Know Your Options Before You File Your Application
If you’re looking for someone to represent you with your immigration issues, in Canada you have several options. You can represent yourself, retain an immigration lawyer, or settle for an immigration consultant. When making this important decision, you should consider recent statistics showing that lawyers have the highest success rates when it comes to application approvals.
Differences Between Lawyers and Consultants
The most significant differences between immigration lawyers and consultants are that immigration lawyers have legal training, have obtained a law degree and have been licenced by the Law Society of Ontario. Immigration lawyers have the skills, knowledge and experience to increase your chances of success in your case.
Consultants hold a one-year certificate and pass an exam, but they don’t have a law degree, nor have they gone through the rigorous preparation necessary to pass a bar exam. Immigration lawyers in Canada know the law intimately and stay up-to-date on the latest developments in immigration law. They can also represent and advocate for you competently in the event that your case goes to federal court.
Data Shows Immigration Lawyers Have Higher Success Rate
Data recently released shows that people who turn to Canadian immigration lawyers to prepare their Canadian visa applications have a much higher acceptance rate than those who prepare their own or hire a consultant. According to the figures, in 2017, Canada received 342,154 temporary resident applications. Of those applications, 18.9 percent was rejected. Here is the breakdown of the numbers.
- Eighty-six percent of applicants represented themselves, and 19.3 percent was refused.
- Six percent hired consultants, and 18 percent was refused.
- Five percent turned to an immigration lawyer, and 10.4 percent was refused.
“Canadian lawyers’ rigorous education, legal analysis skills, and high ethical standards enforced by an effective regulator have long been understood to result in better outcomes,” said Marina Sedai, chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s immigration section, reported The Star.
A Passion and A Calling
Lawyers join their profession because of a passion and calling. It’s more than business, it’s about helping and protecting people to ensure they are treated fair and just under the law, even with the toughest of cases. An immigration and refugee law office can serve you in many ways. They’ll be pleased to represent you on your citizenship application, or refugee claim. An immigration lawyer ensures you’re strongly positioned to succeed, however, in the event that your application or refugee claim is refused, he or she will also help you to appeal the decision.
When seeking out representation, you want someone who thoroughly understands the law and will look out for your best interests. As recent data highlights, hiring the best immigration lawyers in Canada increases your chances of success in any of your immigration-related legal issues.
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Arghavan Gerami
Arghavan Gerami is the Founder and Senior Counsel at Gerami Law Professional Corporation ('PC'), a full-service immigration law firm in Ottawa, Ontario. Since 2011, Ms. Gerami has focused her practice on immigration and refugee litigation. Prior to that, Ms. Gerami worked at the Ministry of Attorney General and the Department of Justice and had the privilege of serving the Honourable Mr. Justice M. Evans at the Federal Court of Appeal on immigration and administrative law appeals. Ms. Gerami contributes to the Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Ms. Gerami has also published numerous journal articles and presented at various immigration and refugee law conferences and events across Canada.