Immigration or the act of moving to another country in the hope of establishing a better life for yourself and your family is a courageous act and one that involves well-thought-out decisions. The immigration process is also not an easy one since it involves gathering various documents, meeting several eligibility criteria, filing of visa application, etc.
Every stage of this process has to be carried out meticulously and only after careful observation. A single mistake in any of the steps and your whole hard work goes down the drain. Thus, this makes many consider hiring an immigration consultant for this task. With an authorized immigration consultant, one can be free of such worries and let the consultant carry out the necessities.
However, here comes one of the biggest worries of any person who is looking for an authorized immigration consultant: “What if the consultant I hired is a fraud?” We understand that the immigration industry is infested with fraud consultants who impersonate authorized consultants so well that they are able to dupe the keenest of eyes perfectly. However, there are some ways by which one can notice such deceiving behaviors easily and identify the real immigration consultant.
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Recognize a Fraud Immigration Consultant
If you meet a consultant who promises to fastrack your visa application process or guarantees the success of the immigration process, you should recognize the imaginary red flag waving behind their back and run away. The Canadian immigration process is handled by the authorities in Canada and they decide how fast an application is processed, not the scammers. Thus, there are no “shortcuts” when it comes to immigration.
Tips to Spot Fraud Canada Immigration Consultants
- Too-good-to-be-true offers– A consultant who offers you everything, such as guaranteeing a good job in Canada or promising accommodation in the new country is probably a fraud.
- Upfront payment– If the consultant you hired is asking you to pay them upfront, even before the process starts, you should stay away from them as far as possible. An authorized Canadian immigration consultant asks for the payment as the process goes ahead. There are several stages in the immigration process where you would need to make the payment, thus a genuine consultant only asks you to make a payment when it’s needed. The fraudsters are, obviously, only in this for your money.
- Silent treatment– If the immigration consultant you hired suddenly vanishes into thin air as soon as you pay them, there’s no doubt they are a scammer. A real consultant would never leave your side without making sure that you have successfully immigrated. Some consultants, like Talent Connected Worldwide, stay in touch with their clients even after the immigration process.
- Guaranteed Success– A genuine immigration consultant would never guarantee you anything. The whole process of immigration depends on the government of Canada and only they can decide whether to let an individual stay in Canada or not.
- Unreal fast-tracked process– Only a fake consultant would make a fooling promise to fast-track your process even when it’s not possible. The immigration authorities of Canada will be the ones that decide the processing time.
- Offers to make fake documents– An immigration consultant might offer to develop fake or fraudulent documents for you, such as a fake work reference letter, or fake Provincial Attestation Letter, etc so that your chances of success increase.
- Request personal information- You must never share any kind of personal information, such as your bank details with anyone. An authorized immigration consultant will not ask you for your personal information, they only ask for documents that are necessary for the application process.
- Offer immigration by donkey routes– If the consultant offers you to take a donkey route (cross different countries via illegal routes to reach destination) to immigrate to Canada, you should not only run away from them but also report them right away.
- Suggests to provide false information– An authorized immigration consultant would never suggest you to commit a crime, and providing false information in your immigration application is a crime. On the other hand, a fraud consultant would not shy away from offering you to take this step just so your chances of success increase. If the authorities of Canada catch this antic, you may be barred from entering Canada for the next 5 years or face other similar consequences.
How to Protect Yourself From Canada Immigration Fraud?
The steps below will help you reduce the chances of getting stuck in any sort of Canadian immigration fraud:
- Take a few steps back – Do not hurry, even if the “Great offer” is going to expire in an hour or a minute.
- Research – Do online, and if possible, offline research before making any payments.
- Evaluate – Do a thorough evaluation of all pros and cons.
- Ask tough questions – Do not hesitate to ask questions. Someone unwilling to answer easy and trivial questions is not going to help you in the future as well.
- Investigate thoroughly – ask for references and, if needed, pay a physical visit.
- Do a background check – check ratings, reviews on quality of services, complaints, and complaint redressal.
- Check every document and agreement that they are asking you to sign.
- Make sure that the people offering the services exist. Physical face-to-face meetings or video conferencing, checking the address listing on Google Maps, and verifying the posting, will help you ensure you are signing up for fraud consultants. In case you are still suspicious, talk to the offices in the neighborhood to get feedback.
- Ensure that all payments are made by cheque/online and not in cash. You still have a chance if your money has a trail. For all payments, seek an invoice or receipt.
- The payments must not be made on a personal account. It should be on a firm or a company’s corporate account.
