Frequently asked questions.
Straight answers to what applicants and employers ask us most. These are general answers — your file may differ, rules change, and officers decide every application on its own facts.
Working with an RCIC
What is an RCIC, and how is it different from an unlicensed agent?
A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) is licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), the federal regulator, and is one of the only categories of professionals legally allowed to charge fees for Canadian immigration advice or representation under section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act — alongside Canadian lawyers and Quebec notaries. Unlicensed agents ('ghost consultants') operate outside any regulator: there is no code of conduct protecting you, no complaints process, and applications they prepare are often filed without disclosing their involvement, which puts your file at risk.
How do I verify that a consultant is actually licensed?
Search the CICC's Public Register at register.college-ic.ca using the consultant's name or licence number, and check that their status is active. Our practice is operated by Anil Katta, RCIC, licence number R531377, and we encourage every prospective client to verify that entry before engaging us — or anyone else. If a person offering immigration services for a fee does not appear on the CICC register and is not a Canadian lawyer or Quebec notary, they cannot lawfully represent you.
Can you guarantee my application will be approved?
No — and no honest consultant can. Every application is decided by an independent government officer on its own facts, and the CICC Code of Professional Conduct prohibits consultants from guaranteeing outcomes. What we can do is assess your eligibility candidly (including telling you when a plan is weak), build a complete and well-documented file, and make sure the officer sees everything the law requires. Treat any guarantee of approval, from anyone, as a red flag.
What does it cost to work with you, and how do fees work?
Fees depend on the application type and the complexity of your situation, and are set out in a written service agreement before any work begins — the agreement describes the exact services, the fee stages, and what happens if the engagement ends early. Government filing fees are separate and are paid to IRCC under IRCC's rules. A paid consultation is the usual starting point: you get a candid assessment and a recommended plan whether or not you retain us afterward.
Work permits
Work Permit services →Do I always need an LMIA to get a Canadian work permit?
No. LMIA-based permits are one route, but many workers qualify under LMIA-exempt categories: intra-company transfers, free-trade-agreement professionals (such as CUSMA), significant-benefit entrepreneurs (C11), post-graduation work permits, spousal open work permits, and others. Which route applies depends on your occupation, your employer's situation, and your relationship to Canada — identifying the right category is usually the first strategic decision in a work permit file.
Can my spouse and children come with me on a work permit?
Often, but eligibility for their own permits has narrowed. Since 2025, spouses of foreign workers generally qualify for an open work permit only where the principal worker is in a TEER 0 or 1 occupation or a designated TEER 2 or 3 occupation, with minimum remaining validity on the principal's permit — and most dependent children no longer qualify for open work permits. Children can usually attend school in Canada. The current occupation lists on canada.ca should be checked before assuming eligibility either way.
My work permit application was refused. Should I just reapply?
Not immediately. First obtain the GCMS notes for the refused application — they contain the officer's actual reasoning, which the refusal letter does not. A reapplication that answers the specific concerns in the notes is a genuinely different application; one that resubmits the same package usually collects a faster second refusal, and each refusal becomes part of the history the next officer reads.
Can I keep working while my extension is being processed?
Generally yes, if you applied to extend your work permit before it expired and you remain in Canada: you benefit from maintained status (formerly 'implied status') and can keep working under your existing conditions while IRCC processes the extension. Keep proof of the submission date. If your permit expires before you apply, the situation is very different — restoration has strict deadlines and you cannot work in the meantime, so timing extensions properly matters a great deal.
Study permits
Study Permit services →What is a provincial attestation letter, and do I need one?
Since the national cap on study permit applications, most applicants must include a provincial or territorial attestation letter (PAL/TAL) — issued through the institution from the province's allocation — before IRCC will accept the application for processing. Exemptions exist for most primary and secondary students and certain other groups, and the exemption list has changed since the cap began, so check the current rules on canada.ca. The PAL is obtained after you accept an offer, which adds a stage (and time) to your application timeline.
How much money do I need to show for a study permit?
You must show first-year tuition plus the current minimum living-cost requirement, which IRCC raised substantially in recent years and adjusts over time — verify the current figure on canada.ca. Just as important as the amount is the source: officers assess where the money came from and whether it is genuinely available for your education. Several months of account history and documentation for any large deposits are usually more persuasive than a bare balance letter.
Why are study permits refused even with an acceptance letter?
An acceptance letter only proves a school admitted you — it does not address the legal tests. Most refusals cite purpose of study (the program does not convincingly fit your background and career), financial sufficiency, or the officer not being satisfied you would leave Canada at the end of an authorized stay. These are evidence problems, addressed with a genuinely personal study plan, well-documented funds, and affirmative evidence of home ties — not with a better acceptance letter.
Will my program make me eligible for a post-graduation work permit?
It depends on the institution, the credential level, and — for most college and non-degree programs — whether the field of study appears on IRCC's eligible list tied to shortage occupations. University bachelor's, master's, and doctoral graduates are generally exempt from the field-of-study requirement, but all PGWP applicants face language requirements. Because the list has changed since introduction, verify your program's CIP code against the current list before enrolling: program choice is effectively the PGWP decision.
Permanent residence
Permanent Residence services →My CRS score is below recent cutoffs. What are my realistic options?
