August 20, 2008

Do you Need a Lawyer?

In research and writing an article for an upcoming issue of Immquest entitled “The Business of Immigration Law – Do you need an immigration practitioner?” I compared various government websites and the statements regarding representatives. The Citizenship and Immigration webiste is very concerning. It reads:

Who does this affect?

Individuals, whether in Canada Warning: Don’t be the victim of a scam.

Read this important notice.

You are not obliged to hire a representative for immigration matters. The Government of Canada treats everyone equally, whether they use the services of a representative or not. If you choose to hire a representative, your application will not be given special attention nor can you expect faster processing or a more favourable outcome.

In my opinion is that this last statement is not accurate and should be removed from the website.

Lawyers play a critical role in advancing applications and sometimes just picking the right category means a more favourable outcome. Catching missing information will avoid lengthy delays which means faster processing. Just a few examples of why this statement is not accurate.