We regularly receive people who have already paid several thousand dinars to an "office" and find themselves with no application filed, no receipt, and sometimes a refusal that could have been avoided. These situations follow patterns so consistent that they are easy to spot — provided you know what to look at.
1. The guaranteed visa
No consultant, no lawyer, no agency can guarantee an IRCC decision. The decision belongs to a Canadian immigration officer applying the law to your file. Anyone promising you an outcome is lying, without possible exception.
2. The job offer for sale
Paying to obtain a Canadian job offer is illegal on both sides of the border. An employer cannot lawfully charge for a position, and an intermediary cannot sell one. These offers are either fictitious or fraudulently obtained — and they permanently compromise your admissibility.
3. The absence of a verifiable number
Only three statuses permit paid representation before IRCC: membership of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, admission to a Canadian bar, or Québec notary status. Ask for the number. Check it on the online public register. If the person deflects or changes the subject, you have your answer.
4. Cash payment with no contract
A professional provides a written contract setting out the exact scope of the retainer, the fees, the government charges and the refund terms. Full payment in cash with no contract and no receipt leaves you with no recourse whatsoever.
5. The offer to "adjust" a document
Inflating a bank statement, fabricating an employment letter, backdating a diploma: these are presented as tricks of the trade. They are misrepresentation, punished by a five-year bar from Canada. The person proposing it takes no risk: you carry the penalty, alone.
Verifying a consultant’s number takes three minutes. Repairing the consequences of misrepresentation takes five years.
If you have already been caught in such a situation, the file can often be taken back properly. Gather everything you have — correspondence, receipts, copies of forms — and have it analysed to establish what was actually filed in your name. That is the first step to regaining control.
