Hiring an immigration consultant is one of the decisions that you cannot take lightly. First, you need to know what caliber of services you will receive. There are several immigration consultants out there, but not all can provide the necessary expertise you want in your corner.
What Makes a Good Immigration Consultant? To begin with, ask about their educations and work experiences. You want someone who understands the law very well since he or she will be responsible for guiding you throughout your application process. Also, it is important to note if they have experience working with clients from different countries worldwide because you don’t want them to make mistakes when researching how things work in Australia, Canada, or the USA, for example. At least, they should have traveled through these countries before.
Note that there are “Solo” consultants and “Boutique” firms. Boutique firms are ideal because they have their in-house staff to assist you, ranging from paralegals, legal assistants, lawyers, etc. In addition, a good consultant will give assurances that their firm has several people to support them when it comes to gathering information for your case.
You can also find immigration consultants who advertise on different websites or even offline in community newspapers or commercial radio spots. These can make recruiting consultants easier but are not recommended since the quality of service may vary depending on how well they are trained/managed by their employer. Many times, these types of consultants do not invest in themselves; hence there’s a higher chance that you’ll get someone incompetent.
In addition, look for consultants with affiliations to professional immigration organizations. There are different associations that the management and staff of different immigration consultants belong to provide only the best guidance to their clients when dealing with complex immigration rules and regulations. Two of these organizations are IAACA (Immigration Advisers Authority Council in Australia) and ILEP (Institute Of Legal Executives Professionalism).
Sometimes word-of-mouth advertising from other immigrants is useful but not always reliable. It is important to find out if there have been complaints filed against them when you check social media sites like Google Review or Yelp since this will give you a good glimpse of how they operate behind closed doors. In addition, online consulting forums are useful. It is possible to find out what other immigrants think about them by posting queries on popular sites like Quora or Facebook discussion groups.
It’s also helpful if they are familiar with the immigration process in the country that you’re planning to move into. This should help them understand your situation better and give you confidence that you will be guided accordingly without any problems along the way. Again, don’t just rely on their word for it – do your own research!
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