saroshkabir@gmail.com

Hi,
I was wondering if one here was con by Lisa Macdonald of Macdonald &
Accoiates (www.canadavisaonline.com). Below is my story:

We have following complains about Lisa Macdonald.

1. Withholding the immigration fees without prior notification.
2. Providing us wrongful information about our case
3. Misrepresenting our case
4. Harassing us
5. Causing us unnecessary stress and emotional

And we would like to receive the full refund of our money
Fund Paid Amount
Initial Payment made to the Firm $ 797 USD
Application Processing Fees $ 475 CAN
Sponsor's Processing Fees $ 75 CAN
Landing Fees $ 975 CAN

>From this point Lisa Macdonald would be referred as She and Drew Quantz
as He.

We hired Lisa Macdonald to file my wife's immigration case (spousal
sponsorship) back in October 2002. Every thing was going OK till
January 2003, when I asked her to provide me some sort of proof that my
wife's application is filed. She refused to provide me the proof
instead she stated that she mail IMM5401 (immigration payment receipt)
to immigration by mistake and I should wait at least a 60 day to
receive LOA (Letter of Authorization) and referred me to Drew Quantz.

In March 2003 I even went to Montreal, to meet Lisa Macdonald. Upon
arrival in Montreal Drew Quantz met me and told me that Lisa is on
vacation. He demanded me to give him rest of the payment before he can
give me some sort of proof that my wife's application has been filed.
During our meeting when Drew showed me the paper work nothing was done
to it, even the FBI fingerprints were sent. I refused to pay Drew the
second payment of their fee and told them he needs to find the status
of my wife's file instead he refilled my wife's case with incorrect
fee. A month later my wife and I called immigration to check the
status of my wife's application and was told by immigration that our
application has been returned. Two weeks later Drew called us and said
he has received the receipt from immigration and demanded rest of the
payment. I refused to pay him the second payment because he had not
filed my case back in January 2003 and application, which was filled in
March 2003, was also returned by immigration. Since nothing was done
to my wife's application I demanded Drew and Lisa refund my money
specially Processing and Land Fee, which they refused.

Since that day my wife and I have taken following steps.

steve

Unfortunately these horror stories are wayyyy too common, and
ironically I had a similiar experience with a representative from
Gatineau, Quebec. My complaint with CSIC was that I paid the rep $1800
(plus the processing fees, security check fees, medical fees, AND
shipping costs to the processing centre), and he took 2 months to
"prepare" the application, but his version of a "prepared" application
was sticking it in a 97 cent paper folder with plastic protectors, and
writing a cover letter. He kept asking me for the same information over
and over again to the point that I had to complete the forms myself and
give them to him to get everything done. Unfortunately, moral of my
story is that I wasn't fully aware that by submitting an application
inland there is NO right of appeal, and we didn't want to take that
chance, so we're in the processing of withdrawing the already in
process application at Vegreville, so that we can apply to Mississauga
and have it processed outside Canada. Already we've lost 4 months and
several thousands for hardly any work whatsoever.

Moral of my story: Stick with CSIC's complaint department. When I felt
that I was being taken advantage of I submitting a 3-page letter to
CSIC (as well as their required complaint forms) explaining my ENTIRE
experience with the consultant, and also the reasons that I've
justified he hasn't complied with their Rules of Conduct. CSIC members
are required to carry certain liability insurance, so if you file a
complaint, this may be one of the options to settlement. Usually CSIC
likes to first take the role of a medium entity, and coordinate a
closure to the complaint between the consultant and the applicant. If
this can't be accomplished, then of course they have other resources.

My entire complaint to CSIC was around 10 pages in length since I
included all the errors in application that the consultant made (mind
you I had to correct all of them before I mailed it to Vegreville...the
consultant didn't proof-read anything), as well as payment receipts
made to the consultant.

CSIC states that they can't take responsibility for complaints that
believe they were charged too much money by the consultant, however
they will investigate complaints where proper services were not
rendered.

Ironically CSIC's membership critera requires that you either have 1
year of full-time experience, 10 cases that have been processed through
CIC, or complete an accredited immigration certification program. This
means that if they aren't a member of CSIC yet, then they probably are
gaining the necessary experience to become one. If you notice CIC's
site, it's very clear...they must be a member of CSIC to REPRESENT YOU
before CIC or an Appeals Board. That doesn't mean they have to be a
member to prepare an application and file it for you. You are at your
own risk when you hire someone that isn't a member of CSIC.

