The world of immigration attracts all sorts of people, some who really want to offer a high quality service to clients, and others who just want to make quick money. If something does not seem right to you, ask more questions, take reasonable measures to make sure you are dealing with honest people. Please note that due to strict confidentiality rules about immigration services in Canada, consultants and lawyers cannot give references from actual clients.
How to avoid immigration fraud?
Here is some basic advice which should give you higher chances of avoiding fraudulous companies or individual:
– always verify if the the person you are dealing with is included in the company’s website.
– be careful with companies who do not list their address or their staff.
– if any contracts is sent to you without the name of a representative from the company, or that person’s name is NOT on their website, please do not sign it and find another company or person.
– when dealing with a consultant in Canadian immigration, make sure to verify his/her belonging to the CICC (College of Immigration Consultant of Canada) by checking their name on this website: CICC Website If your consultant is not there, it means he/she is not legally offering immigration services.
– to make sure the lawyer you are dealing with really is a legally operating lawyer in Canada, please check his/her belonging to the provincial bar association where they practice. For Quebec, you can verify any Quebec lawyer’s status by checking the Quebec Bar Association website called Barreau du Québec
– don’t worry if you cannot join the lawyer or consultant directly on the telephone, all lawyers and consultants filter their phone calls and will return your call between appointments with clients.
– do NOT trust anyone who asks you to pay them directly in their personnal bank account. A reputable company will ask you to be paid in their company bank account, and most likely, this will be an In Trust account, which means that it is a special bank account only for Client’s money. In Trust accounts are strickly controlled and regulated in Canada to ensure protection of the public.
About EM Immigration Consulting
At EM Immigration Consulting, we are taking great measures to insure we maintain extremely high standards of transparency and accessibility. Our physical addresse is well visible on our website and all contracts we send. Our staff is also clearly listed with their complete names on our website. Very few immigration companies list their physical address and their staff. For us, we take great pride in our work and our service to the public and we are proud to display our names on our website.
To protect yourself, please note that the owner, Ms. Elise Michaud, is the only person authorized to sign contracts on behalf of EM Immigration Consulting. Do NOT sign any document which does not bear her name, even if it has the company logo. Moreover, EM Immigration Consulting and its owner, Elise Michaud, are legally required to draft contracts in either English or French, and cannot offer contracts in other languages.
All money paid for services fees has to be paid by bank transfer to the company bank account in Canada, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the owner herself.
The only persons authorized to solicit clients on behalf ot the company are listed on the page About Us.
Please kindly contact us if anybody is trying to represent us or sell you any service on our behalf and do not belong to that list.