If you choose 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 as well as 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 the IRCC even devotes an entire month every year to fraud prevention. Newcomers who employ a licensed immigration representation can take steps to verify the authenticity of their credentials. This blog covers how you can verify your immigration representative’s authorization.
So, without further ado, let us begin!
What Is An Immigration Representative?
An immigration representative is an individual who assists you 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
- 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?
In order to verify your immigration representative’s authorization, you first need to know who can be an immigration representative.
Representatives can be paid or unpaid. Under Canadian law, any person can legally act as your immigration representative, provided they do not obtain compensation in exchange.
On the other hand, paid immigration representatives must be legally authorized under Canadian law to act in that capacity. The relevant regulatory body must authorize paid representatives.
You should 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
- Notaries licensed by the Chambre des notaires du Québec
The remainder of this blog will focus on how to verify your immigration representative’s authorization. If the paid representative you are considering hiring is not a member in good standing of the relevant regulatory body, you must not use their services.
How To Verify Your Immigration Representative’s Authorization?
The source you must refer to in order to check registration will depend on whether your paid representative is:
- A lawyer or paralegal
- A notary
- A citizenship or immigration consultant
Immigration Lawyers And Paralegals
You can navigate to IRCC’s web page to see a complete list of law societies for every province and territory.
You will be prompted to enter information about your immigration lawyer or paralegal to confirm their registration, like their:
- Name
- Law Society registration number
- Current status with the law society
- Designation
- City they operate in
If your representative is authorized by their regional law society, you should be able to see them listed and verify that they are presently a good member in good standing. Because of 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 call the law society directly to inquire further.
Citizenship And Immigration Consultants
Citizenship and immigration consultants in Canada should 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 might legally provide paid immigration advice or services.
Licenses provided by the college range from ‘Class L1’ to ‘Class L6’. A breakdown of each license and what entitled an immigration consultant to do can be found on the college’s website.
Notaries
Notaries must be authorized by the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
In order to check whether your notary is licensed, visit the Chambre des notaires 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 the notary is specific to Quebec.
Declaring Your Use Of A Representative
If you are using the services of an immigration representative, 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 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, you must also declare it with 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.
Moreover, 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 majorly 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, thus increasing your chances of success.
Begin your journey to Canada with Immigtoronto, offering expert guidance and dedicated to a seamless immigration process. Contact us for any queries at [email protected].
