What Are The 9 Possible Questions You Should Ask When Hiring a  Canadian Immigration Lawyer or Consultant?

It is no longer news that as the day goes by, the Canadian immigration system gets more tightened and complicated, therefore, you need to employ legal help to navigate the process of immigrating to Canada and becoming a permanent resident successfully.

Most times, genuine immigration lawyers or consultants provide their clients the opportunity to get familiar with them and ask any questions they may have. Now, here is an opportunity to help you figure out if the lawyer or consultant is a suitable professional with who you can work 

Listed below are 9  questions you should ask during your first meeting with the lawyer or consultant and with this, you can locate the best immigration lawyer for you.

1. The Lawyer/Consultant’s Specialization

In the law firm, there is a wide range of specialists in each team, therefore, you should be on the lookout for a lawyer who specializes in matters related to Canadian immigration. Always remember that the basic tools of any professional in the law field are knowledge and experience.

The major reason why you should work with a specialist is that they have the best knowledge of how to deal with situations relating to immigration. Furthermore, immigration laws change continually and it is only a specialist that may have the updated information concerning this. 

2. Ask where the Attorney is Licensed? 

Secondly, you have to be sure that your attorney is licensed in the state of the attorney’s principal office because in m, most cases, these attorneys that are not licensed in the state they practice law claim that they can practice the immigration law anywhere in Canada since it is a federal law. Although this is right, you must endeavor to find out where your attorney is licensed so that if any problem arises with your attorney, you will know the State Bar of the state to report to and have your issues resolved.  

Moreover, there is nothing more painful than the representation going wrong, and not knowing where and how to get hold of the lawyer. Also, as a result of some of the state issues that impact an immigration case such as criminal law, employment law, and domestic relations law, you may want to hire a lawyer licensed in the state they practice, who is familiar with these areas to be able to point out any issues that may come up and be able to point you to the proper specialist

3. The Lawyer/Consultant’s Experience

One thing you cannot afford to neglect is the experience of the lawyer or consultant handling your immigration. Let us look at this scenario, can you possibly visit a surgeon for brain surgery who has never operated on a brain before? We believe the answer is No, therefore, you need to figure out the experience of your lawyer or consultant by trying to find out from that how long they have practiced not just immigration law but how many of your kind of cases they have handled and the success rate because some lawyers sub-specialize only in a specific area of immigration law. 

Nevertheless, be very careful of those that claim never to have lost a case in the past because the court denies good cases daily which is not necessarily the fault of the immigration lawyer but for bad reasons. This is where experienced lawyers have a role to play, they will be able to let you know what improves the chances of cases getting approved and otherwise.

An additional advantage of having an experienced lawyer is that they understand law enforcement and are in the good books of officials. Here is when you may want to check the lawyer’s track record in advance to know if that lawyer has ever been disciplined in the past for misconduct. 

4. Is It Advisable To Rely on The Experience My Family/ Friend/Boss Had?  

Well, this is a smart question and the answer is, it depends. Most times, a lot of persons may want to work with the same lawyer or consultant that someone they know worked with which is not a bad idea. Nevertheless, do not forget the old saying that says even blind squirrels find nuts, also, a previous experience does not guarantee future success.  

What type of experience did your referral source have with the said lawyer or consultant? If it was positive, that alone should not make you contract the consultant, only do so if you can corroborate it with the other items on this list and if you believe the lawyer or consultant can handle your case after consultation.

5. The Strategy the Lawyer or Consultants Intends to use

It is good you find out from the lawyer or consultant about their plan of action.  Moreover, you need to track the progress of the case, this is why they should be able to give you a timeline. Also, an experienced lawyer or consultant should be able to tell you about their strategy to enable you to enjoy the best outcome possible.

6. Your Chances Of Success

One of the advantages of having an experienced immigration lawyer is the high chances of success. This is why you must work with a professional that gives real answers to your questions, not the ones that will make empty promises.

7. Availability of the lawyer or consultant

Experienced immigration attorneys are quite busy. But if they are too busy, they may not be able to focus on your case. Therefore, you may need to find out when the process will be completed, like the timeline. So, you may want to ask them about when they can start working on your case. This is quite important to make sure that they will be available for your case.

8. Written Contract

There is no deal without a contract, so, sure that you first carefully scrutinize the written contract with the immigration lawyer and then sign if you are okay with the clauses therein. It is the contract that will give you an idea of the responsibilities and expectations. 

9. The Cost

Do not be in a hurry to sign the contract with your desired immigration lawyer or consultant, you must first talk about the financial aspect as well such as the frequency of billing, hourly fee and, retainer fee.

In conclusion, though we have given you the nine possible questions you can ask your lawyer or consultant before you hire him or her but just like every other thing in life, you can come up with more questions aside from the aforementioned nine. With answers to these questions, you can make the best decision and, possibly be a few steps away to get a positive result.