How to verify an immigration consultant before you hire one

Only licensed professionals can legally represent you before IRCC. Here is how to check, in under two minutes.

Anyone can call themselves an immigration advisor online. Only a small group of professionals are legally authorized to represent you and charge a fee: Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs), lawyers who are members of a Canadian law society, and notaries in Québec.

Check the public register

Every RCIC is licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Ask for the consultant's licence number and search it on the College's public register. The name, licence class and status should all match.

Red flags

• No licence number, or reluctance to share it
• Guarantees of approval
• No written service agreement
• Requests to keep information off your application

A trustworthy professional will put the scope of work, the fees and the responsibilities in writing before any work begins.