How do you decide which one to use? How does the Canadian Government regulate who can call themselves an immigration consultant or Why Hire An Immigration Lawyer or Consultant vs Do-It-Yourself? Who can charge to represent your application?

Many people ask friends “Who did you use?” or “Do you know someone who can help me or my business about Canada immigration?” Many people do research with their favorite Search Engine.

On the web, after qualifying your search terms to include such things as languages spoken by the lawyer, city, or immigration category — you may want to look for a Client testimonials Section on a lawyer’s web-site see example below.

You should also look for information about specific experience and qualifications of the lawyer you wish to consider, e.g. in BC, have they made a point of saying to the Law Society that they have a Preferred Area of Practice in Canada Immigration Law? or in Ontario, has the lawyer become formally Certified as a Canada Immigration Law Specialist?
see also lawyers with experience in Immigration Litigation when seeking help with an appeal(s) or request for reviews of applications
e.g. Toronto Mississauga area J. Eastman LLB. former counsel with Justice Canada, for example, see Toronto lawyers with Canada Immigration Specialist Certification, for example, see Vancouver lawyers with stated Preferred Area of Practice in Immigration Law

Why choose a Lawyer who has developed-acquired “special expertise” in Canada’s Citizenship & Immigration Law? Why not a general practice lawyers, or a lawyer who you know has done a great job with your other family or personal matters, and what about “Immigration Consultants”? Canada’s laws and regulations in the area of immigration seem to change more frequently than other areas, you want someone who not only keeps up with the latest developments but also can handle potential legal and bureaucratic complications, e.g. where you may need formal legal representation at a Tribunal or a higher court to sort out / appeal your application if it is refused-rejected by an immigration officer or manager or tribunal.

Choosing between a number of specialists, consider — if a lawyer has taught Canada immigration courses-workshops to other lawyers/government-officials/public-groups (e.g. through the local Lawyers’ Continuing Legal Education Society, professional development program) you may assume they are experienced in this area of law, and worth contacting for an interview, or sending a email to e.g. sample courses.

Other Things To Look For In Selecting a Lawyer

Has the lawyer been featured in any news articles, from credible publications e.g. city, regional, national newspapers or TV stations? An example is the profile that CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation] gave to Ed Corrigan, Immigration and Refugee Lawyer who works out of London, Ontario. Reading things like news articles give you another view of what type of cases this lawyer or law firm handles and a little bit about their “style” of dealing with clients and of course the media.

Has the lawyer had articles published in recognized Canada Law Journals [e.g. www.journal.law.mcgill.ca?
e.g. David Matas, Canada Immigration / Human Rights Lawyer, Winnipeg, Manitoba and his article in the McGill Law Journal, article The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Fifty Years Later in 2000 see www.journal.law.mcgill.ca/abs/vol46/1matas.html – ABSTRACT [with link to entire article]

The problem with testimonials on a lawyer’s web site, are they are often self-serving, you don’t expect them to put up a testimonial from an unsatisfied former client. However they serve a purpose in giving you an idea of the range of clients they have dealt with.

How connected to their local community is the lawyer you’re considering. Do they mention on their web site that they are a member of a local business group? — help fund raising efforts for English as a Second Language tutoring program? (considering programs like this have had budget cuts in many local schools in e.g. BC in recent years) — the purpose of seeing this is that it helps give you an idea of one way a lawyer has a “feel for” the community-social-business environment in which you may want to immigrate to.

Many of these factors may have no bearing on how you choose to select a lawyer, but they do help you evaluate different lawyers web sites. One immigration lawyer advises prospective clients, that …. immigrating to another country is a major decision that can have short and long term costs, you are looking for someone that you are going to depend on probably not only for yourself but also your family’s well being, in terms of getting through the immigration process as quickly and painlessly as possible.