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Five Red Flags To Be Aware Of When Choosing An Immigration Representative To Canada

In the middle of a recent flow of false immigration activities, specifically, the people aiming at asylum finders, this blog will summarize five indications that immigration applicants may be working with a person striving to take advantage of their longing to relocate to Canada.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC’s) fraudulent prevention month is March. As Canada becomes a beacon for people worldwide desiring to get employed, study, and develop a life, the focus on immigration fraud is critical. The 2024 theme, “20 years of fighting fraud: from then to now,” discusses the transition of fraudulent skills, adjusting from conventional patterns to refined frauds, related to Social media and Artificial Intelligence. Canada’s devotion to safeguarding Canadian citizens and new immigrants is essential in a topography where wanting a life in Canada can make prospective settlers fall for deception.

Based on the President of the Montreal Bar Association, David Ettedgui, the institution experienced a 26 percent rise, which started from 13 percent to 39 percent in immigration-associated grudges from 2018 to 2022.

The President stated that these numbers portray only the hint of the iceberg regarding false conduct committed by bad actors in the Canadian migration spot. He noted that the Montreal Bar Association introduced an awareness campaign to stop individuals from becoming prey to these fraud artists. This is based on the CBC News Story released when the campaign started in the middle of February.

Hence, immigration scam is a crisis in more locations than only Montreal. So, every international citizen must understand what to seek when maintaining an immigration representative and how to recognize legal representatives versus scam actors seeking to extort their funds. This is a fact for both people presently relocating to Canada and those contemplating Canadian relocation in years to come.

The Five Red Flags To Consider

Below, we will summarize the five vital notification signs to consider when choosing an immigration representative, whether an attorney or a consultant.

Red Flag 1: Unverified Certifications

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) explains that, for a legal immigration representative to lawfully offer recommendations or represent Canadian settlers, they must be certified by the applicable regulatory entity for their occupation. Scammed actors will usually have unverified certifications that cannot be verified.

Citizenship or immigration consultants must be enrolled as members of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Also, attorneys and notaries all over Canada must be law society members in their region or state. Lastly, in Ontario, paralegals all over the region must be enrolled with the Law Society of Ontario.

NOTE: When it has to do with Quebec, notaries must be enrolled with the Chambre des notaires du Quebec.

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) advises immigrants to Canada to check if an individual is a member in good spot, which several law firms permit you to do online, and not make use of the services of a person who is not in good place with their respective law entity.

Red Flag 2: Demand For Cash Payment Without Issuance Of Receipts

Legal and certified immigration representatives often offer their customers explicit billing records. So, Canadian immigration applicants must know the threats related to any representative who demands cash payment for their services without giving adequate receipts or invoices.

Red Flag 3: Absence Of Official Documents

Records handle an essential position in the immigration procedures to Canada. As referenced by CBC News, Ankit Joshi was a citizen of India who was deceived by a scammed immigration consultant when relocating from Australia to Halifax. CBC states that when it had to do with Joshi, the unapproved consultant developed false documents and never presented Joshi’s documents to the Immigration unit.

This fact emphasizes the significance of ensuring relocation applicants operate with certified representatives since this conduct, as explained in Joshi’s condition, can place a person’s request and future in Canada at threat, mainly if they are not very acquainted with the laws and guidelines.

Red Flag 4: Services Provided Outside Of Professional Offices

Certified immigration representatives will often have an official location of the business to perform sessions with customers. So, as advised by CBC News, sessions held in restaurants and wine or coffee shops instead of the attorney’s office are a clear sign of false conduct from an immigration representative since they do not have a confirmed office space.

Red Flag 5: Promises Of Assured Success Or Fast Processing

Pledges of expedited processing of a relocation request or assured victory are unrealistic, and administering is an evident sign of false activities.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released both service measures, which is the duration of time, naturally shown in weeks or months, that IRCC has concluded it is beneficial to take before the division makes a conclusive judgment on a request and often updates its processing times online to provide Canadian settlers a notion of how long it may take for their request to be determined.

Note: Service measures differ based on the kind of application presented by an applicant, and these durations only apply to conclude requests that have to do with all needed accompanying documents. Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) states that the division strives to process 80 percent of requests all over the lines of business within service measures.

Thus, Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada also explain that nothing can assure success for a Canadian immigration candidate. Regardless of who represents you, what program you apply to, or what nation you use from, assurances of victory with your immigration are just a trial to take advantage of desperate international citizens looking for a new life in Canada.

Safeguarding Yourself And Others

Using the confirmation tools offered by Canada’s various lawful regulatory entities, Canadian immigration applicants can secure themselves from becoming victims to bad artists who seek to exploit weak individuals.

The people who witness dubious operations are also motivated to assist their fellow immigrants by reporting this act and playing a role in Canada’s broader endeavors to fight immigration scams.

How A Confirmed Immigration Attorney Can Assist

After confirming their lawfulness as an immigration representative via one of the means above, a skilled Canadian immigration attorney can help assist Canadian settlers on their expedition to a fresh life in this nation.

Notably, a skilled immigration attorney can:

  • Assist candidates in preventing errors.
  • Talk and answer to the Canadian administration on behalf of a candidate.
  • Assist candidates in preventing excessive delays through the request processing stages using their skills.