If you choose to use a professional immigration representative, you should ensure that your representative is legally authorized to act in that capacity.
Even in the face of strict rules and fines for offenders, newcomers to Canada are often targeted by immigration scams from fraudulent consultants and representatives.
The rate of incidence is high enough that Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada even devotes an entire month (March) every year to fraud prevention.
Newcomers who employ a licensed immigration representative can take steps to verify the authenticity of their credentials. This article will cover the definition of an immigration representative, before detailing procedures that you can take to confirm the authenticity of their immigration lawyer or consultant.
What is an immigration representative?
An immigration representative is an individual who assists you (a newcomer) with your immigration case. These individuals perform tasks such as
- Providing advice on best practices and next steps in your immigration journey;
- Completing forms on your behalf;
- Communicating with IRCC and other immigration officials on your behalf; and
- Representing you in official immigration hearings.
If you use an immigration representative, you must declare this on your immigration application, using the appropriate form.
Who can be an immigration representative?
Representatives can be paid or unpaid. Under Canadian law, any person (for example, a friend or family member) can legally act as your immigration representative, provided that they do not receive any compensation in exchange.
Paid immigration representatives, on the other hand, must be legally authorized under Canadian law to act in that capacity. Paid representatives must be authorized by the relevant regulatory body.
You must always declare your use of a representative, paid or unpaid.
Using an unauthorized paid representative, or failing to declare your use of a representative, can lead to a refusal of your immigration application.
Only the following professionals can legally act as paid representatives in Canada:
- Lawyers and paralegals licensed by a provincial or territorial law society;
- Citizenship and immigration consultants licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants; and
- Notaries licensed by the Chambre des notaries du Québec.
The remainder of the article will focus on how to verify the credentials of the above professionals. If the paid representative you are considering hiring is not a member in good standing of the relevant regulatory body, you should not to use their services.
How to verify the authenticity of your representative
The source you should refer to in order to check registration will depend on whether your paid representative is
- A lawyer or paralegal;
- A citizenship or immigration consultant; or
- A notary.
Immigration lawyers and paralegals
You can navigate to IRCC’s webpage to see a full list of law societies for every province and territory.
From here, select the relevant legal society from the links in the list presented. This will take you to that legal society’s directory page, where you can check the representative’s registration.
You will be prompted to enter information about your immigration lawyer or paralegal to confirm their registration, such as
- their name;
- their law society registration number;
- their current status with the law society;
- their designation (lawyer or paralegal); and
- the city they operate in.
If your representative is authorized by their regional law society, you should be able to see them listed and to verify that they are currently a member in good standing. Due to the fact that Law Society websites are structured differently and provide somewhat differing information, the following table outlines some key areas to pay attention to on each Law Society webpage:
| Law society | Key areas |
|---|---|
| Law Society of Alberta | – Current citations; – Discipline history; – Current restrictions. |
| Law Society of British Columbia | – Current status (should say “practicing”); – Current practicing restrictions; – Discipline history since 1983. |
| Law Society of Manitoba | – Firm; – Status (should say “practicing”). |
| Law Society of New Brunswick | – Status (should say “practicing”); – Insurance status (should say “insured”). |
| Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador | – Practicing status (should say “practicing”); – Roll (should show registration number). |
| Law Society of the Northwest Territories | – Roll number; – Membership type; – Membership status. |
| Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society | – Member type (should say “practicing lawyer”); – Member #. |
| Law Society of Nunavut | – Practicing status (should say “Regular-Active Membership”) |
| Law Society of Ontario | – License type (lawyer or paralegal); – Law Society Number. |
| Law Society of Prince Edward Island | – Membership status (should say “practicing”) |
| Law Society of Yukon | – Membership status (should say “resident lawyer”, “non-resident lawyer”, or “certificate of permission to act”; – Discipline history in Yukon; – Certificate expiry date (if applicable). |
If your representative’s credentials or registration do not show up after a search, or if you require further information, you can also call the law society directly to inquire further.
Citizenship and immigration consultants
Citizenship and immigration consultants in Canada must be registered with the College of Citizenship and Immigration Consultants.
The college runs its own directory page, where you can check the credentials of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCIC) and Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs).
Simply enter the relevant information of your consultant in the fields to check their registration and standing with the college. If your consultant is found, the webpage will display their name, college ID, profile, company, license type, and whether they are entitled to practice.
Only RCICs and RISIAs with an “active” status and who are marked “Yes” under the entitled to practice column may legally provide paid immigration advice or services.
Licences provided by the college range from “Class L1” to “Class L6”. A breakdown of each licence, and what it entitles an immigration consultant to do can be found on the college’s website.
Notaries
Notaries must be authorized by the Chambre des notaries du Québec.
To check whether your notary is licensed, visit the Chambre des notaries du Québec directory page.
From here you can input the relevant information in the fields provided and search for your notary.
Within Canada, the professional designation of notary is specific to Quebec.
Declaring your use of a representative
If you are using the services of an immigration representative (whether paid or unpaid) you must declare this to IRCC.
You can declare your representative using the “use of a representative form,” available on IRCC’s website. Your representative can fill out this form for you, but you must ensure that all information is accurate and validate the form with your signature.
If you have not applied yet, you must include the use of a representative form with your complete application.
If you have decided to use an immigration representative after applying, you must complete the above form and send it to IRCC electronically using the online web form.
If you would like to cancel the use of a representative, this must also be declared to IRCC by filling out the relevant fields of the “use of a representative form” and submitting it through the department’s web form.
Benefits of using a professional representative
It’s important to understand that using a representative does not guarantee any advantage in the processing of your application. If you submit the exact same application with or without a representative, there will be no priority given to one over the other, and your application will not be processed any faster.
Representatives do not have any special influence over the decision-making process, nor do they possess any “superpowers” to speed up approvals.
That said, there are many other reasons you may wish to use a representative. An experienced professional representative can save you time and help you avoid pitfalls in navigating the complex and often confusing Canadian immigration system. A licensed representative can assist you in strengthening your application, ensuring that all necessary documentation is included, correctly filled out, and well-organized. Their expertise can significantly reduce the risk of errors or mistakes that could lead to delays or even refusal of your application.
Additionally, working with a representative can save you time and effort by handling tasks that might otherwise be tedious or overwhelming, such as tracking deadlines, preparing required forms, and communicating with immigration authorities. The support of a qualified and experienced immigration representative can reduce stress and help ensure your application is as strong as possible, increasing your chances of success.
