How to choose the best immigration and education consultant?

October 3, 2020: Advice can make or break the best decisions. More so in situations wherein overseas ambitions are concerned.

Regardless of the reason for boarding a plane – visit overseas, migrate overseas, work overseas, study overseas, or invest overseas – the most recommended course of action is to submit a Decision Ready Application.

By a Decision Ready Application is implied an application in which the common reasons for rejections have been duly taken care of, thereby maximizing the chances of the visa being granted.

Now, in order to submit an application that is complete in all respects, you would first be required to have a perfect understanding as to what exactly is required by the government of the country that you are applying for a visa from.

While you can always apply on your own, it is advisable to seek professional help if a requirement is felt for the same. When in doubt, always ask the professionals.

When it comes to choosing the best immigration and education consultant, the more the time taken for research, the better it is for the applicant.

Applying for a visa – especially for working abroad, study overseas or settling overseas with family – can be quite an investment, both in terms of the money required as well as the time taken.

With the right guidance, you can get it right the first time itself.

 There are certain tell-tale signs that set apart a fake consultant from a genuine one. The closer you look, the more you are apt to find out.

Let us see 15 ways that you can find and choose from the best immigration and education consultants available.

Documentation

Experience counts

Direct approach

Transparency in processing

Dedicated support

Technological edge

Associations with established organizations

Telephonic records maintained

The right visa

Experience in handling complex cases

Cost versus quality

Success talk

Job guarantee scams

Guaranteed visa

Complete preparation

Documentation

The first, and probably the most integral, part of any visa application is the documentation.

There is a lot of difference between the way in which a fake consultant handles a visa application and the manner in which a genuine consultant approaches the documentation required.

Typically, a fake consultant will rarely explain everything so that the process is intelligible to the applicant themselves. Either the consultant will rush through the details or simply give tall assurances that they will handle everything and the applicant need not worry or fret over the same.

Ensure that you read the entire documentation yourself. Anything that is either not understandable or confusing should always be enquired into. After all, it is your money on the line. You do have a right to ask and to know.

Never sign on any blank forms. There have been reported instances of the agent, having earned the confidence and faith of the applicant, asking them to sign on the dotted line while they fill in the details later.

Take the time to read through, and understand, all the documentation that you will be submitting along with your visa application.

Also, make it a point to always mention previous visa refusals, if any, in your application. Failure to do so might later be construed as an attempt at deliberately misleading the immigration officials, causing an adverse entry on the individual’s visa application file.

In matters related to visa and immigration, it is best to be honest, at all times. Never misrepresent facts or withhold information that might have been asked for, even if you feel that it might not be in your best interests.

Misrepresentation of facts, deliberately or unintentionally, is taken serious note of by immigration officials of practically all the countries.

Additionally, never be rushed into taking up or signing for any visa and immigration related service only because there is a special discount or limited seats available.

A genuine visa an immigration consultant will never ‘sell’ any product or service to you. All that they will do is to provide counseling as to the ideal future course of action to take keeping your previous qualifications and international aspirations in perspective.

A consultant that will take the time to explain, to solve doubts, and to actually study an individual’s case file in-depth. That is the mark of a genuine registered visa and immigration agent.

Experience counts

Generally, when you apply for a visa through an agent, there is an embassy fee as well a processing fee to be taken into account.

The embassy fee is usually fixed, any variation being only in terms of the exchange rate in local currency as on the date of submitting the visa application, and goes to the government of the country concerned. It is the processing fee wherein there can be a lot of unpredictability.

The processing fee is the share of the agent that you have sought professional guidance from.

Usually, it is the processing fee involved that tends to become the bone of contention. That is, the main point of discussion, so to speak.

While a cheaper alternative in consultancy services might appear to be affordable and pocket-friendly upfront, they might prove to be quite expensive in the long run.

There have been situations wherein cheap fake consultants have lured many customers by attractive too-good-to-be-true deals, only to disappear or pack-up their office locations soon after.

Ideally, you should approach a visa and immigration consultant that is registered as well as experienced. Never be fooled by swanky interiors or smooth talking consultants. The bottom-line is simply that the more years that the consultant has been around, the more value for money you can expect to get.

With experience comes industry exposure. And the more exposure that the consultant has, the more cases – and a wider variety at that – have been handled by them.

If you do require professional guidance for your visa and immigration matters, try to get on board an agent that has been in the industry 10+ years. With a clear and established presence in the industry, the agent does have a brand value to look up to. More the reason to stay away from any underhand or fraudulent dealings.

