Good Immigration Lawyers in Montreal?

[Cindo and Joe 0]

Hey everyone,

I'm wondering if any of you could reccommend any good immigration lawyers in the Montreal area?

My girlfriend (who I plan on marrying) would feel better if we went through a consultation for our options with a hired professional. Someone who is knowledgeable in both immigrating to the U.S. and also immigrating to Canada.

Thanks!

-Joe

[Emancipation 2]

you can pay me.. I'm experienced and knowledgeable!!

sorry.. that's probably not terribly helpful!

[MsZ 6]

Joe, I know you want to talk to a lawyer, but if your situation isn't complicated, you can learn everything you need to know through Visa Journey, save yourself a lot of money and probably get through the process in less time. A lawyer guarantees nothing you realize. They don't save time and they don't guarantee an outcome.

I strongly implore you to ask questions here, to read and study the guides and shortcuts, ask more questions, and then begin gathering documents and file your paperwork.

My husband's green card arrived yesterday. It is really quite a work of art. And we arrived at that point through the help of the fine people at Visa Journey. I knew nothing about immigration at the start. Reading and asking questions gave me everything I needed to know to successfully navigate a CR-1. And of course, my husband helped with documentation and being willing to subject himself to a medical exam and background checks. The interview was cake. It cost us nothing but time and the customary fees.

[trailmix 77]

you can pay me.. I'm experienced and knowledgeable!!

sorry.. that's probably not terribly helpful!

I don't know any lawyers in Montreal so I will be zero help there - but I wanted to say welcome! and just mention that if you give us a few brief details you will probably get a lot of answers here and maybe you could send your gf here to have a look as well.

As MsZ mentioned - unless you have some complications in your application (like a criminal record) - the visa process, for both countries is really pretty straight forward. In that case all the lawyer is doing is telling you which document to fill out next - you have to supply all the information and you have to gather all the documents.

However I do understand, if your girlfriend wants to really talk to someone face to face for a consultation, how that might be easier (ie some people prefer that).

Please come here to double check what you are told though!

Edited April 21, 2009 by trailmix

[sly_wolf 199]

Hey everyone,

I'm wondering if any of you could reccommend any good immigration lawyers in the Montreal area?

My girlfriend (who I plan on marrying) would feel better if we went through a consultation for our options with a hired professional. Someone who is knowledgeable in both immigrating to the U.S. and also immigrating to Canada.

Thanks!

-Joe

Most people here have not used lawyers. I can only say one word ... CAUTION.

I think its better and smarter to do your research in here. We have many folks here that are much better and it wont cost you a thing.

Sly

[Flames9_RN 358]

We used a lawyer, she was good, but what a WASTE of $$$$$$ In straight forward cases al they are are $$$ proof readers,that is it! They do NOT speed up the process--my lawyer even old us that! Look over the guides here ,as ask all the questions you want for free, and save the $$ for a holiday!

[Travis & Kim 0]

I met a lady at the consulate in Montreal and she told me her lawyer held up a lot of things

also her lawyer told her that her husband NEEDED to be at the interview (she was SHOCKED when i said no, this interview is just for you)

she was actually really surprised that I was approved without my husband there for it.

as well - took her 1.5 years to get to the interview part and took me 1 year and 2 weeks

so imo, stick with reading everything here, lawyers are a waste of time and money - it's actually pretty straight forward once you get started. most annoying thing is all the waiting.

[MsZ 6]

"most annoying thing is all the waiting."

Boy, ain't that the truth!!

[bowflex 0]

I'd definitely agree with everyone here. My wife's case was very complicated so we got a lawyer but I even feel that we could've figured most of it out without him. Lawyers are only really useful if something goes wrong as the great ones have contacts to get it righted but other than that if they're any good they'll admit to you at the consultation that they can't speed it up. Ours flat out told me at the beginning that the waiting is the worst part and there's nothing that anyone can do to speed it up. Good luck!!

[chadlaure 2]

I agree, what a waste of money and time!

I was the one wanting a lawyer because I am French but living in Canada. So we went and met with one that has a good reputation. We were ready to fill at that time but they only sent our application more than a month later for some excuse that I was doing a stop in the US while going to France so I could get refused. Blablabla. Another month killed.

Each time USCIS, NVC or the embassy in Montreal sent something, they sent to them so they had to forward to us later. Lots of time and money wasted. We also got an RFE that slowed us down. I was the one keeping them updated of our status because I had signed on for the email notice. It took a month for them to send our evidences.

We had asked for Paris France (because I am French) but it was sent to Montreal. The time they receive packet 3 and send it to us took forever again. I told them today we had our interview date (because they are just waiting for the letter only). They certified me my fiance (the USC) could not attend the interview with me. They also don't know we need a modified letter of intent. Only things like that that pisses me off because they are useless.

