I am Alphy Mathen, the consultant named in this post. I unfortunately only came to know of this post last week when a client of mine found this when he googled me.
First of all I do not have a client by the name of “Sheetal” OR “Bhagwani”. Why would anyone be scared to use their real name if they had a legit reason to complain about in the first place.
Initially, I thought this was a smear campaign by some consultants whose incomes I have affected. I am quite involved in campaigns to protect Indian clients and exposing unethical consultants that are outright fraud or the more common occurrence of not providing the full information to clients about the risks associated with their immigration or visa application to Canada. But consultants know better as it would bring defamatory legal action; India's cyber laws are pretty tough and the states cyber units of the police, especially here in Kerala, are very capable I am told.
I do not think this is the case as I did have a complaint in August; my only complaint by a client since I had started this consultancy in India. I am not permitted by ICCRC privacy and confidentiality rules to name the individual. What I can say is the following:
• The client is not a women but a man
• The complaint was motivated by other reason namely a fraudulent submission for FSWP in May/June, which I refused to take part in and for which the client was upset about. More specifically because I had stated that I will notify CHC.
• The issue of paying me in cash or not giving their passport pertains to another application more than a year ago for a study permit and an open work permit for the spouse that I had got them approval for.
• The fees I charged then for 2 applications -an open work permit and study permit, was INR 40,000 for which the applicant had signed a retainer (contract) and paid me via cheque, not cash as stated. Given the lacs that some illegal consultants charge for a work permit I would say that my fees were very reasonable.
• All ICCRC members must have a client sign a Retainer (contract) in which the process and contact info of ICCRC is mentioned. This is for the protection of the client and in the event that the client wishes to file a complaint. ALL my Retainers have this info.
• The compliant was reviewed and promptly dismissed by ICCRC as it was not credible and I had all the necessary documented proof including the copy of the cheque, courier receipts, and the retainer they had signed.
The obvious question is; if this allegation did in fact occur then why would the client be coming back to me for their FSWP application? Would you have?
So you see, although this site and the Internet in general is an excellent resource to make people aware of illegal or unethical consultants; it too can be misused. There are unethical clients just as there are unethical consultants in this world, each motivated by their self interests and in total disregard for the process or honesty.
I had recently updated my website www.imcanvisa.com and in it I am creating a “Be Aware” blog section where I am hoping to put publicly available items pertaining to Canada from within India. I think I have more than a 100 newspaper articles, court cases, FIRs etc. for numerous unethical consultants operating in India. I do need your assistance, maybe an army of people in fact, in creating this part of the site. I hope you will all join me in creating this awareness campaign. I do, however, require ACTUAL names from submitters and their mobile numbers to verify that it is authentic and not one of the numerous consultancies that will undoubtedly attempt to jeopardize this project.
One of the problems in India is that the consultants that are honest, albeit a minority, are drowned out by the marketing of those that are not. They quite often have large budgets for marketing, fancy offices, and numerous staff; essentially a well oiled machine if you will, all designed for a singular purpose in mind - sales rather than honest advice. Any consultancy is not supposed to be a large corporation; the license or membership in ICCRC or a law society of a province in Canada is always in the name of the individual not the company. This is true for any professional license be it doctors, surgeons, advocates, or immigration to Canada. If it is a large company that you are dealing with then they must have individual license bearers/members to provide advice. What is going on in India is that “counsellors” or agents, who never even set foot in Canada, are utilized and rarely does the client ever meet or even speak to the consultant directly.
Together we can make a difference, especially those of you who are regulars at canadvisa.com forum. I could use a battalion of you guys to make a dent. .. So please do visit www.imcanvisa.com .. make sure you read “ What you need to know”, “Consultant's View”, FAQ, and articles from Canada in each section (not yet complete but will be soon). So send me an email al.mathen @ imcanvisa.com; I am accessible although I do have severe time constraints, but will reply.
Take care.
