I am currently looking for a lawyer to assist me with my inland spousal sponsorship pr application. I have met with Ravi Jain recently who gave me a quote for $8,000 for just my permanent residence application (not including government fees). He wants an additional $1,000 for the open work permit as well. This seems really high to me but I know Ravi Jain is a well known lawyer. Does anyone have good recommendations in the GTA area? I live in Hamilton but will be moving to Toronto eventually. I'm looking for someone good but less expensive. My case is fairly straightforward but slightly complicated since my wife and I had a legal wedding without a ceremony.
Recommendation for PR Lawyer in Ontario
- Thread starter growlkk
- Start date
It was an in person wedding, just a simple civil ceremony with 2 witnesses. It was done in person in ontario. My wife is Canadian citizen and I'm a US citizen.
That doesn't sound like a complex application, there's low expectation of complicated religious ceremonies in Canada/ USA now.
Do you have much physical time together and evidence of such (pictures, etc)? If so, I don't see much complicated. There's going to be low suspicion that a US citizen is try9ing to get into Canada by devious means.
I'd STRONGLY suggest you download the forms and go through them. The spousal apps are definitely ones that can be done by applicants without legal help (at least in many cases, and I'd say most). It's a bit tedious but not much more complicated than that.
Forums here good at giving base advice. Once you take a look at the forms, you'll see it's not all that complex. About the worst is that there is - as with any system - some langauge that is not obvious at first, it takes a little while to get in the zone.
Background: I looked at getting legal firms to do ours (more complicated than yours, kids, previous marriages, etc), and I quickly realized that in the end I would end up doing most of the collection and organisation of info and that was 80%+ of the work. It went fine, no issues.
Do it yourself! It's not hard at all. The instructions walk you through it question by question. There are also many YouTube clips that walk you through every form. I did my wifes in about 8 hours. A professional can probably do it all in 4 hours. Is $2000/h a rip-off? I say hell yes.
A small additional note: the main document to look at work through is the Checklist form (imm5533 I think). That's even more important than the instruction/guide on the web. If you stick to the checklist and quadruple-check everything, then you'll be good to go, really. Just make sure to sign all the forms as needed (come back to forums to check).
And the application package can seem pretty dense and intimidating when you first get it. Don't try to do it all at once (you'll need to collect some docs and stuff anyway).
Just iterate: start with the checklist, go through forms and answer the parts you know, and make two separate lists as you go:
-stuff you need to get, and where/what you need it for (i.e. which form).
-stuff you're not sure about or don't understand - that includes some thigns you'll need to get and you don't know exactly how it should be done.
Go to these lists to try to knock things off. Most of the things you don't know will become clear as you read the rest of the package; if not - ask the forums or the internet (these forums usually more reliable though IMO).
Then just keep iterating through the forms/guides each time as you collect docs or answer questions. When you go through with each iteration, that's when you can double-check the stuff you did before. Some of the info is repetitive (appears on multiple forms), you'll also be checking it's all consistent.
Eventually the list of stuff remaining will narrow to nothing.
Don't do final versions (with sigs) until you have the whole package ready.
[Small caveat, I did ours when online apps weren't required (allowed actually for our situation). Some bits of the online method I don't know.]
And the application package can seem pretty dense and intimidating when you first get it. Don't try to do it all at once (you'll need to collect some docs and stuff anyway).
Just iterate: start with the checklist, go through forms and answer the parts you know, and make two separate lists as you go:
-stuff you need to get, and where/what you need it for (i.e. which form).
-stuff you're not sure about or don't understand - that includes some thigns you'll need to get and you don't know exactly how it should be done.
Go to these lists to try to knock things off. Most of the things you don't know will become clear as you read the rest of the package; if not - ask the forums or the internet (these forums usually more reliable though IMO).
Then just keep iterating through the forms/guides each time as you collect docs or answer questions. When you go through with each iteration, that's when you can double-check the stuff you did before. Some of the info is repetitive (appears on multiple forms), you'll also be checking it's all consistent.
Eventually the list of stuff remaining will narrow to nothing.
Don't do final versions (with sigs) until you have the whole package ready.
[Small caveat, I did ours when online apps weren't required (allowed actually for our situation). Some bits of the online method I don't know.]
I recommend exploring referrals from friends or family, online reviews, legal aid clinics, and consultations with multiple lawyers to compare prices and services. It's essential to find a lawyer who specializes in immigration law and has experience with inland spousal sponsorship applications while fitting your budget. Good luck with your search!
There is a difference between an immigr consultant and a lawyer. Please Google CICC and educate yourself (plus check any consultant is licensed and in good standing. Only complex cases or appeals need a lawyer, most cases can be handled by a consultan. I did mine myself, it was complex but I had all docs and history and researched!! so far so good.