How Much Does a Canadian Immigration Consultant Cost?

Immigration Consultants are free to set their fees, within reason. The regulatory body does not set standardized pricing; fees are largely based on the complexity of the program and the Client’s case, as well as the RCIC’s experience level.

Prices for temporary resident applications (visitors, students, workers, and temporary resident permit holders) vary from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Representation for permanent residence costs a couple thousand to a few thousand dollars.

Factors like:

• • the number of family members included in your application,

• • matters impacting your admissibility (like health conditions, past refusals, or previous convictions/charges) that need to be addressed,

• • time constraints like short deadlines,

• • and whether your strategy involves single or multi-step programs

are all taken into consideration when RCICs set their fees.

It’s important to make sure you understand what is included in the professional fees to decide if the service is valuable to you. Most immigration consultants offer consultations or full representation. Below, we’ve outlined what immigration consultants typically offer.

Consultation Services

In a consultation, you usually meet with an immigration consultant for a pre-determined amount of time, for example, one hour, during which you’ll develop a strategy and have your questions answered. Some consultation services include a document summarizing your personalized strategy, whereas other consultations are shorter and geared toward answering your burning questions. If you’re a risk-taker, a go-getter with free time, and comfortable with the possibility of having to take multiple attempts at your application, consultations could be the answer to get your compass orientated and give you nudges in the right direction along the way. This is the ultimate do-it-yourself (DIY) approach.

Review Services

Some consultants offer this type of service to serve the needs of those who want an extra set of eyes on their applications before they hit submit. You’re responsible for finding your way and investing the time to figure out how to prepare your application. You can then hand over your application to an immigration consultant who will review your documents and forms and provide advice for completing and improving your application. This is another way to get support in the do-it-yourself (DIY) approach.

Full Representation

This is what you probably expect when you imagine hiring an immigration consultant. Full-service representation generally means your consultant will gather your personal information, prepare the application for you (with your input, of course), submit it to IRCC, manage all correspondence with IRCC on your behalf, and keep track of the status of your application. This type of service incurs the highest costs and is great for time-strapped applicants who want the utmost peace of mind. You can liken this to sitting in the passenger seat on a road trip and reclining while someone else navigates on your behalf.

New, Innovative services

Some consultants are creating innovative new services to address the evolving needs and desires of people like you! By adopting a design thinking approach (listening to customers to understand their pain points and frustration, then developing solutions around them rather than developing something that we think people want), a few consultants have been creating new ways of serving clients that reduce financial barriers making access to immigration legal support affordable to more people.

These services aim to enable more people to get professional support on their immigration journey and accomplish their dreams and goals faster, easier, and with less stress. You can think of this like a happy-medium, “Done-with-You” (DWY) approach where you work together with a consultant sharing the tasks needed to build your application, receiving ongoing support to help you move through the process with more ease and bringing you peace of mind that you’re as likely as possible to succeed. You can learn more about some of these new, innovative approaches here.

Written on February 14, 2024 by Brooke Finlay

Read Part 1 of this series and learn more about who is an RCIC and for what reasons you should consider working with one.

Final Part 3 of this series is also available now! Read how to find a good immigration consultant with confidence.