Y-Axis Middle East DMCC is owned by Y-Axis, India’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Consultant and presumably the world’s largest B2C immigration firm. Y-Axis was established in 1999.

Today, Y-Axis has 40+ company owned and managed offices – across India, Dubai, Sharjah, Melbourne, Sydney. 1,100+ employees serve over 100,000 happy customers a year.

Contact Y-Axis Dubai [+971(0) 42 48 3900 / 65 045 000] for further details. Free counseling provided.

Always make it a point to insist on a copy being provided to you of each and every document that has your signature. That way you have both the awareness, as well as the documentary evidence, that might be required in case of any fraudulent dealing by the agent in the future.

Direct approach

 In immigration matters, it is always best to take the direct and straightforward approach. Never agree to be a part of any seemingly roundabout way of reaching your overseas destination.

There have been many reported instances of immigration fraud involving Indians having been taken to some other South-East Asian country, as a kind of a stopover to their main destination of the US.

Remember that these are all frauds. You cannot expect to make a stopover at some other neighbouring country, like Cambodia or Vietnam, and then re-apply with fresh paperwork from that country.

Never fall for such schemes as these can have far-reaching consequences impacting your chances of immigrating to any country even at a much later date.

Also, a common immigration fraud, especially for those looking to settle down in the US, involves taking an international flight to a South American country or Mexico, and then attempting to enter into the US via the land route. Usually, such immigration pathways involve the individual claiming asylum in the US as a refugee on humanitarian grounds.

Underhand to say the least, such proceedings are downright illegal and can land you in a lot of trouble on the way. Many don’t even make it safely into the US borders. Simply not worth the risk involved.

Transparency in processing

Immigration consultants are expected to be sufficiently trained to effectively represent an individual applying for migrate overseas to any country worldwide.

In the recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of immigration consultants. Mushrooming into existence within a short span of time, a significant proportion of such visa and immigration consultants lack the required experience to be able to impart unbiased immigration advice to any aspiring immigrant.

Ideally, if exploring Canadian immigration pathways, you must lookout for an immigration agent that has been in the field for several years. An experienced immigration consultant is all the more necessary in cases where an Express Entry profile has a CRS score that is below 500.

By CRS is implied the Comprehensive Ranking System [CRS] used for determining the precedence of profiles while in the federal Express Entry pool. The higher the CRS, the sooner can the applicant expect to be invited by the Canadian government to apply for Canada permanent residence.

It is the highest-ranking profiles that are issued Invitations to Apply [ITAs] in the subsequent Express Entry draws that are held. In the latest Express Entry Draw #164 held on September 30, 2020, the minimum CRS required was 471.

Not all Express Entry profiles receive an ITA. Simply the creation of an Express Entry profile is no guarantee of being invited to apply for Canada PR.

While an Express Entry profile remains valid for 1 year following registration, the profile can be updated at any time in order to arrive at a more competitive CRS.

Getting the right consultant on board isall the morenecessary in situations where, for any reason, an Express Entry candidate is struggling with a low CRS and is looking for ways of bettering their ranking in the Express Entry pool.

Express Entry profiles with a low CRS typically require much more work to be done on them as compared to those with a higher ranking score.

The lower the CRS scores, the more the assistance required.

While an inexperienced and fraud immigration consultant might make unreasonable, and often unrealistic, suggestions of improving CRS scores – such as scoring a Band 8 in IELTS or securing a job offer in Canada – a genuine consultant, on the other hand, will suggest alternative routes that are more achievable by the average applicant.

Securing a provincial nomination through the Provincial Nominee Program [Canada PNP] fetches an additional 600 points towards the CRS scores of an Express Entry candidate. While a genuine consultant will straightaway suggest the PNP route, a fake consultant will urge the applicant to aim for a higher IELTS instead.

Failing to get a higher IELTS will be sufficient enough reason for the fake consultant to push the responsibility onto the applicant saying that their profile was not good enough, rather than owing up that the advice that they gave was not worth it.

Additionally, a good Canada immigration consultant will be well-versed with the current selection trends of the different provinces. They must be able to point out precisely as to which was the most appropriate occupation to be put down as the primary application and which would be better suited to be the secondary occupation of the applicant instead.

The absolute importance of an experienced immigration consultant – with 1000s of applications successfully processed – can hardly be overstated.

With years of experience handling all kinds of applications, such consultants, over the time, tend to develop a clear understanding as well as a keen insight into what would work in the specific circumstances and situation of the applicant.

