Who is an RCIC?
A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) is an authorized member in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC).
An RCIC as per Immigration Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and the Citizenship Act is a member who gives immigration advice or represents a client for various immigration related cases for a fee or other consideration.
In other words, RCIC is an authorized immigration and citizenship representative, who evaluates and assesses a client among several immigration options and advices which one is ideal and submits the application on their behalf. Many individuals are not aware of the numerous opportunities by which they qualify to enter and work in Canada legally, find an RCIC today who can help you fulfill your dream of coming to Canada. Because of the mandatory requirements for an RCIC to keep their membership active, RCIC’s keep themselves up to date on several Canadian immigration policies and are therefore able to prepare case specific strategy.
Role of Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC)?
ICCRC is a national regulatory body that regulates all the authorized immigration professional in Canada and abroad. Main functions of ICCRC include licensing of all RCIC’s & RISIA’s around the world and ensuring that they are practicing within the limits of the Canadian Law.
ICCRC currently regulates over 5746 RCIC’c in Canada. ICCRC also protects consumers of immigration services through strict regulations enforced on all its members. It maintains a database of all its members it regulates, which gives a consumer an opportunity to find the right RCIC to represent them. It also has a rigorous complaints and discipline process.
So what does an RCIC do?
Evaluate clients’ chances approval for a visa;
Prepare applicants for VISA interviews, if needed;
Assist prepare an applicants immigration applications and paperwork, to ensure accuracy;
Assist applicants in all spheres of immigration to Canada.
Why hire an RCIC for your immigration purpose?
You would trust a person who is competent in doing their job rather than someone who is not up to date on immigration policies. Immigration is a very serious matter and one should only choose a person who is licensed by ICCRC, because of the rules and regulations an RCIC adheres to in solving your immigration needs. As a consumer you feel safe and secure when your visa application is dealt in utmost professionalism and within the boundaries of the Canadian Law.
An RCIC takes care of all the documentation that are required to file a visa application in a timely manner and ensures the correctness of the required paperwork. To become an RCIC one has to undergo a rigorous study regime on several Canadian Immigration and Refugee laws followed by an Entry-to-Practice Exam, therefore an RCIC knows what is to be done and what strategies are suitable for you to get a positive result in regards to your application. All RCIC’s handle each and every case both ethically and professionally. There are more than 60 Visa options that are available depending on the profile of an individual an RCIC would assess you so that you are presented by several options and chooses the one that is best as per your requirements.
Who is an Unauthorized Representative? BEWARE of Ghost Consultants
An unauthorized representative is any person who is not a member of ICCRC and charges fee for their services for providing advice on immigration. They are not authorized to give any advice on immigration as per Canadian Law in exchange of a fee.
In a majority of cases an Unauthorized Representative will never fill the Use of a Representative form (IMM 5476E) while submitting your profile to the immigration. Because, it increases the chances of rejection as the Canadian Law does not recognize them.
To summarize, a consumer should keep in to consideration various factors when choosing a representative for their immigration needs, such as.
Validate the representative credentials on the ICCRC’s website https://iccrc-crcic.ca/find-a-professional-frame/
Always ask for RCIC’s membership # to verify the credentials of our immigration representative.
Report to ICCRC if you find an unauthorized representative, it will help in maintaining the integrity and respect for Canadian Immigration.
Do your due diligence when appointing someone as your representative.
Don’t let someone’s incompetence being the reason for your visa’s rejection.
Disclaimer: These articles provide information of a general nature only. It may no longer be current. It does not give legal advice nor should you rely on it as legal advice. If you have specific legal questions, you should consult a lawyer. If you are looking for immigration advice, book an appointment.