Choosing a representative
Immigration lawyer or immigration consultant: who can represent you
Both are allowed to represent you before IRCC, and for a visa or a permit either one may act for you. The difference shows up in one place, and it is worth knowing where.
The short answer
Canadian law allows three kinds of paid representative before IRCC: lawyers and Quebec notaries, other members of a provincial law society including Ontario paralegals, and Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants licensed by the CICC. For a visa or permit application all three carry the same authority. Only a lawyer may represent you at the Federal Court, which sits outside that list.
On this page
Is an immigration lawyer the same as an immigration consultant?
No. They are two different licences, granted by two different bodies, and in Canada both words are job titles with a public register behind them.
The question comes up constantly because of vocabulary rather than law. Across much of India, "immigration lawyer" is what people call anyone who handles visa work for a fee, and "consultant" carries no particular standing. In Canada the two words split apart. A lawyer is admitted to a provincial or territorial law society. A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant is licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Either may be paid to represent you before IRCC.
Neither word is a quality rating, and searching for the wrong one costs you nothing. What separates a good representative from a bad one is whether they hold a licence at all, and what they do with your file once they have it.
Who is allowed to charge you for immigration advice
Section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act makes it an offence to represent or advise someone for a fee unless you belong to one of three regulated groups. It covers advice as much as paperwork, and it applies whether the person charging you sits in Toronto or in Ahmedabad.
- A lawyer in a provincial or territorial law societyMay charge
- A paralegal, in Ontario onlyMay charge
- A notary of the Chambre des notaires du QuébecMay charge
- A Regulated Canadian Immigration ConsultantMay charge
- A friend or a relativeUnpaid only
- An agent or visa shop with no licenceNot allowed
The penalties sit in the statute rather than in a policy document: up to $200,000 and two years imprisonment on indictment, or $40,000 and six months on summary conviction. The consequence that reaches the applicant is quieter and more common. IRCC will not deal with an unauthorized paid representative, may return or refuse the application, and holds you responsible for what is on the form even when somebody else filled it in.
IRCC's own position: you do not have to hire anyone
Every form and instruction is free on the IRCC website, and its own guidance on representatives says using one will not draw special attention to your application or make an approval more likely. People pay for a representative when a file is complicated, when an earlier application was refused, or because they want somebody accountable holding it. That is a reasonable thing to buy. It is not a requirement, and anyone who tells you it is has told you something untrue.
When you actually need a lawyer
One boundary is absolute, one is a different profession entirely, and everything else is a judgement call about the individual rather than the licence.
At the Federal Court, where a consultant's authority ends
A refused temporary resident application has no appeal. The two routes are reapplying and asking the Federal Court for leave and judicial review, and the second one is closed to consultants. Rule 119 of the Federal Courts Rules gives an individual two options, acting in person or being represented by a solicitor, and there is no third. Section 91 stops short of the Court as well: subsection 10 takes proceedings before a superior court out of its definition altogether. A consultant can carry a file right up to that line, and a lawyer takes it across.
When a criminal charge and your status collide
This is two problems wearing one coat. A criminal lawyer defends the charge. Whether a plea or a conviction costs you your status is a separate question with a separate answer, and getting the first one right while ignoring the second is how people defend a charge successfully and lose their permit anyway. Neither professional covers both halves alone, which is the one situation where you genuinely want two.
Everything else, where the person matters more than the title
For applications, refusals, sponsorship and appeals to the Immigration and Refugee Board, both professions hold the same authority and the statute does not rank them. At that point the question stops being which licence and starts being which person: how many files like yours they have run, whether immigration is their whole practice or one of several, and whether they will tell you your case is weak before taking your money.
When a licensed consultant is the right choice
For the work most people arrive here for, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant and a lawyer are interchangeable in law. Study permits, work permits, visitor visas, Express Entry, family sponsorship and a reapplication after a refusal are all applications to IRCC, and section 91 puts both professions on the same footing for every one of them.
What differs is practice rather than authority. Immigration is the entire licence for a consultant and one department among several at most law firms. Fees move in both directions and neither profession is reliably cheaper. A consultant is also the easier of the two to verify from India, because there is one national register with one number on it, where lawyers are spread across thirteen provincial and territorial societies.
How to check either one before you pay
Both registers are public, free, and take about a minute. Neither requires you to be in Canada.
A certificate on a wall is not a licence, an association logo is not a licence, and a company registration is not a licence. Ask for a number. Anyone who will not give you one to check has already answered the question.
What to do next
Common questions
Do I need an immigration lawyer to apply to Canada?
No. IRCC says plainly that you do not need to hire a representative at all, that using one will not draw special attention to your application, and that it does not make an approval more likely. Every form and instruction is free on its website. People hire a lawyer or a licensed consultant when a file is complicated, when a previous application was refused, or when they would rather someone accountable carried it.
Is an RCIC as good as an immigration lawyer?
For an application to IRCC the two carry the same authority. Section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act names lawyers, other law society members and members of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants as the people who may be paid to represent you, and it does not rank them. The difference is not the profession but the individual: what they have handled before, and whether they will tell you when your case is weak.
Can an immigration consultant represent me at the Federal Court?
No. Rule 119 of the Federal Courts Rules says an individual may act in person or be represented by a solicitor, and there is no third option. Section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act does not reach the Court either, because subsection 10 excludes proceedings before a superior court from its definition. So a consultant may carry a refusal right up to the point of judicial review, and a lawyer takes it from there.
Are you immigration lawyers?
No. The Visa Tales is a licensed immigration consultancy rather than a law firm. Our licence is RCIC R710507, held by Jay Sharma and checkable on the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants public register, and it authorises us to represent you before IRCC. Where a file goes as far as the Federal Court, that work is handled inside our own team.
How do I check if an immigration lawyer or consultant is real?
Ask for a licence number, then search the register yourself. Consultants appear on the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants public register, where a licence looks like R710507. Lawyers and paralegals appear on their provincial or territorial law society register, and IRCC publishes a list of all thirteen. Both searches are free and take about a minute. Anyone who will not give you a number to check has answered the question.
What happens if I pay someone who is not authorized?
Two things, and the worse one lands on you. The representative commits an offence under section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, carrying a fine of up to $200,000 and two years imprisonment on indictment. Separately, IRCC will not deal with an unauthorized paid representative and may return or refuse your application, and you remain responsible for everything on the form even if somebody else typed it.
Where this comes from
- Justice Canada — Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, section 91 (representation or advice for consideration)
- Justice Canada — Federal Courts Rules, rule 119 (representation of individuals)
- IRCC — Learn about representatives
- IRCC — Find out if your representative is authorized
- CICC — Find an immigration consultant (public register)
Not sure which one you need
Tell us what has happened so far.
We will say which profession your case actually calls for, including when that is not us. If it is an IRCC application, our licence covers it. If it has reached the Federal Court, that is handled inside our own team.
Three fields · about 30 seconds