Y-Axis Dubai can help you get to Canada as a permanent resident. There are over 100 immigration pathways available. Canada PNP has almost 80 Canadian immigration pathways. While certain pathways are linked to the federal Express Entry system, many exist independently.

Call Y-Axis Dubai [+971(0) 42 48 3900 / 65 045 000]to find out which immigration pathway will work the best for you.

Do keep in mind that while the immigration rules and procedures invariably remain the same, a certain amount of tweaking is required keeping in view an applicant’s nationality and place of study.

It is always advisable to utilize the professional services of someone that has handled many – as well as a wide variety of – immigration applications in the past, so that they are fully conversant with the procedure involved.

An inexperienced consultant will, in all probability, experiment with your case, hoping to learn at your expense and risk.

Dedicated support

Immigration, while known mainly for the investment in terms of money, is an investment of time as well. Generally, the immigration process tends to last beyond a period of six months.

While it is quite commonplace to begin the processing with a lot of enthusiasm, somewhere down the line many lose some amount of the initial energy. Some even might get downcast and disheartened during the phase of the so-called lull in the processing.

It is in times like these that a dedicated support comes to the rescue. A dedicated consultant, assigned to your case right from the beginning of the processing, will be the best person to alleviate any doubts and misgivings that arise.

Leading visa and immigration consultants are known for the personalized support provided by them. While focussing on getting you your visa, they will never relegate the individual to the background while they get the paperwork done.

A good rapport with the clients is something that makes a good and reliable consultant stand apart from the rest.

With a dedicated support you know there is someone just a phone call or e-mail away. The simple confidence that someone is there for you and indeed has your back can make all the difference to the confidence levels of the applicant.

Moreover, consultants that have a personalized approach to the visa processing will ensure that you are kept in the loop at all times.

Timely updates will be provided by your process consultant. Changes, if any, in the immigration rules and policies of the concerned countries that might affect the visa processing will also be duly intimated to the applicant.

Many a times, there might arise a situation wherein the family involved needs some convincing. Situations such as where, while the principal applicant might be willing to relocate, their dependents – spouse and/or dependents – might not hold the same view of the situation.

A good consultant will also talk to your family, if required. They will take the time to solve all doubts and answer any questions that anyone might have on your behalf.

Technological edge

If professional assistance is required for visa and immigration, it is always best to opt for someone that has a technological edge over others in terms of the investment in infrastructure.

In the digital age that we now live in, technology can make all the difference in almost every field.

Customer Relationship Management, better known as simply CRM, has been quite a game-changer since its introduction. With details of past and existing customers stored and analysed digitally, there is a verifiable exhaustive database to build future strategies upon.

Humans make mistakes. Even the well-meaning and most highly informed might inadvertently suffer from an error in judgement. An error that might adversely affect the applicant and the probability of their visa being granted.

While humans might err, machines and technology do not. Even if there is some technical fault or glitch under the rarest of the rare circumstances, that can well be fixed and the data recovered.

Another key factor where technology scores over human resources is the fact that while the employees of a company might leave or be transferred, the data remains with the company.

Immigration is a long-term project. With an immigration consultant making use of the latest technology, your data will be safely secured in a centralized location. Even in case of your consultant being shifted to another department or quitting the company altogether, there would be no need of explaining everything right from the beginning to the new person handling your case file.

Even if there is a new person in charge of your case file, they can simply take over where the previous person left. With a comprehensive and complete database, all details can easily be retrieved with the click of a mouse button.

Awarded by Salesforce for having the largest number of users worldwide, Y-Axis is one of the companies using state-of-the-art technology.

Processing is greatly streamlined and also expedited through CRM. With most of the processing done through machines via the digital format, the window for any human error is greatly reduced and kept to a bare minimum.

Associations with established organizations

Another way to identify whether you are working with a reputed immigration company is to check and see if they have any associations or affiliations with other well-established companies or are endorsed by government authorities/embassies/consulates.

Y-Axis has an endorsement – as a Platinum Member – by the British Council and is part of the British Council IELTS partnership Programme. In February 2020, Y-Axis Middle East was conferred with the prestigious award “IELTS registration centre of the year, Dubai and Northern Emirates 2020”.

Y-Axis is also accredited with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council [ICCRC-CRCIC] as well as the Migration Agents Registration Authority [MARA] of Australia.

Telephonic records maintained

A sign of an immigration consultant doing honest business is the fact that they will be maintaining records of every telephonic conversation between the client and the representatives of the company.

Such records can prove to be very useful should any dispute arise in the future.

