Authorized representative
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To immigrate to Canada, you have to know what and who is Authorized Representative.
There are many challenges along the road of Canadian immigration. Perhaps, the first one in your mind is, who should/could I seek help from? In Canada, Bill C-35 clearly defines who can provide immigration advice for a fee. They are called “Authorized Representative”. Hiring a person without proper designation may fall into the trap of misrepresentation and your application will get refused plus, you will be banned for 5 years from entering Canada. An unauthorized representative or ghost consultant will face $50,000 to $100,000 and/or imprisonment for up to six months on summary conviction.
There are two major designated groups of professionals in this field whom can render paid services: Immigration Attorney or Immigration Lawyers and RCIC or Immigration Consultants.
What are the differences?
Immigration Lawyer
Immigration attorney or immigration lawyers are members of provincial or territorial Law Association. In general, a lawyer spent more time in law school to get their credential and need to work under supervision for a period of time before they can practice independently.
Attorneys or lawyers apply billable hours approach and charge higher hourly rate than RCICs on average. Since they have bigger playing arena, e.g. tax & estate, family divorce, criminal law, lawyers tend to optimize their time usage though handing down the case process to their hired assistants instead of dragging themselves into all specific details.
Immigration lawyer can represent client at federal court.
RCIC
Immigration Consultants are all under one federal regulation. Started November 23, 2021, ICCRC transit into CICC (The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants) . Only those permitted by CICC with full immigration service providers are designated as Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs)
RCICs provide consultation, representation service on immigration applications and IRB (Immigration& Refugee Board) appeal or hearing. While lawyers charge higher hourly rate than RCICs on average, most RCICs adopt to flat rate to bill clients. As RCICs practice only the immigration law. They tend to be more hands on along the case.
RCICs can not render representation service at federal court. RCIC-IRB is upgraded class L3 license of CICC. RCIC who want to practice on cases or applications to be processed or decided by IRB, must have RCIC-IRB license.
In a nutshell, they both qualify any immigration applications. From the perspective as direct attention to case details and overall cost-effectiveness, RCIC should have more room to stands out.
In reality, case experiences trump all other factors when it comes to hiring an authorized representative to get the job done. A seasoned RCIC or immigration lawyer should provide you with a clear understanding of your situation and discuss your primary goal and beyond. An effective and thoughtful consultation should produce solid strategies with a clear route map towards your goal.
To find a trust worthy Authorized Representative, MyConsultant is a place you worth your exploration.