paying the fees online

[NYCtoNB]

on the cic site it ask you to put where you are sending your forms to be processed when you are paying them, what i don't understand is do i put Mississauga, Ontario (Canada) processing center where we are sending the whole package sponsorship forms and permanent residence stuff or do i put Buffalo, New York (United States) processing centre which is where the permanent residence app will be processed ?

 

[rjessome]

Mississauga. That's where the application goes first. Buffalo doesn't have a processing centre.

 

[toby]

To those who have actually paid online, did any of you pay with a debit card or credit card issued by a bank outside Canada? I imagine so, but need to know for certain before I try to pay online.

 

[rjessome]

Hi Toby,

Check out some of the Skilled Worker and Canada Experience Class topics. Lots of people there have paid the fees online with a foreign credit card.

 

[toby]

Thanks, rjessome.

WHen do you hang out your shingle as an immigration consultant?

Was the course to qualify for CSIC membership rigorous? (Don't worry; I'm not thinking of becoming a competitor!!! Too many rules and forms; not my forte.)

 

[rjessome]

LOL! I just got my official designation yesterday! YAY!

Parts of the course were harder than others. Refugee was definitely hard but EXTREMELY interesting! There are tons of rules and regulations that can be difficult to keep straight. Temporary residents wasn't hard as much as it was BIG. So many types and scenarios. Economic classes were tricky at times depending on the calculations, etc. I aced Family. LOL! I also did really well on Immigration Refugee Board stuff (appeals, detention, admissibility, etc.), Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds and PRRA's. Immigration is a BIG area of law that oftentimes overlaps with other areas of law so lots of learning about how X, Y and Z would apply to immigration situations. The pass mark was high as well. 70%. Then had to write another exam to become a member of the society because you can't practice unless you are certified by them. My name should appear on their website next week!

At times it was pretty tough. Working, family, going to school, studying, blah, blah, blah. But is was VERY interesting and I loved it. I'm nervous a little about a whole new venture but I've got some really good mentors who have agreed to assist me when I need it. One big downside was the cost. It was very expensive to become a CCIC. $10K including school, insurance, fees, testing, etc. I hope it pays off!

 

[toby]

It will probably pay off well for you. You seem knowledgeable, you obviously care for people, and you find the subject matter interesting.

If I coudl make one recommendation, adn only one, it woudl be to never oversell your services, because that breeds dissatisfaction. I had a disappointing experience with one immigration consultant, who promised he was quite experenced with Chinese clients' needs. I specifically mentioned the difficulty in accessing services like translating and notarizing documents. There were other services I'd need, of course, but I used these as examples. He assured me that all would go smoothly, but first I needed to retain his services with a cheque.

Well, once he had the money, he proceeded to tell me to look for those services on Google, that he could not possibly be familiar with all services in all countries. Maybe so, but I felt he had mislead me, and our professional relationship was strained from that point onward. And in interviewing other consultants afterward, I found two that knew quite a lot about China, and would have been better choices for me.

The old business axiom, "underpromise, overdeliver" is always good advice.

Good luck to you.

 

[rjessome]

Thanks Toby. I remember reading out your experience before and yes, he ruined your professional experience by not being completely honest with you at the beginning about being able to meet your expectations. That story actually got me thinking too so I've secured translation services through a trusted company in Canada whom I know does great work (used them before) and are also a non-profit organization that provide a lot of services to the immigrant community. What I will do is offer this resource to clients if they do know have or can't find this service themselves or if it is more expensive for them in their own country. I know translation in some parts of Europe is significantly more expensive than in Canada. But then again, it was cheaper for us to get documents translated in Morocco than here. So you never know because price is based on what the market will bear.

And I must admit, the advent of the internet makes have documents sent and translated from the 4 corners much easier these days!

I hope you found a consultant know that you can put your faith in. And I hope they are worthy of the title. It took a lot of hard work to get this designation and there are lots of crooks out there claiming to be consultants who are not. I read one ad today from a company in Mexico that says the Canadian Embassy no longer issues Immigrant Visa's, this company does. WTF??? They will let you post ANYTHING on Craig's List these days! There's more enforcement needed to protect clients and the profession and I've heard rumours that the government is going to introduce some changes that could help. But you never know. But one rule of thumb is to check the CSIC website to see if your consultant is registered. If they aren't there, they are NOT consultants.

 

[toby]

Good plan, and good luck.

One correction, if I may. Immigration lawyers cannot be members of CSIC, but still may represent clients in applying for a visa. They usually charge more.

You must spend a lot of time on the computer to be checking out Craigslist in Mexico, and Lord knows where else!!



Toby

 

[rjessome]

YES! Lawyers are members of their Provincial Law Society. But some lawyers also choose to be members of CSIC as well. You can check both the CSIC website and the provincial law society site if you are wondering about a lawer.

Nah, I didn't find it. Another consultant who works a lot in Mexico sent it to me. But I've seen this crap before, just about everywhere I travel!

 

[Suin]

congratulations, rjessome! your help on this site is really valuable.