The short version
- Booking is free. Accepting the Initial Consultation Agreement and booking a time costs nothing.
- The fee is invoiced after the work is done. The consultation fee is CAD $250 plus applicable GST. It is earned, and invoiced, only after your RCIC has actually performed substantive review of the information you provide when booking (and any documents we later request through our secure client process), issue identification, program analysis and preparation for your video call. The fee must be paid before your video call takes place.
- Fees for professional consultation services actually performed and properly invoiced are generally non-refundable for changes of mind, subject to the Initial Consultation Agreement, the CICC Code of Professional Conduct and all applicable non-waivable consumer protection rights.
What governs your refund
- The law and our professional obligations come first. These include the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) Code of Professional Conduct, applicable consumer protection legislation, and any other right that the law says can’t be waived. No agreement and no website page can take those rights away.
- Your Initial Consultation Agreement comes next. You accept it before you book. It sets out your consultation, the fee, and the rules for cancellations and refunds.
- This page is a plain-English summary of that agreement. It doesn’t change the agreement or add to it. If this page and your agreement ever differ, the agreement governs, subject to the law.
If you later hire us for representation, a separate written Retainer/Service Agreement governs those services, including their fees and refunds, again subject to the law.
Who you are dealing with
- McKinsley-White Immigration is the shared professional brand of two RCICs. It is not a separate company.
- Your advice comes from an RCIC: Our two RCICs are Sean G. McKinsley, RCIC, CICC R529731, and Kimberly J. White, RCIC, CICC R712483. Sean, our senior practitioner, conducts your first video consultation. Each RCIC is personally responsible to the CICC for the professional services they provide.
- Contracts, invoices, payments and refunds are handled by the contracting firm named in your Initial Consultation Agreement.
Your consultation, step by step
- When you book. No fee is payable just because you book a time or accept the agreement (agreement section 3).
- When the fee is earned. The fee is earned once your RCIC has actually completed the substantive preparation for your consultation: review of the information you provide when booking (and any documents we later request through our secure client process), issue identification, program analysis and preparation for your video call. Opening a file or reserving a time isn’t enough. We invoice completed services, with an invoice that describes the work done (sections 3 and 4).
- When you pay. Payment is required before your video call. You pay online by card through Stripe, and you get a receipt that identifies the invoice (section 4).
- The video call of about 30 minutes, with Sean G. McKinsley, RCIC, our senior practitioner, is included in the fee. There is no separate charge for it (sections 2 and 3).
If you cancel or reschedule
- Before preparation has begun: no fee is earned or invoiced (section 14). Please tell us as soon as you can.
- After preparation has been completed and invoiced: the fee has been earned for the work done. It isn’t refunded just because you cancel, decide not to go ahead or don’t attend the call. Where reasonably practicable, we may let you reschedule (section 15).
If we can’t hold your call
If your RCIC can’t hold the scheduled call after the preparation is complete, we will use reasonable efforts to offer a replacement time. If the consultation can’t reasonably be provided, the firm will make any fee adjustment, credit or refund required by the CICC Code, applicable consumer protection legislation or other non-waivable law (section 16).
When we don’t give refunds
We don’t give discretionary refunds of earned fees just because a client:
- changes their mind;
- decides not to go ahead with their immigration plans;
- gets advice elsewhere;
- no longer wants the follow-up call; or
- is unhappy with a government decision that is outside the consultants’ control.
This is always subject to the CICC Code of Professional Conduct, applicable consumer protection legislation, other non-waivable rights and any binding legal or professional requirement. We will never keep money that must legally or professionally be returned (section 17).
No deposits
We don’t take deposits or advance payments for consultations. The consultation fee is invoiced, and payment is due before your video call, only after the preparation has actually been completed (sections 3 and 4). The 30-minute video call is included, with no separate fee.
Asking for a refund, or raising a concern
- Email info@civs.ca with your request. Please include your name, your invoice number (if you have one) and what you’re asking for.
- We review every request against your Initial Consultation Agreement, the CICC Code and the law. We reply in writing, give our reasons, and tell you what we will do.
- If a refund is due, we refund it to the original payment method where possible.
If you have a concern about an RCIC’s professional conduct, you can also contact the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. You can look up any RCIC on the CICC Public Register (register.college-ic.ca), and the College explains how to make a complaint (college-ic.ca/protecting-the-public/complaints-process/make-a-complaint).
This website and your agreements
- Nothing on this website changes a signed agreement.
- Representation starts only when you sign a Retainer/Service Agreement.