This article will give you a complete guide to find a better immigration lawyer who is going to walk you through the process and make sure your application is successful. A spousal visa application in Canada can be overwhelming as many processes and verifications are involved. Getting a best immigration lawyer will lessen the burden for you and your spouse and will also make the whole process smooth and to be successful.
What’s a Spousal Visa?
A spousal visa is a type of visa that allows either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to bring their sponsor into the country. This type of visa allows couples who are married or in intimate relationships to live together in the same space to preserve their love. During application, you as a sponsor will do a lot of work on behalf of your spouse regarding their visa application.
Reasons Why you need an Immigration Lawyer in Spousal Visa Application
You can easily go about the visa application without anyone’s knowledge or intervention but with the help an immigration lawyer, it will make the total process easier, faster and quickly done, these include:
- Knowledge of Immigration laws: The process of immigration is a lot of work that includes law actions and obedience to some certain regulations especially with the issuance of a spouse visa. A lawyer with a deep knowledge of immigration law will know about the policies, laws and procedural steps to take regarding spousal visa application. He/she will know what to do, how to do it, and doing it in the smartest way possible.
- Risk Taking Errors: Some errors can however not be made because it will lead to straight disqualification of the applicants. Erros like incorrect submission of personal information, documents and form errors, etc. These errors lead to disqualification, unnecessary delays and refusals. With a qualified and experienced immigration lawyer, you can easily miss out on all these errors and pass the stage successfully.
- Increasing the Chance of approval: The experience of handling similar cases and knowledge of immigration laws, by an immigration lawyer will increase your chances of success in your visa application. Because an experienced lawyer can provide you with guidelines, advice, and how to overcome some law challenges which include the proof relationship, financial capability, status of nationality, etc. Passing through this stage and overcoming all these matters increase your chances of success in your application.
- Understanding the Eligibility criteria and Requirements: When it concerns a visa application process, like a spousal visa, it is very much recommended that you have someone who fully understands the eligibility criteria and the details of requirements like financial requirement, age, and status. An immigration lawyer will understand the best method to prove your financial capability to cater for the needs of your spouse without social assistance or welfare. He/she will make sure to secure you a suitable method to prove all these status, and gather all the required documents like bank statement, personal ID passport, marriage certificate, etc.
- Assistance For Immigration Appeals: When your spousal visa application is denied or rejected, an immigration lawyer can take your place in the immigration court and prove your innocence. He/she will defend you and make sure your refusal visa response is reverted and your visa application is granted.
- Interview Preparation: A spousal visa application will always require you to show up and prove your identification. A lawyer of immigration will prepare you well for the interview and make sure you pass the interview successfully.
- Easy Spousal visa application: An immigration lawyer will indeed make the application easier and quickly accepted and granted.
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Qualities of an Immigration Lawyer
Here are the attributes and qualities you should look out for in an immigration lawyer when you are hiring one for your visa application:
- Area of Specialization: It is highly recommended that you hire a lawyer who is very much specialised in handling the cases of spousal visa application and not other cases. Because with that being his/her area of specialization, he/she will be able to give recommendations and provide absolute ways to increase your chances of success. And his vast experience in the field will smoothen your spouse’s way into the country.
- High Success Rate: It is best to hire an immigration lawyer who has not just experience, specialization in family sponsorship, but also has a high success rate in the affairs of spousal visa applications. It is better you review the biography and career history of the potential immigration lawyer, you will be hiring to increase your chance of success. Immigration Lawyers with experience in spousal visa cases and high success rate have already proven to give a point ahead of other applicants.
- Transparent Salary structure fees: It is best that you understand the lawyer salary structure which includes how he/she wants to be paid, the payment structure, and method of payment. You should also know that some immigration lawyers like to be paid hourly, monthly while others like to be paid per project.
- Testimonials and Positive reviews: An immigration lawyer with a good testimony from past clients and positive reviews from their clients will earn them a good image. You should take reviews and testimonials from past clients of an immigration lawyer very seriously because it says a lot about his method and ways of handling cases.
- High value Consultation: Most Canada immigration lawyers offer consultation to their potential clients for free or at a low price. They use this chance to know their clients, understand their situation, identify the strategy and find the best approach to handle the clients case.
- Management of Cases and Legal advice: You should also look at this as well because the management of cases is really important to win cases. You should also look at provision of legal advice, recommendations for his/her clients.
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Challenges Faced in Spousal Visa Applications and How an Immigration Can Proffer a Solution
As we cannot assume how events will turn out but some similar challenges usually occur with most cases of spousal visa application. Fortunately, these cases, if handled well by an immigration lawyer, can be overcome without causing failure in the application. These challenges and most solutions offered by an Immigration lawyer include:
1. Proof of Relationship
This is one of the most challenges that all applicants of a spousal visa face while applying for the visa. Both partners will have to prove that their relationship is genuine and is not a fake or an excuse to enter into the country. In this scenario, an immigration lawyer will advise you on how to provide concrete evidence to strongly prove to the immigration officer that your relationship is true. Examples of evidence sought by immigration lawyers are: marriage certificate if available, joint bank account statement, photographs of couples, communications records like text messages or other media, etc.
2. Error in Documentation
An error in documentation like missing forms, misspelling of names, incorrect submission of documents, delay in submission, etc. These errors can lead to rejection of application, refusals, and delay in approval or even direct disqualification or suspension. An immigration lawyer with vast experience in this field should know best on how to fix these faults. Most lawyers request that clients send their forms and papers to them for final review before they submit their application.
3. Financial Requirements/Capabilities
If you are the sponsor i.e the canada citizen who is living in Canada, you are the most concerned in this criteria. Because you will have to prove that you are capable of sponsoring your partner and taking care of their needs including feeding, shelter, provisions, accommodation at least for 20 years. An immigration lawyer will assist and advise you on the type of financial documents to present, how to answer questions thrown at you regarding your financial ability or sources of income. He/she must be there throughout the whole process to proffer solutions to emergency situations.
4. Delay in Approval
Long processing time for a spouse visa may be due to a couple of factors like the country of origin of your partner, errors in documentation, eligibility issues, etc. An immigration lawyer should know best on how to navigate around these issues and provide a better solution. Most of them give a specific time for the whole processing time and report to the immigration officers if it is taking longer than usual. Most spousal visa relationships take from 12 months to 24 months but for inland spouses, it may be around 12 months to 18 months.
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Conclusion
We may not know how to but an experienced immigration lawyer will not only know how to hunt also how fast to be and how to make it work. It is better recommended that you hire the best immigration officer who is going to ensure the whole process takes place smoothly and successfully.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Is it possible to not to hire an Immigration Lawyer and apply for a spousal visa?
You can apply for a spousal visa without an immigration lawyer. But with an immigration lawyer, it makes your application easier and put up for success.
- How much do I need to hire an Immigration lawyer for a spousal visa application?
The cost to hire an immigration lawyer in Canada is around $1,500 to $5,000.
- What are the documents needed to get a spousal visa?
To apply for a spousal visa, you will need documents like police clearance, a valid ID passport, proof of relationship, financial requirement evidence like bank statements etc.