Scam or Legit Site: How To Choose A Trustworthy Immigration Agency
Planning your immigration to Canada is a life-changing step and of course you want to have the best immigration experience possible.
You might feel anxious about trusting your documents and your immigration process to other people – and you’re right!
You should be careful when choosing an immigration agency, especially using online services.
How to protect yourself from possible disappointments and monetary losses?
Check out some tips, based on immigrant reviews.
How to tell if an immigration agency is a scam?
There are various factors that can give you a hint: “oops, this doesn’t seem like a legit site for immigration to Canada”.
Here are some common signs of a fraudulent company:
❌ Not licensed
❌ Not clear in communication
❌ Promises 100% guarantees
❌ Has perfect reviews
1. Check the RCIC license
Remember: only registered consultants can provide immigration services
Make sure your immigration agency is in a good standing with ICCRC – Canadian regulatory body that oversees the activity of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs).
RCICs are the key players of every immigration consultancy team, and you need to make sure your agency works with experienced and registered experts.
Here are a few things you should know about the RCIC license:
Canadian immigration is a complicated field, and only authorized consultants are allowed to guide you in the process.
This rule is set by the Canadian government and cannot be broken under any circumstances.
The team working on your application will most likely consist of different professionals, and it’s important that at least one of them will hold an RCIC license.
The RCIC license is given to individual consultants and not to companies.
So, don’t expect an agency to have one RCIC license number for the whole team.
If a company works with regulated consultants and discloses their license numbers – it’s a good sign.
Only companies with experienced and licensed staff members can be trusted.
Try to learn more about the legal team and get their RCIC details.
In the highly competitive immigration market, many companies are reluctant to share information about their legal experts on public websites.
However, such information is usually available to those who get in direct contact with the company and request more information.
In a personal conversation with company representatives, you can request license numbers and ask questions about their legal experts.
A legitimate and transparent immigration agency will gladly provide you with such information and clarify your doubts.
For example, here at CanadaCIS we are very proud of our legal team with registered and experienced Immigration Consultants (RCICs) and invite you to learn more about them.
Valuable experience of our legal experts has brought many clients towards their successful immigration to Canada, and we are thankful for having such top-level qualified professionals in our team.
Get to meet our legal team here at CanadaCIS in this video!
2. Check what information they share with you
After talking to a reliable and professional immigration agency, you should be able to say ‘Yes’ to all of the following statements:
- I understand what services I'm going to get
- I understand how my immigration process will look like
- I understand how much it will cost
- I understand who to contact if I need help
Let’s look at each of these aspects in more details.
A legitimate immigration agency should be clear in communication and provide you with maximum information about:
Immigration consultancy is a very general name for this type of package services.
But what does it actually mean?
Usually, it’s split into several services.
For example, Eligibility Assessment is the first service that we offer to all CanadaCIS clients.
After its successful completion, we move on to other services, such as preparing an application, job search, language exam preparation and so on.
A trustworthy company should provide you with clear and specific details about each service they offer.
Fraudsters, on the other hand, are likely to use general phrases and give bold promises rather than concrete details about their services.
While all agencies are required to follow the general guidelines of the Canadian government, the immigration process might be structured differently.
The way the agency is planning to organize your process needs to be clear to you.
You should know what to expect from the process.
How can you find out about the process?
Read each disclaimer, as well as the terms and conditions. And pay attention to the notices that they send you.
The immigration consultancy should be clear in what you need to do.
A trustworthy company will tell you to do things that make sense.
Fraudsters will confuse you with unclear instructions.
The price of the immigration consultancy should be clear to you.
What should you understand from their price?
You should know exactly what you are paying for.
And if you choose to pay for the immigration consultancy service, be sure to understand what you will receive for your money.
A trustworthy company will walk you through the payment process and the services that you will receive, as well as expectations.
Fraudulent websites over-promise and you won’t be sure what you’re getting for what you pay.
Legitimate immigration consultants will provide their contact information so you can contact them by telephone or email.
If you’re worried, get in contact through the telephone number or email before you proceed.
The website doesn’t list a phone number or email?
Every legit immigration agency has a dedicated contact person, and you should know how to reach them by email or phone.
The website is a scam if you won’t be able to reach anyone when you need that boost of confidence.
3. Watch out for 'Too Good To Be True' promises
Remember: no one can give a 100% guarantee of success
Does the website have special offers that are too good to be true?
Do they guarantee entry into Canada?
Or guarantee that you’ll obtain a high-paying job very fast?
Watch out for offers that are unbelievable, that guarantee 100%, or offer way faster processing times that depend entirely on the Canadian government.
Always use a legit agency that doesn’t give you false promises.
And remember:
- The final decision is up to the government, not the consultants.
- No one can give 100% guarantees.
- If someone does guarantee success or give big promises – watch out!
- All promises should be realistic, and likewise, reviews should be realistic.
4. Perfect reviews might be misleading
No one’s perfect.
We are all humans that can make mistakes, and that’s why 100% perfection is not realistic.
If you only find 5 star reviews – that’s a bad sign that might mean many things for example, that no one actually used the service, they might be paid recommendations, or all the low ratings got removed.
Here are a few points to keep in mind:
- No matter the company’s quality or reputation, there will always be someone dissatisfied with the service, especially when the final decision is up to the Canadian government.
- Reviews can be written by people who are not clients, who might be trolls, or dissatisfied with the immigration process after being rejected. Also, they can even be written by competitors.
- To summarize, reviews are a good tool to find out if the company is legit, but they are not always accurate, and you should not base your decision on just one factor.
Share these tips and protect your friends from immigration scam!
Is Canadacis.org a legit site for Canadian citizenship immigration?
If you have this doubt, we welcome you to get in touch and discuss of your questions.
Let’s talk about it!
Contact us and we will be happy to provide you with information about our legal experts, our services, our prices, and we will be pleased to answer any of your questions.
And be sure to tell us what you would like to know in order to have trust in your immigration agency.
Please, ask us anything and tell us what concern is heavy on your heart.
We also encourage you to check our legitimacy for yourselves, so that you feel comfortable and worry-free.
Your instinct to find a safe route to Canada is well-based, and we’re here to help you feel good about your decision while we guide you through the process.
Our accredited RCICs, our consultants, and our entire team are ready to help you on your next journey.