- If you are signing an agreement with the company, it must be with the registered consultant and their name, and the registration number must be mentioned on the agreement. In any other case, it is a similar situation that you are shown something and sold something else – a complete eyewash.
Who Is an Authorized Immigration Consultant?
Authorized Canada immigration consultants are members in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) or the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC). On 23 November 2021, ICCRC was officially rechristened as the “College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants” (CICC). An authorized immigration consultant is approved by the CICC to provide people with legal information about immigration-related matters.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) every year approves about 500K immigration applications. Many applicants choose to use an immigration representative to assist them with their application to ensure that they do not spend too much time studying new rules and regulations and avoid any mistakes in their application filing. Immigration representatives are authorized to charge a fee for immigration advice and filing-related help and activities to visa applicants.
Lawyers and Paralegals: Immigration Lawyers or Paralegals belonging to a Canadian Provincial or Territorial Law Society.
Quebec Notaries: Notaries belonging to the Chambre des Notaires du Québec.
The Government of Canada has designated the CICC as the national regulatory authority to check fake and fraudulent consultants, agencies, and companies. This ensures that the interests of individuals who seek to immigrate to Canada with the help of an immigration consultant are safe.
Important Note: IRCC does not deal with unauthorized immigration consultants and all applications filed through them will be rejected/blacklisted.
Every immigration candidate is responsible for the information provided in their immigration application at all times and cannot pass on the responsibility for any incorrect information solely to the consultant.
It is in the best interest of every candidate, whether hiring an authorized immigration consultant or choosing to do it themselves, to make sure all the information in their application is true and correct. It is against the law to give false or misleading information to IRCC, and they may face a ban for several years and might not be granted any visa to the majority of the countries for years to come.
How to Verify if an Immigration Consultant is Registered or Not?
To check the credentials of any immigration consultant, you can look at the below-mentioned links and verify them:
1. College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC)
Tip- Put the first name, last name, registration number, company name, agent name, and some other information. Any combination of these details can be used to search and verify that the name of the consultant exists. It also provides the contact and address coordinates including the name of the company/firm with which they are registered.
Note: It is important to note that any agent or partner to the registered consultant must be mentioned in this portal. Otherwise, it is not a legitimate tie-up and will be termed as illegal. It is a usual practice by many fraud companies to mention a registered consultant’s name on their website or put a picture of the registered consultant to fool clients.
2. The Chambre des notaires – Check the credentials of notaries
3. Law Society of Ontario – Check the credentials of paralegals
NOTE: It is important to make sure that the name and record of the representative not only exist but also are “Active” and in “Good Standing”.
With these measures taken, you are surely going to make a better decision and choose the right immigration consultant for your case.
If the Canadian Government ever needs to communicate with any applicant, it will only use the following handles:
- @cic.gc.ca
- @canada.ca
- @international.gc.ca
Emails from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, and other generic handles will usually be fake. Most of the details must be confirmed from the Canada.ca website.
Do I Need a Canada Immigration Consultant?
Immigration is a time-sensitive process and if the case paperwork and filing are not done promptly, opportunities could be lost, and opportunities do not knock twice. As per the Canadian government portal, it is not required/mandatory to hire an immigrant consultant or a representative to file for you. But it is very much required if you:
- want to apply for the latest programs for quick success
- want to be ahead of the lot and beat others with your preparedness
- want legally correct advice
- think that you cannot afford to take a risk with your application and want an accurate and fool-proof submission.
- want to take advantage of all the rules and regulations in your favour
- have a high-flying job and time means money to you, and you cannot waste your time filling out forms, reading rules, and regulations, and being aware of the changes/amendments
- are applying for a new program or a constantly changing program
- have already done it yourself and did not succeed
- have a special case that would need an expert’s legal advice
- have a rejection or past issue
Choose Talent Connected Worldwide, the Authorized Immigration Consultant
Talent Connected Worldwide has an immaculate track record of getting success to its clients and giving the most trusted and transparent advice in the most time-sensitive manner. Rachal Sidhu, the co-founder and Director at Talent Connected Worldwide is registered with CICC and has her registration as RCIC (R527196). She also holds an active membership with CAPIC (R16157). She is “Active” and in “Good Standing” with the council.
Other than her, our other co-founder and Managing Director, Mr Devdatt Dhariyal, is also a registered agent on the CICC portal. He is the agent of our representative, Rachal Sidhu, and one can look for them in the CICC portal.
Talent Connected Worldwide has over 15+ years of experience and has helped over 23K successful applicants. Get in touch with our local offices and initiate your Canada Immigration process today and avoid Canada immigration fraud.
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