Difference Between Immigration Lawyer/ Paralegals and Licensed Consultant

Immigration Consultant of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) maintains a registry of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) and Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs) to identify the professionals it regulates and to disclose their fitness to practice.

An Immigration consultant is any person called on to give advice while a lawyer or licenced paralegal (attorney, barrister or solicitor) is licensed to perform legal functions. These may include:

• Drafting documents
• Interpreting and applying laws
• Giving legal advice
• Representing clients in court

The practice of law is regulated by each of the provinces. A lawyer must have the following credentials:

• Bachelor of law degree from recognized university
• Law admission examinations
• Training under practicing lawyer

The conduct of lawyers in Canada is regulated by the Professional Order of Lawyers (POL). The conduct of Paralegals is regulated by the Paralegal Code of Conducts. Only in Ontario, the licenced Paralegal can represents clients before the Court or Tribunals. This is also specific distinction between immigration lawyer/ paralegal and immigration consultant where the consultant is not permited to represent client before The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). IRB is Canada's largest independent administrative tribunal. It is responsible for making well-reasoned decisions on immigration and refugee matters, efficiently, fairly and in accordance with the law. The IRB decides, among other responsibilities, who needs refugee protection among the thousands of claimants who come to Canada annually.

The Lawyers and Licenced Paralegals are required to:

• Separate trust bank accounts for client fees
• Obligations of lawyers towards clients
• Performance of mandates
• Extensive mandatory continuing legal education.

In order to avoiding of retaining "ghost" immigration consultant, please check and verify the information of your consultant on the website of ICCRC here. If the name and the licence number of your immigration consultant is not shown or not matched, please be caution of cheating. 

If you are retaining the Lawyer or Paralegals in Ontario, you can identify your representative by checking the the Lawyer and Paralegals information on website of LSUC here