues they are prepared to share. Wiith your permisison, I will pass them on to my MP as examples of why these legislative changes to CSIC's statutory authority need to be brought into effect.
I think we will have a stronger CSIC if these changes are made.
This CSIC policy for suspended/revoked members seems to be what is needed but what is also essential is the power to prosecute those that don't comply.......
This Policy is only what is recommended.....it doesn't have any strength behind it so those that are going to disregard CSIC rules to the extent of suspension/revocation are certainly not going to respect this with no consequences attached.
Feb 13th 2009, 1:00 am
#206
Immigration Consultant
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Posts: 2,144
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
You may be able to join your claims with other parties who are more local so that you have a local contact and can share the cost of lawyers etc.
Feb 13th 2009, 1:05 am
#207
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Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Near Kingston, Ontario
Posts: 1,321
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
might be worth contacting a lawyer to see if he can do a "class action" lawsuit?
Feb 13th 2009, 1:07 am
#208
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Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Near Kingston, Ontario
Posts: 1,321
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
http://www.lawyers-bc.com/classactions/clalawy.htm
is a site that has details of lawyers who do this type of stuff- I was'nt sure as I was too lazy to look all the way through thread- was this in BC or Alberta?
is a site that has details of lawyers who do this type of stuff- I was'nt sure as I was too lazy to look all the way through thread- was this in BC or Alberta?
Feb 13th 2009, 1:09 am
#209
Immigration Consultant
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Posts: 2,144
Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
What I make the scores are:
Education = 12-15
English language = 16
French language = 4
Work = 21
Age = 10
Brother who is Canadian citizen = 5
......so I reckon I need at least 12 points in education, (although my training is a 2 yr Apprenticeship, I don't know how I could prove 14yrs education), and basic 4 points of ability in French, which I'm told is 'A' level standard.
My partner/other-half is a central heating engineer by trade but doesn't have any pieces of paper to show an apprenticeship. Don't know if he would get any points under adaptability.....
Thanks again
Education = 12-15
English language = 16
French language = 4
Work = 21
Age = 10
Brother who is Canadian citizen = 5
......so I reckon I need at least 12 points in education, (although my training is a 2 yr Apprenticeship, I don't know how I could prove 14yrs education), and basic 4 points of ability in French, which I'm told is 'A' level standard.
My partner/other-half is a central heating engineer by trade but doesn't have any pieces of paper to show an apprenticeship. Don't know if he would get any points under adaptability.....
Thanks again
Do you have a certificate etc from your "apprenticeship" or anything to document it?
As Ron said above if you are claiming Basic proficiency in French you only get 2 points total (even if you have ability in all of reading, writing, listening and speaking). For more than 2 points you will need to have Moderate proficiency in some of those abilities. Do you think that is realistic based on your ability level?
Feb 13th 2009, 10:55 am
#210
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Re: A concerned client of Andrew Miller
It seems like the problem here is not that you were home schooled but rather that you lack "a one year post-secondary educational credential". Even to score 12 points you need your 12 years of schooling plus a one-year post-secondary credential. Without this your education only scores 5 points which wont be enough.
Do you have a certificate etc from your "apprenticeship" or anything to document it?
As Ron said above if you are claiming Basic proficiency in French you only get 2 points total (even if you have ability in all of reading, writing, listening and speaking). For more than 2 points you will need to have Moderate proficiency in some of those abilities. Do you think that is realistic based on your ability level?
Do you have a certificate etc from your "apprenticeship" or anything to document it?
As Ron said above if you are claiming Basic proficiency in French you only get 2 points total (even if you have ability in all of reading, writing, listening and speaking). For more than 2 points you will need to have Moderate proficiency in some of those abilities. Do you think that is realistic based on your ability level?
The guy that sent me the apprenticeship justification was adamant that he was successful with it and didn't have any education beyond school......One never really know's until one tries and we have nothing to lose now.
If we don't get accepted on the strengths that we have then we will have done our best......
I can only do evening classes, and I am continuing with french because it gives us additional points...we can't afford for me to go to college for a year to get the 'one year credential', I have to continue working because of the countdown to pension day tying in with the application.
It's so frustrating really because my OH has 20 years of central heating/plumbing experience as a Corgi registered engineer....but no bits of paper...and now he is used by the company for other skills that he has too.......like COS work, health & safety, auditing, training new staff and loads more but still he has no bits of paper...
As for me.......Loads of training.......loads of skills gained during 27years of police service...and loads of experience in many different areas.....but no bits of paper worth anything to CIC......I am gutted now, absolutely gutted......
It's depressing but what can we do?
Work on thinking of a plan 'B' I guess.........
