Immigration Lawyer or Regulated Consultant: How to Choose
What an RCIC and an immigration lawyer can each do, and how to verify either one's licence before paying.
You never have to hire anyone
Most immigration applications can be submitted directly to IRCC yourself, with no paid representative at all. If you do want help, only two kinds of representatives are legally allowed to be paid for it: a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC), licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), or a lawyer in good standing with a Canadian law society.
RCIC or lawyer: how they differ
Regulated consultant (RCIC)
Trained and certified specifically in Canadian immigration procedure, regulated by the CICC, and typically more affordable for standard applications. Cannot represent you before the Federal Court.
Immigration lawyer
Can represent you before the Federal Court (for example, to challenge a refusal) and before certain tribunals, regulated by their provincial law society. Usually costs more, and is worth it for refusals, inadmissibility, or a complex legal history.
How to verify a licence before you pay anyone
Both registers are public: search the CICC's public register for a consultant's membership number, or your province's law society directory for a lawyer. Anyone who gets paid to represent an immigration application without being an RCIC, a lawyer, or a supervised student/paralegal is acting illegally in Canada — and no legitimate representative can guarantee your application will be approved.
Official sources
Rules, fees and processing times change — always check the government page before you rely on a number here.
Prefer French?
Le guide complet en français, avec la marche à suivre pour vérifier et choisir un représentant.