The Ultimate Guide to Canada Immigration: How to Choose an Immigration Consultant in Dubai
When choosing to apply to Canada to immigrate, contacting a licensed immigration consultant in Dubai can avoid confusion and save your time and effort. However, a mere google search of the “best immigration consultants in Dubai” would give you too many results and confuse you as to who can be trusted or not. Therefore, the primary goal is to look for a licensed and authorised representative.
Representatives
A representative can be paid or unpaid. Unpaid representatives can be family members or friends, or other third parties who do not charge a fee. Only an authorised representative can charge a fee. Be wary of representatives who initially advertise their services as free and request payment later, or those who suggest and advise lying on your application. It is against the law to give false and/or misleading information in your application, doing so can lead to serious repercussions.
Authorised representatives who are licensed to represent immigrants or to give advice are :
- lawyers or notaries who are members in good standing of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, or Chambre des notaires du Québec
- paralegals (Ontario only) who are members of the Law Society of Upper Canada
- citizenship or immigration consultants who are members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.
Note that the Government of Canada will not deal with representatives who are not authorised but charge a fee. Using an unauthorised representative may result in your application being returned.
IMM consults is specially established to provide professional immigration services that tailored to varied individuals along with top licensed Immigration advisers and Attorneys who are members of MARA (Migration Agents Registration Authority), the law society of Canada, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC). Hence, a reliable representative.
How to protect yourself from fraud
The information and documentation required for the application are important and personal. Therefore, be cautious as to how you deal with the process and whoever is handling your documents. The Canadian government lists the following tips to protect yourself from fraud:
- Beware of representatives who encourage you to give false information in your application. As said before, it is against the law, and you could be denied entry into Canada or deported after you arrive
- Don’t leave original documents or photos with your representative
- Don’t sign blank application forms
- Don’t sign forms or documents unless you can read them. If you don’t understand them, ask someone reliable to translate
- Get a signed receipt after you pay your representative
- Make sure your representative updates you on your application often
- Protect your money. Note that you will never be called by the Government of Canada and asked to deposit money into a personal bank account. You will never be asked by the Government of Canada to transfer money through a private money transfer company
- The processing fees are in Canadian dollars and are the same around the world.
Learn more about how to protect yourself from fraud.
If you’re having problems with your representative, see:
