Bad lawyer and ICCRC complaint – my experience

[tidelander]

So in winter 2014/2015 I had an immigration consultant who failed my work permit application with CIC. His services were actually so bad that I had to complain to ICCRC (he is a member of this organization). I will not go into the details of the case itself but mention that reasons for complaint were incompetency, false statements and blackmailing.

I submitted ICCRC complaint in February 2015 by email. It took them 4 business days to confirm that they received the email. After this the complaint was assigned to Intake Officer who reviewed my case and asked questions. We were emailing back and forth for around a month and in March 2015 I was informed that my complaint was moved from Intake Team to a Complaints Committee who would review my case more thoroughly and carry out a decision.

As for now I still do not have a decision on my application.
It’s been 10 months already since I’ve submitted my complaint.
It’s been 8 months already since I was told that it would take 3-6 months to carry out a decision on my case.
I contacted ICCRC complaint department several times and each time I was told that I had to wait more.
I contacted ICCRC Director of Complaints but just received no reply to my request.
I really don’t know what to do now. I can receive a decision in a week, in a month or in a year. I will not be surprised if I will not receive any decision at all. And of course all this time this immigration consultant continues to provide his ‘services’ and rip off clients. But from ICCRC point of view this is not a concern.

As for me ICCRC has completely compromised itself as an organization. Swindlers openly operate under ICCRC name and escape punishment. Basically, ICCRC covers swindlers. And there are so many fraud cases done by ICCRC consultants! Go google ‘iccrc complaint site:canadavisa.com’ and you will get hundreds of cases.

The main reason I am writing this post is to warn others and make them learn from my mistake. If I ever hire an immigration consultant again I will make sure that he is a member of a law society. Preferably the person should be a member of both ICCRC and a law society. Because my guy was registered with ICCRC only and now I cannot file a complaint on him to local law society.
Another mistake I’ve made was that I just did not google my immigration consultant. I actually was not even planning to use any lawyers. My employer hired this immigration consultant to get LMIA for me (which he also failed BTW) and I had to work with him. My boss just told me that he knew a good lawyer who would take care of my case. I believed my boss blindly. Eventually this consultant talked me into hiring him for work permit too and in the end my stupidness cost me $400, time, nerves and a failed work permit.
So stay smart and don’t believe anyone!

From my side I have a question. I would like to share this story with media. Do you have any idea which newspapers, magazines, online resources would be interested in this kind of story?

 

[tidelander]

up

 

[tidelander]

So will I get any advice on this case?
It's been another month without a decision. I called ICCRC Complaint Adminstrator and she told me that I would not get a decision this year. Her explanation was that they have a backlog and that's why it's so slow.

 

[AlanKju]

So will I get any advice on this case?
It's been another month without a decision. I called ICCRC Complaint Adminstrator and she told me that I would not get a decision this year. Her explanation was that they have a backlog and that's why it's so slow.

I think maybe you should hire another lawyer and start it over again. Sounds faster than going through a process reassessment.

 

[tidelander]

I received several messages in response to my latest post. Thank you guys for advice but I think I did not make myself completely clear.
First of all my immigration process is already finished. I became PR several month ago and am not looking for LMIA or work permit any more. The case itself happened almost 1 year ago back when I was a temporary foreign worker. I spent $400 on work permit only (actually wasted is more correct word) and my employer paid $2120 for LMIA.
The reason I started this topic is that there is a crooked immigration consultant who rips off his clients. I want this guy to be punished and I have enough evidence that he is crooked. I submitted a complaint to ICCRC (this is not CIC just FYI) but it seems like they are not willing to deal with this. Unfortunately I cannot submit a complaint to law society because this guy is not a member of law society.
My questions are (and this is where I am looking for help from your side):
1. How to punish this immigration consultant?
2. How can I give publicity to the case? Do you have any idea which newspapers, magazines, online resources would be interested in this kind of story?

 

[ifeedly]

before you go ahead with anything, take a deep breath and relax.
ICCRC complaint is a big thing and involves CIC too and if the decision comes against the guy his license will be in danger and so is his right to practice.
but there are multiple sides to an argument and you should wait till final determination.
if ICCRC finds the guy not guilty of misconduct then he can turn around and can claim defamation and loss of business and reputation.
since you have identified yourself in the forum that you are the person who complained you have actually exposed your identity and motive.
threatening to cause economic harm, cyber bullying, uttering threats are some of the things you should be aware of.
If the regulatory council finds him guilty then you have recourse to further action including monetary compensation but in the mean time keep calm and observe.
Winner are not those who shout the loudest, winners watch for opportunity.

Law work in funny ways, its always better to double check
Anything you post on Internet is public and does not go away ever.