If you do it yourself, it will go much faster and it will be in your hands, not another file at the lawyer's office.

We had signed the contract with them when I found this website. There are people all the time here, you need something, people will reply right away, it's FULL of advices and real experiences which are very valuable. Everybody is very supportive and that might sound pathetic because it's only a website after all, but people here helped us 1 billion times more than our lawyer. People understand here what you are going through. Because you're going to get crazy while waiting and think the worst happened to your case

Ask your questions here... Save money to celebrate once you get your visa

Edited April 22, 2009 by chadlaure

[Wis-Can 0]

We went it alone, did our research, asked questions on here. We went from application to visa in about 7 1/2 months. We thought we did well. I read more horror stories about lawyers then good things. But its certainly a decision you have to make for yourself. If your case isn't complicated you should be ok on your own as many people did on here. Read the guides, go through the forums, and ask questions. I think you will be pleasantly surprise. Good luck in whatever you decide. Oh..and welcome to VJ.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

While its true that a lot of lawyers aren't always very knowledgeable or honest, I don't think meeting one for a consultation to discuss your options would be a bad idea. If that would make you feel more comfortable with your choice in what visa to peruse, then go for it! We considered consulting a lawyer as well, even contacted one to find out the cost, but decided against it in the end. We found VJ and thought, if all these people can do it on their own, we can do it to! In your case, you are not only trying to decide what visa to pick, but what country to live in. It would be hard to research and become knowledgeable in all the American AND Canadian visa choices. Consulting a lawyer to discuss options and asking a lawyer to take on your immigration case are two different things. I say go for the consultation to learn more about your options and become more confidence in your choice, and then seriously consider doing the leg work on your own. Just my opinion! Regardless, good luck with everything!

[Carlawarla 1]

While its true that a lot of lawyers aren't always very knowledgeable or honest, I don't think meeting one for a consultation to discuss your options would be a bad idea. If that would make you feel more comfortable with your choice in what visa to peruse, then go for it! We considered consulting a lawyer as well, even contacted one to find out the cost, but decided against it in the end. We found VJ and thought, if all these people can do it on their own, we can do it to! In your case, you are not only trying to decide what visa to pick, but what country to live in. It would be hard to research and become knowledgeable in all the American AND Canadian visa choices. Consulting a lawyer to discuss options and asking a lawyer to take on your immigration case are two different things. I say go for the consultation to learn more about your options and become more confidence in your choice, and then seriously consider doing the leg work on your own. Just my opinion! Regardless, good luck with everything!

I agree that meeting for a consulation to discuss options if that's what your fiance insists upon would be a good idea. Again, not knowing what your circumstances are, whether he/she has a criminal record, whether their are overstay issues, or waiver issues..that might be a good plan. What I will suggest however, is if you ARE going to go that route, that you come back and tell us what they said. This is so we can tell you what the REAL information is and whether the lawyer is giving you the right "goods".

Personally, unless you have some issues that you might want to "check out" before proceeding, you'd be wasting a lot of money.

[thetreble 19]

You most likely aren't going to find many lawyers who are knowledgeable on both American and Canadian immigration. When I phoned around to see what lawyers would charge me here in the US, they all knew fanny adams about Canadian immigration. Hell, they didn't seem to know all that much about US immigration either.

any ways, I did end up going with a lawyer and it cost up $3,000.00. All they did was file the application for us and show up at the interview where they had to say nothing. In fact, every time I tried to call them I got a lot of excuses about having to wait and blah blah. I would never use a lawyer ever again, but that is just my experience.

Like others have said, unless you have a complicated case, there is so much info you can find on here and some other good Canadian immigration websites. And, better yet, ask us about our experiences and we may be able to give you some insight into at least the US immigration process.

[Carlawarla 1]

You most likely aren't going to find many lawyers who are knowledgeable on both American and Canadian immigration. When I phoned around to see what lawyers would charge me here in the US, they all knew fanny adams about Canadian immigration. Hell, they didn't seem to know all that much about US immigration either.

any ways, I did end up going with a lawyer and it cost up $3,000.00. All they did was file the application for us and show up at the interview where they had to say nothing. In fact, every time I tried to call them I got a lot of excuses about having to wait and blah blah. I would never use a lawyer ever again, but that is just my experience.

Like others have said, unless you have a complicated case, there is so much info you can find on here and some other good Canadian immigration websites. And, better yet, ask us about our experiences and we may be able to give you some insight into at least the US immigration process.

Is that the same as "nothing"? "squat"? I've never heard of that expression and it's funny!