 The right visa

Do keep in mind that if you are looking to migrate to any country, typically there will be many different pathways available, all leadingto being able to reside permanently within the country.

An established visa and immigration consultant, with years’ of experience to their credit, will be able to advise as to which are the most ideally suited immigration pathways for the individual.

The success of a visa application will be based, to a large extent, on the suitability of the individual to the pathway. Generally, each of the immigration pathways for any country have their own eligibility requirements that must be fulfilled.

Often, there might be specific requirements of the province as well, in case a nomination is soughtthrough the provincial government for permanent residence in the country.

The right immigration and visa consultant must have the requisite expertise for guiding the individual in the correct direction. A fake consultant will only somehow get you to sign on the dotted line and pay up for the processing at their end, regardless of whether or not there are any chances of your actually getting the visa.

A genuine consultant, on the other hand, will only suggest a solution that they have the confidence of working out.They will never make any generalised suggestions that might or might not work.

Offering personalized advice keeping in view the specific educational background and other circumstances of the individual, the consultant will then proceed to make well-founded suggestions that have the most chances of meeting with a visa grant.

 Experience in handling complex cases

Another aspect that, though often ignored, must be taken into account is that of the ability as well as the experience of the consultant in handling complex immigration cases.

By complex immigration cases is implied cases where there might have been visa rejections in the past, or some issues with the documentation or some other factor that might have an adverse impact on the visa decision.

Cost versus quality

Never compromise on quality in the name of reducing costs.

Immigration is a complex process. Often, inexperienced immigration consultants tend to scale down their prices in order to generate quick business.

While such consultants might be offering a good deal on the face of it, there is hardly any point if your visa gets rejected and you end up initiating the process the second time around.

Rather than spending comparatively less for visa application processing and then doing the same thing repeatedly facing a rejection, it is better to aim at getting it right the first time itself.

Experimenting in visa and immigration matters can cause more harm than what is apparent on the surface. When you keep applying again and again for a visa, you are losing not only the money involved in the processing, but time that could have been better spent.

Submission of a Decision Ready Application is easier when you know the right person to do it for you.

Success talk

A reputed visa consultant will clearly tell you your chances of visa success at the first meeting itself.

The consultant that you approach for your visa processing must have the experience as well as the expertise of foreseeing any apparent delays in processing and suggest more viable alternative options that have a greater chance of success.

Job guarantee scams

Stay away from an immigration consultant that offers you either 100% guaranteed job in any country within an unreasonably short time, or pushes at you any too-good-to-be-true immigration deals.

Always keep in mind that if any immigration deal sounds too good to be true. It is usually just that. Not true, that is.

Guaranteed visa

Also, do keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “guaranteed visa”. Granting a visa or rejecting a visa application is at the sole prerogative of the government involved.

There is no way that anyone can guarantee a visa. All that can be done is to work on the application so that it is a completed and Decision Ready Application with a higher chance of the visa being granted.

Companies offering guaranteed visas or quick visas are a red flag to watch out for as they signal fraud activities that are being conducted in the name of immigration consultancy.

Complete preparation

The right consultant will ensure that your preparation is complete and as per the current trends.

Some countries place a lot of importance on the personal face-to-face visa interview. A good consultant will see to it that you are fully informed as to what to expect during the personal interview and will prepare you accordingly.

They will coach you as to the most commonly asked questions during a visa interview and prepare you to reply as per the expected response to the question.

Generally, many visa applicants tend to get uncomfortable and nervous during the visa interview. At times, in their confusion, giving wrong or incomplete answers without realizing.

With the right preparation, you can face the visa interview with confidence.

In conclusion, while there might be many visa and immigration consultants operational near you, not all can get your work done.

Regardless of your requirement for a visa – work overseas, migrate overseas, invest overseas, study overseas, or simply visit overseas – you can indeed get it right the first time itself.

Assess you chances for migrate overseas today! Call Y-Axis Dubai [+971(0) 42 48 3900 / 65 045 000], visit https://www.y-axis.ae/ for a free counselling.

About Y-Axis: Y-Axis is India’s No. 1 Immigration & Visa Consultant and presumably the world’s largest B2C immigration firm.

Established in 1999, our 40+ company-owned and managed offices across India, Dubai, London, Partner Offices in Melbourne & New Zealand and 1100+ employees have served over 100,000 happy customers. More than 50% of our customers are from word-of-mouth. We have till date counselled 1,000,000 clients since our inception in 1999. We also support two charitable organizations: Heal A Child and Know More School.