Visa Agent Check: Is Your Agent Licensed?
Every year, families in Punjab lose lakhs to agents who were never licensed. Checking takes two minutes and costs nothing. Do it before you pay anyone.
Who is allowed to charge you?
For Canadian immigration, only three kinds of people may legally charge a fee for advice or representation: (1) Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (the College, or CICC — the regulator was earlier called ICCRC); (2) lawyers and Quebec notaries, regulated by their provincial law society or the Chambre des notaires du Québec; (3) Ontario paralegals regulated by the Law Society of Ontario. It is an offence for anyone else to provide Canadian immigration advice for a fee.
Check a consultant in 5 steps
Red flags — walk away if you see these
If you were cheated
In Canada: if the person is a licensed consultant, file a complaint with the College (CICC). For a lawyer or paralegal, complain to their provincial law society. You can also notify IRCC through its web form, notify the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and report the fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca) and your local police. In India: recruiting agents who send people abroad for jobs must be licensed under India's Emigration Act, 1983. You can verify an agent and file a complaint on the Government of India's eMigrate portal (emigrate.gov.in), which also publishes lists of illegal agents; complaints are also referred to state police — in Punjab, contact Punjab Police. The Protector of Emigrants office for the Punjab region is in Chandigarh, and the Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra helpline (from India) is 1800 11 3090.
Official links
- College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants — Find an Immigration Consultant / Public Register
- Canada.ca — Using immigration and citizenship consultants
- Canada.ca — Protect yourself from fraud
- Government of India — eMigrate portal
Sources: College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (college-ic.ca); Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — Canada.ca; Press Information Bureau / Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (eMigrate and the Emigration Act, 1983).