Protecting the Public from Immigration Predators

March 12, 2024

March of each year is “Fraud Prevention Month” at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Marina Sedai’s article on the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association website provides a non-exhaustive list of red flags and protective actions one can take to protect themselves from predators.

  1. Guarantee of a positive result or faster processing.
  2. Non-lawyers state they are a lawyer.
  3. Non-lawyers imply they are a lawyer.
  4. “I know more than a lawyer”
  5. Discourage a second opinion.
  6. Pushes to participate in your consultation with a lawyer.
  7. Illegal charges to foreign workers.
  8. Conflicts of interest.
  9. Legal but questionable competing interest.
  10. Exorbitant fees.
  11. Unusually low fees.
  12. Invoicing before services rendered.
  13. Representative is inaccessible
  14. No detailed retainer agreement.
  15. Non-disclosure agreement.
  16. Ghosts.
  17. Website transparency.
  18. You do not know what is in your application.
  19. You are deprived of documents.
  20. Professionalism.