Please let me know if you have filed another application, as you have
waited over 3years for your wife's immigration, it's safe to say that
if the application had been filed in the first place correctly, your
wife would be a permanent resident by now.


Steve





wrote:[uq]
> Hi,
> I was wondering if one here was con by Lisa Macdonald of Macdonald &
> Accoiates (www.canadavisaonline.com). Below is my story:
>
> We have following complains about Lisa Macdonald.
>
> 1. Withholding the immigration fees without prior notification.
> 2. Providing us wrongful information about our case
> 3. Misrepresenting our case
> 4. Harassing us
> 5. Causing us unnecessary stress and emotional
>
> And we would like to receive the full refund of our money
> Fund Paid Amount
> Initial Payment made to the Firm $ 797 USD
> Application Processing Fees $ 475 CAN
> Sponsor's Processing Fees $ 75 CAN
> Landing Fees $ 975 CAN
>
> >From this point Lisa Macdonald would be referred as She and Drew Quantz
> as He.
>
> We hired Lisa Macdonald to file my wife's immigration case (spousal
> sponsorship) back in October 2002. Every thing was going OK till
> January 2003, when I asked her to provide me some sort of proof that my
> wife's application is filed. She refused to provide me the proof
> instead she stated that she mail IMM5401 (immigration payment receipt)
> to immigration by mistake and I should wait at least a 60 day to
> receive LOA (Letter of Authorization) and referred me to Drew Quantz.
>
> In March 2003 I even went to Montreal, to meet Lisa Macdonald. Upon
> arrival in Montreal Drew Quantz met me and told me that Lisa is on
> vacation. He demanded me to give him rest of the payment before he can
> give me some sort of proof that my wife's application has been filed.
> During our meeting when Drew showed me the paper work nothing was done
> to it, even the FBI fingerprints were sent. I refused to pay Drew the
> second payment of their fee and told them he needs to find the status
> of my wife's file instead he refilled my wife's case with incorrect
> fee. A month later my wife and I called immigration to check the
> status of my wife's application and was told by immigration that our
> application has been returned. Two weeks later Drew called us and said
> he has received the receipt from immigration and demanded rest of the
> payment. I refused to pay him the second payment because he had not
> filed my case back in January 2003 and application, which was filled in
> March 2003, was also returned by immigration. Since nothing was done
> to my wife's application I demanded Drew and Lisa refund my money
> specially Processing and Land Fee, which they refused.
>
> Since that day my wife and I have taken following steps.
>

saroshkabir@gmail.com

CSIC refused to assist me, because Lisa Macdonald is not a member.

steve

I would assume that your small claims petition would be most successful
in this situation if you would file in the proper jurisdiction.
Eventually Lisa Macdonald will have to become a member of CSIC if she
ever wants to formally represent her clients and the applications that
she's prepared for you to sign. My advice to you would be to be
extremely persistant with CSIC (send them all your documentation and
payment receipts, make a chronological order of your experience with
Ms. Macdonald) because like I said before, eventually Ms. Macdonald
will need to gain CSIC membership, especially if CIC cracks down even
more on representation than what they have in the past 2 years. My
opinion is that if you create enough attention at CSIC, they will be on
alert when she does file for membership.

Besides presenting your case in small claims, your options are very
limited. However, by contacting CSIC and being persistant, you might be
able to save someone else from 3 years of troubles. My advice to you
would be to present your application yourself. As i have learned from
experience, by doing your application on your own you will become more
aware of the process (as you stated in your first message with
troubles), and every document that you are signing.

CIC states that even though you are appointing a representative, it is
YOUR responsibility to make sure that accurate information is provided
on all the forms.

If you are gonna go the same route you did before, with a consultant, I
would make sure that they are either a member of CSIC, or that they are
in provision to become CSIC member and that they have references from
other clients.

God Bless you for sharing your experience...I know that it will be
helpful to newbies here

If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask.


Steve

Fred

wrote:
> CSIC refused to assist me, because Lisa Macdonald is not a member.
>
Look, I hate to be blunt about this, but it's time for you to quit
whining and move on. Yeah, I know it sucks, but sometimes you've just
got to bite that ol' bullet, and part of that is acknowledging your role
in this fiasco, which is in not researching the person you hired. So
take responsibility, suck it up, and move forward.

