Free Canadian immigration consultation’ is a somewhat misleading marketing strategy, in our opinion. We seek to provide our clients with as much value that is possible to pack into an hour long consultation. Below, we share some of the ways that ‘free Canadian immigration consultation’s’ claim to work – at Perez McKenzie immigration, we choose to work differently.
Free immigration consultations, particularly overseas, are often hosted by individuals who are not licensed to practice Canadian immigration law. We frequently see clients who have been given advice that is blatantly incorrect, and they are now encountering problems with Canada immigration as a result. Sadly, we also often meet clients who have simply been scammed out of thousands of dollars, and are coming to our firm to confirm their suspicions. They started out with a free consultation, were told they were qualified, and sent the scammer thousands of dollars but have achieved no result. For your own protection, ensure that you only work with an immigration expert who is licensed under Canadian law. You have the highest level of protection if your licensed immigration expert is located inside Canada, because Canadian authorities will be able to intervene in the event you are scammed by that individual.
Free Express Entry Assessments usually require that you first do your language test and have your educational credential assessments completed. For a single person, to obtain these items will cost about $600 CAD. It will cost a couple almost $1200 CAD. In many cases, someone will spend all of this time and money, have their “free” assessment and realize that they don’t actually qualify for Express Entry or other programs. They have wasted their money. At Perez McKenzie Immigration, we can predict your scores on the basis of our experience, and during your consultation we will inform you if it makes sense for you to spend the money to get your language test and educational assessments completed or not. Our paid consultation is far less costly to you than a free assessment that requires you to spend hundreds upfront.
In most cases, the outcome of a free assessment for Canadian immigration eligibility is a simple yes or no. “Yes we can help you” means that you are expected to hire the firm to represent your application; and hence the firm is able to recover their costs in providing the “free” consultation to you. At Perez McKenzie Immigration, we will always share with you the results of your Canadian immigration eligibility assessment in the form of a detailed summary sent out after the meeting, so that you can decide if you want to prepare your own application or if you want to hire our firm. We will even spend time explaining to you how you can take care of your own application if that’s your preference. We are working for your benefit during our meeting, not for the benefit of our firm.
Finally, most free Express Entry assessments simply tell you if you are eligible or not. If you are not currently eligible, you are not provided with suggestions on how to improve your Express Entry points, or other pathways to achieve your Canadian Immigration goals. When we meet with a client to assess their immigration situation, we methodically review every possible way for that client to achieve their goal of life in Canada. There are more than 80 different programs that might help you get to Canada. One of them just might be the right fit for you!