In rough order of impact: language retesting (the single biggest controllable lever, especially raising your lowest ability band), French proficiency (both direct points and access to French-category draws), checking whether your occupation fits a current category-based draw, provincial nomination (worth 600 points), assessing additional credentials, and — for couples — testing whether the other partner scores higher as principal applicant. Which levers apply, and in what order, depends entirely on your profile; that ranking exercise is most of what an Express Entry strategy consultation is.
What are category-based draws, and how do I know if I qualify?
Since 2023, IRCC invites some candidates based on attributes rather than raw CRS score — categories have included French-language proficiency, health care and social services, trades, education, and agriculture occupations, with the list announced each year. You qualify by being in the Express Entry pool with the required experience or language results, correctly reflected in your profile. A surprising number of eligible candidates miss category draws because their occupation code understates their actual duties — worth reviewing carefully and honestly.
Do I need a job offer to apply for Express Entry?
No. Most candidates in the pool have no Canadian job offer, and since 2025 arranged employment no longer adds CRS points — a change that also eliminated the market for purchased LMIAs, which were always misrepresentation. A genuine job offer still matters in other ways: it can support certain provincial nomination streams and work permit routes that build Canadian experience, which does earn significant points.
What is the difference between Express Entry and the PNP?
Express Entry is the federal application-management system for three programs (Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Trades). Provincial Nominee Programs are run by provinces, each with its own streams and criteria. They intersect: an 'enhanced' provincial nomination adds 600 points to your Express Entry score, effectively securing an invitation, while 'base' nominations proceed outside Express Entry entirely. For candidates below federal cutoffs, PNP stream selection — matching your occupation, ties, and job offer to a specific stream's current criteria — is usually the main strategic question.
Family sponsorship
Family Sponsorship services →What evidence do I need to prove my relationship is genuine?
Officers assess the whole record across four broad pillars: cohabitation or visit history, financial interdependence, communication over the relationship's full timeline, and social recognition by family and friends. There is no fixed checklist — a long-distance couple proves things differently than cohabiting partners — but the principle is constant: a representative, organized record across the entire relationship beats a large volume of evidence from one period. Consistency between both partners' forms and narratives matters as much as the documents themselves.
Do I need a minimum income to sponsor my spouse?
For spousal and partner sponsorship there is no minimum necessary income requirement in most cases (unlike parent and grandparent sponsorship, which has income requirements over multiple tax years). You must still show you can support basic needs and must not be disqualified — for example by certain criminal convictions, default on previous sponsorship undertakings, or social assistance for reasons other than disability. You also sign a binding undertaking, generally three years for a spouse, which survives relationship breakdown.
Can my spouse work in Canada while the sponsorship is in process?
If you are applying through the inland (in-Canada) stream, your spouse can generally apply for a spousal open work permit associated with the sponsorship, allowing them to work while the application is processed — this route remains available despite the narrowing of other family open work permit categories. Outland applicants wait abroad (or visit on temporary status) and cannot work in Canada until landed. Inland versus outland is a genuine strategic choice involving travel needs, appeal rights, and processing realities.
What happens if the sponsorship is refused?
Spousal sponsorship refusals have a remedy most refusals do not: the sponsor can usually appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division, where the case is heard fresh and new evidence is permitted (with exceptions — for example, certain serious inadmissibility grounds, or inland applications, which carry no IAD appeal right). Often the better first step is a full review of the refusal reasons and GCMS notes to decide between appeal and reapplication — the right choice depends on why the file failed.
For employers
Employer services →How long does it take to hire a foreign worker through an LMIA?
Plan in stages: Job Bank account verification, then at least four consecutive weeks of compliant advertising, then LMIA processing at Service Canada (which varies by stream and time of year), then the worker's permit application at IRCC (which varies by country). End to end, several months is a realistic baseline for most files, and rushing the recruitment stage to save weeks is the most common cause of losing months to a negative assessment. Check current processing times for your stream before committing start dates.
Are there hires we can make without an LMIA at all?
Frequently, yes. The International Mobility Program covers LMIA-exempt categories including intra-company transferees, professionals under free-trade agreements such as CUSMA, significant-benefit cases (including C11 entrepreneurs), and reciprocal-employment situations. These still require the employer to submit an offer through the Employer Portal and pay the compliance fee, and the exemption must be properly argued — but they avoid the recruitment and labour-market testing of the LMIA process entirely when they genuinely apply.
What compliance obligations continue after the worker starts?
Employers of temporary foreign workers are subject to inspection for six years: you must retain recruitment and employment records, provide the wages, occupation, and working conditions set out in the offer, and remain substantially compliant with the program conditions. Violations can bring monetary penalties, bans from the programs, and public naming. The practical protection is unglamorous — accurate records, wages that match the offer, and prompt advice before changing a foreign worker's duties, hours, wage, or location.
The wage rules changed — is our planned low-wage LMIA still viable?
Check three things against current data before spending on recruitment: the provincial wage threshold that divides the low- and high-wage streams (raised to 20% above the provincial median and updated periodically), whether the work location's region is on the refusal-to-process list for low-wage applications, and whether your worksite is within the low-wage cap counting existing foreign workers. Any one of these can make an application non-viable this cycle regardless of recruitment quality — and each is verifiable on canada.ca in a few minutes.
Verify our licence any time on the CICC Public Register — Anil Katta, RCIC, RCIC #R531377.
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