HellBoy

Sometimes I just don't understand why is it that some people waste
thousands of dollars engaging migration agents when they could fill up
the forms and send them themselves. Everything is very straight
forward.

Using a migration agent is not going to speed up or affect the outcome
of your application in anyway. It is nothing more than a waste of money
if you were to ask me.

You could use a migration agent only if you are too busy or too rich.



wrote:[uq]
> Hi,
> I was wondering if one here was con by Lisa Macdonald of Macdonald &
> Accoiates (www.canadavisaonline.com). Below is my story:
>
> We have following complains about Lisa Macdonald.
>
> 1. Withholding the immigration fees without prior notification.
> 2. Providing us wrongful information about our case
> 3. Misrepresenting our case
> 4. Harassing us
> 5. Causing us unnecessary stress and emotional
>
> And we would like to receive the full refund of our money
> Fund Paid Amount
> Initial Payment made to the Firm $ 797 USD
> Application Processing Fees $ 475 CAN
> Sponsor's Processing Fees $ 75 CAN
> Landing Fees $ 975 CAN
>
> >From this point Lisa Macdonald would be referred as She and Drew Quantz
> as He.
>
> We hired Lisa Macdonald to file my wife's immigration case (spousal
> sponsorship) back in October 2002. Every thing was going OK till
> January 2003, when I asked her to provide me some sort of proof that my
> wife's application is filed. She refused to provide me the proof
> instead she stated that she mail IMM5401 (immigration payment receipt)
> to immigration by mistake and I should wait at least a 60 day to
> receive LOA (Letter of Authorization) and referred me to Drew Quantz.
>
> In March 2003 I even went to Montreal, to meet Lisa Macdonald. Upon
> arrival in Montreal Drew Quantz met me and told me that Lisa is on
> vacation. He demanded me to give him rest of the payment before he can
> give me some sort of proof that my wife's application has been filed.
> During our meeting when Drew showed me the paper work nothing was done
> to it, even the FBI fingerprints were sent. I refused to pay Drew the
> second payment of their fee and told them he needs to find the status
> of my wife's file instead he refilled my wife's case with incorrect
> fee. A month later my wife and I called immigration to check the
> status of my wife's application and was told by immigration that our
> application has been returned. Two weeks later Drew called us and said
> he has received the receipt from immigration and demanded rest of the
> payment. I refused to pay him the second payment because he had not
> filed my case back in January 2003 and application, which was filled in
> March 2003, was also returned by immigration. Since nothing was done
> to my wife's application I demanded Drew and Lisa refund my money
> specially Processing and Land Fee, which they refused.
>
> Since that day my wife and I have taken following steps.
>

steve

I definitely agree that if you are capable of preparing your own
application and understand the details, then I wouldn't hire a migrant
agent. Migrant Agents are usually helpful for people who don't have the
time, are too overwhelmed with all the details and requirements, and
need someone to put it into a professional presentation. I agree with
Fred, that you should've researched this "firm" before sending any
funds. Taking a quick look at their information on their company site,
I've noticed that alot is outdated from the previous immigration policy
before June 28, 2002. I do see some testimonials, but they don't
provide any contact information (e-mail addresses) for those
individuals, and also they haven't mentioned ANYWHERE on the site what
associations they are accredited by. This is definitely a RED FLAG that
should've caught your eye!!!!

Steve

steve

i hate to say it but i think you were the victim of a very well planned
scam operation. Besides the possibility of taking your case to small
claims court ( which alot of individuals aren't so willing to do ),
there's not much you can do...and of course they've won and have kept
over $1k that was easily earned. This is a hard mistake that is
definitely well learned.

steve

gifkins@hotmail.com

This is terrible. This is why it is so important to find some one who
is properly registered to represent you.

At this stage filing a small claim again them might be most effective,
also you may consider to file a new application with CIC to prevent
further delay caused by dealing with these people.

hope you all the best!

Jim Humphries

The problem you face seems to be that the person concerned is not a member
of CSIC or a law society so there is no one to take action on your behalf.
It is most important when hiring a consultant or lawyer that they be members
in good standing of either the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants
or of a provincial law society or the Quebec Chamber of Notaries. Then
there is some discipline and ethical requirements to be met and measures
that can be taken on your behalf.