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HAVE DECIDED TO GO WIH AN IMMIGRATION LAWYER - SUGGESTIONS ???

fatmamakombe

Member
May 19, 2008
18
0
Hello All. What a great forum! I have decided to use an immigration lawyer to help me sponsor my husband from Africa. I am in Toronto .. any suggestions on who the best lawyer might be? What are some of the requisites I should be asking potential lawyers in order to choose the one that is best for me. Any personal experiences, recommendations would be greatly appreciated. (Does it make a difference if they are familiar with immigration specifically for Africans or is at all the same?) Thanks a million. Good luck to all of you guys.
 

LCS

Hero Member
May 5, 2005
203
0
I used an immigration lawyer for only the beginning part of the process to help with putting the total package together in the application to make sure I had included everything necessary, how to best answer certain questions, and what are the best things to include in my sponsorship letter. I wanted to make sure our application was not returned for lack of correct information. I then sent our application to Ottawa myself and have been writing to the processing Embassy myself.

It would be better to choose a lawyer that does have experience with the country you are dealing with ie. if there are translations or native language requirements or if they have knowledge of certain immigration issues from the area. Their name can then be used as your representative to show you have the input of an immigration lawyer who knows the laws and will back you if it becomes necessary and they know your case history.
HOWEVER, beyond that, an application that has been fully prepared and submitted by a lawyer has no higher ranking in the system for the wait time to process your application than one submitted personally. My lawyer was very nice about giving me suggestions such as to contact my MP to press for some answers, and did not charge me, but they can't do anything more for you than to do that also, so you might as well do it yourself.
good luck,
LCS
 

fatmamakombe

Member
May 19, 2008
18
0
My only concern is that once the application has been sent in I will be going to Africa to live with my husband while we wait - so I thought I should have someone on the ground in Canada during that period .... thoughts?
 

LCS

Hero Member
May 5, 2005
203
0
Then if you list the lawyer as your representative, he/she will be your contact here in Canada should it be necessary to communicate throught them and you will be kept in the loop either way. If they are contacted for some reason they will notify you, or if the Embassy in Africa contacts you directly you will be the first to know anything.
What a great idea to be able to submit the application and then go live in the same country as your spouse. I wish I'd been able to do that for even part of our now 20 month wait, but I have too many commitments here to leave for any length of time.
good luck
 

fatmamakombe

Member
May 19, 2008
18
0
20 months ... that is a brutally long time. When discussing wait times with prospective lawyers I was given estimates between 7 months and 1 year. I am beginning to figure that they are trying to garner my business by making it seem like it is an easy process and will take a long time. Can I ask you why the long wait time (or is that normal?).
 

LCS

Hero Member
May 5, 2005
203
0
Our delay was due to my husband's 'obligatory' military service in Peru as a supply office clerk. Hardly a security threat, but fine, even if that confirmation was needed, it should not take a full year to find out he was a clerical person in a supply office. This for a spouse who could be easily found here with me if an irregularity ever came up. I'm a 3rd generation Canadian sponsoring my husband, have owned the same home and lived in the same city for over 22 years. Pretty suspicious all right. But common sense and intuitive thinking is usually not associated with the Gov't. If a simple informational research project was put on someone's desk to research, OUTSIDE of the Gov't bureaucratic country club, and it took a year to complete, your butt would be skidded out the door. Sure, other countries are not known for cooperating with providing information, but with no one really pressuring for the answers and then how many months to send it all BACK to Canada to sit around on some Gov't employee's desk before it gets sent back to the Embassy AGAIN, the Gov't wheels turn verrrrryyyyyyy slowly. EXCEPT if you are a temporary foreign worker!! Over 40,000 temporary foreign workers were approved during 2007 taking up immigration resources to process people who are fast tracked into Canada, and my family class permanent resident case now at 20 months sits, and sits, and sits. Just like many people on this list are also finding out.