 

[joelmath]

before you go ahead with anything, take a deep breath and relax.
ICCRC complaint is a big thing and involves CIC too and if the decision comes against the guy his license will be in danger and so is his right to practice.
but there are multiple sides to an argument and you should wait till final determination.
if ICCRC finds the guy not guilty of misconduct then he can turn around and can claim defamation and loss of business and reputation.
since you have identified yourself in the forum that you are the person who complained you have actually exposed your identity and motive.
threatening to cause economic harm, cyber bullying, uttering threats are some of the things you should be aware of.
If the regulatory council finds him guilty then you have recourse to further action including monetary compensation but in the mean time keep calm and observe.
Winner are not those who shout the loudest, winners watch for opportunity.

Law work in funny ways, its always better to double check
Anything you post on Internet is public and does not go away ever.

Brilliant answer. Completely agree with your point. Since a formal complaint has been filed its in the best interest of @tidelander to wait for official results. While the intent to expose such a consultant before he misleads more applicants is commendable, one must be careful that they do not fall into legal trouble. Intent vs impact is a tricky topic and you never know when law may consider impact (defamation) over intent (saving other applicants).

 

[tidelander]

It will be one year in several weeks and still no decision.
I called their Complaint Administrator at ICCRC and she told me that the Committee had to write a decision on my case and she did not know when it would happen. This is the same answer I am getting since early September (6 months already) when I first followed up with her regarding my case.

I saw several replies above regarding my topic. The thing is that I do not want to disclose info about complaint details and the lawyer to the media - it's ICCRC job to handle him. I am not satisfied that ICCRC is poor in regulating their members, that the complaint process is not transparent, deadlines are not honored and when I contact them they know nothing and when I email the Direrctor of Complaints department I just get no reply.
I don't like how ICCRC handles complaints and this is what I want to share with the public.

 

[terki]

Brilliant answer from ifeedly..

btwn - tidelander - what is that you are trying to gain on all this - forgive - forget an move ahead - you have taken so much of work/ stress on yourself -

Again - do remember - law is very tricky and can turn the ball in anyones court

 

[tidelander]

Because of this lawyer i had a lot of problems and went though a lot of stress. Every time I think about it I get upset. I cannot just leave it.
At the same time it seems like this immigration consultant was able to get away with this. ICCRC is not going to do anything about it.

 

[amrelec]

Re: Bad lawyer and ICCRC complaint – my experience

Because of this lawyer i had a lot of problems and went though a lot of stress. Every time I think about it I get upset. I cannot just leave it.
At the same time it seems like this immigration consultant was able to get away with this. ICCRC is not going to do anything about it.

I have almost the same situation.

Just be optimistic and be calm.

I agree with "forgiveness" as mentioned above but there is always a way for this consultant to be blamed sooner or later. for him, As you sow, so will you reap.

 

[tidelander]

14 months already and still waiting
the lawyer will retire by the time ICCRC will process the complaint

 

[tidelander]

I received a reply from ICCRC that they decided not to proceed with my complaint. The timeline is:
February 10, 2015 - submitted complaint
July 28, 2016 - received decision from ICCRC

Overall it took them 18 months to review the complaint while their advertised time is 3-6 months.
Personally I expected this outcome. Once they were way behind their estimate and the fact that the process is not transparent at all and that staff is not helpful I figured out I am out of luck here.
The lessons I learned and hope others too:
1. Do not hire immigration consultant who is not authorized with an organization.
2. Do not hire immigration consultant who is a member of ICCRC only.
3. Hire immigration consultant who is a member of a law society or both ICCRC and a law society.

 

[BonManush]

Did they give any reasons for dropping the complaint? I though you said you had evidence.

I've never worked with a consultant or a lawyer. I'm not taking either sides but it looks like a he says she says scenario here from a disgruntled client. The internet is usually filled with negative reviews because people feel that is the only way they can get "them" back. For every negative review, I assume there are 10 happy clients for any services or company/product.

The general consensus around here is always to hire a good reputable lawyer; not a consultant (they are dime a dozen). That is only, when you have a tough case.

It could be just that "guy" mishandled you and your case only; could be otherwise a great "guy". Just forgive and forget...and move on. You'll be happier...

 

[yadav]

please share your experience on this. I have been refused a third time. previously 2 refusals for trv and now sowp. Though reason for sowp refusal is not acceptable as they said education of enrollment evidence not provided. Why should i suffer ? when i had already provided all the documentation to support the application. And possibly the lawyer would have been satisfied too with the documentation before filing. Yet i get refuse again. first lawyer said she will not accept this and apply for reconsideration now she wanna make new application. Lawyer is being weird also taking ages to communicate simple things and clearing my doubts. I want to understand how can i seek a reconsideration. As making a new application is very dicy already cos my wifes visa time is running out slowly she has only 7 months visa left. If i make new application 2 months processing time will take and there is very good chance for cic to refuse on basis saying my wife visa has less valid time left.