Immigration Application Review Lawyer · Toronto

Who this is for

This service is for people who prepare their own application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and want a lawyer to check it first. IRCC’s forms are free, and IRCC says you do not need a representative to apply. A review finds the problems before an officer does.

We review visitor visas, study and work permits and extensions, Express Entry and other permanent residence applications, and spousal sponsorships.

What a review includes, and what it does not

A review has a fixed scope, agreed with you before we start. We tell you honestly what we can and cannot do, and we confirm the scope in writing.

We check your completed forms and documents against the program you chose and give you written findings: what to correct, add or explain. The review does not include:

• filling out or correcting forms, or translating documents;

• submitting the application or paying IRCC’s fees;

• writing to IRCC or answering its requests for you;

• representing you after a procedural fairness letter or a refusal, unless you later hire us for full representation.

You make the corrections and you submit, and IRCC holds you responsible for everything in your application, even when someone helps. Our written agreement lists what we review and states that nothing else is included.

Who may advise you for a fee, and what IRCC must be told

Under section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), only lawyers and paralegals licensed in a Canadian province or territory, Quebec notaries and members of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, all in good standing, may advise or represent you for a fee, including on an Express Entry profile. With narrow exceptions, anyone else who does so commits an offence. IRCC’s Use of a Representative page confirms that this includes paid advice before an application is made.

Paid advice must also be disclosed. Paragraph 10(2)(c.3) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations requires an application to include the name, contact details and professional membership number of a lawyer who advised the applicant on it for a fee. Before the review starts, we explain in writing how our details go into your application.

Why a review matters

An incomplete application can end before an officer looks at the merits. Section 10 of the Regulations requires an application to be signed, to include all required information and documents, and to come with proof of payment. Under section 12, one that falls short is returned. IRCC’s pages set out the results:

• Express Entry: rejected, with processing fees refunded. To be considered again, you need a new profile and a new invitation.

• Spousal sponsorship: rejected, and the principal applicant must fix the errors and submit again.

• Visitor visas: may be refused.

• Study permits: may be returned without processing, or IRCC may ask for the missing documents.

• Extensions in Canada: returned, and your maintained status ends.

Our articles on incomplete applications and IRCC’s website checklists cover the case law.

The second risk is inconsistency. Under section 40 of IRPA, directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts that could induce an error makes you inadmissible, generally for five years. Forms ask about earlier applications and refusals, and your answers are read against those files. A job title, date or past refusal that does not match can bring a procedural fairness letter, even after an honest mistake. Our article on mistakes on immigration forms explains why officers must read an application as a whole.

What the review covers

IRCC’s first check is for completeness: forms filled out completely and correctly, signed, with fees paid and documents included. Under the IMM 5710 instructions, for example, one unanswered background question makes a work permit application incomplete. We check completeness first, then substance:

• Eligibility: whether your documents show that you meet the requirements of the program you chose, and whether another application fits better.

• Answers against documents: names, dates, passport numbers, marital status and job titles, compared line by line with the documents that prove them.

• Past applications: your history compared with earlier applications to Canada, and every past refusal by any country disclosed where a form asks.

• Travel and address history: gaps, overlaps and dates that do not match your passport or earlier forms.

• Explanation letters: whether each answers the officer’s likely question and matches the evidence.

• Translations: a translation with the translator’s certification or affidavit, plus the original or a certified copy, for each document not in English or French.

• Fees and photos: the right fees for each person, including biometrics, and photos that meet IRCC’s specifications.

• The upload checklist: every item on the checklist IRCC gives you, in the right place, with a letter explaining any document you cannot get.

When a review is not enough

Some files carry too much risk for a review alone. We recommend full representation when:

• you have a prior refusal the new application must answer, or one you may want to challenge (see reconsideration and procedural fairness);

• there is a misrepresentation concern, or a criminal charge or conviction in any country (see inadmissibility and misrepresentation);

• the file is a business immigration application, where the plan and evidence must be built together.

Our Express Entry and spousal sponsorship pages describe full representation. If a review uncovers one of these issues, the findings say so and set out the options: correct and explain it before you file, wait, or hire us for full representation. The decision is yours. Whatever you choose, we never help hide or patch over a problem.

How the process works with us

It starts with an online consultation, booked at cal.com/blacksyimmigration, where we confirm whether a review suits your file. If it does, you complete a secure online intake, we open a shared document folder, and we build a review checklist for your file. You deal directly with our lawyer, Ahmet Faruk Ocak. There are no middlemen. We communicate by email, so every instruction and decision is documented. The work is fully virtual, in English or Turkish.

Our fee is a flat fee agreed in writing before you hire us. You can pay it in full or in two instalments. It is held in trust and earned at set milestones. Government fees are separate, and HST applies to clients resident in Canada.

What happens next

Book a consultation at cal.com/blacksyimmigration and tell us the program, your deadline and any past refusals. Timing matters: an Express Entry invitation is valid for only 60 days, and the review and your corrections must fit inside it.

Once the scope and fee are confirmed in writing, you upload your forms and documents, and we send our findings, item by item. When the review is complete, we confirm that in writing and list the steps that remain for you. Anything more needs a new written agreement first.

Frequently asked questions

Will IRCC know that a lawyer reviewed my application?

It should. Paragraph 10(2)(c.3) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations requires an application to include the name, contact details and professional membership number of a lawyer who advised you for a fee in connection with it. IRCC’s Help Centre warns that not telling IRCC about a paid representative can lead to a returned application or a refusal of entry. IRCC’s instructions read the rule consistently with solicitor-client privilege, so you disclose who advised you, not what the advice was. We explain in writing, before the review starts, how our details go into your application.

Do you submit my application or deal with IRCC for me?

No. Under a review, you make the corrections and you submit the application yourself. We do not write to IRCC, answer requests for documents or respond to procedural fairness letters for you. If IRCC asks for more, raises a concern or refuses the application, you can hire us for full representation at that point. That is a separate agreement, made in writing before we act. Until then, the application and every step in it stay in your hands, which is also how IRCC sees it: you are responsible for everything you submit.

What should I send you for the review?

Your completed forms, every document you plan to upload, the document checklist for your application and any letters of explanation you have written. If you have applied to Canada before, send copies of those applications and any refusal letters, because we compare your new answers with them. If you no longer have copies, tell us at the consultation, and we discuss how to deal with the gap. Everything goes into the shared folder we open for your file, so there is one record of what we reviewed.

Does a review mean my application will be approved?

No. The decision belongs to the IRCC officer, and IRCC says that using a representative does not draw special attention to an application or mean it will be approved. A review is designed to catch avoidable problems before you submit: missing documents, answers that do not match your documents or earlier applications, and explanations that leave questions open. It cannot change the facts of your case. If the facts are the problem, we tell you so in the findings, and we explain what would need to change first.

Can a friend, relative or agent help me instead?

A friend or relative can help you for free. IRCC treats people who help without charge as unpaid representatives, or not as representatives at all if they only help with things like getting documents translated, scanning or using IRCC’s website. With narrow exceptions, anyone who charges for immigration advice must be a lawyer, a paralegal, a Quebec notary or a member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, in good standing. IRCC says it may return or refuse an application that uses an unauthorized paid representative, in Canada or abroad.