This legal document refers to the preliminary consultation conducted by Yves Martineau, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (the consultant), subject to the following terms and conditions:
1. The purpose of the consultation is to ensure the consultant’s availability, to assess the client’s eligibility and qualifications for permanent or temporary immigration to Canada and/or to verify the file of the client and/or prepare for an interview with Canadian authorities and/or reply any questions related to Canadian Immigration law, as the case may be.
2. The legal basis of the counselling is the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its Regulations, immigration laws, regulations and instructions of the Canadian provinces, and it is done according to the consultant’s best knowledge and based on the information provided by the client.
3. The consultant is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant according to the Canadian laws, member R415279 of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, member No. 11035 of the Québec Registry of Immigration Consultants, member No. 000260 of the Saskatchewan registry of Licensed Immigration consultants, and member No. R12145 of the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants.
4. The consultation is to last 60 minutes. However should there be time lost for reasons of technical failures, this time should be compensated to the client in the form of additional minutes. Time lost may include but not limited to: deficient Internet connection or phone line, power failure, reasonable, unexpected circumstances out of the client’s or consultant’s reach that would delay the interview.
5. Should the client be late for the appointment, the time lost due to a late arrival, unless for reasons stated in section 4 of this agreement, will not be compensated. For greater clarity, for example, if a consultation is scheduled at 10:00, it is to end at 11:00, even if the client arrives after 10:00.
6. Should the consultation last less than 60 minutes upon mutual agreement between the consultant and the client or upon request of the client, the minutes left may not be used for other future services and could not be compensated in the way of a partial reimbursement of the consultation fee.
7. The consultation is done online, on the phone or in person. Should the client prefer the telephone as mean of communication, he will be the one making the call or covering any long-distance fees.
8. Should the client prefer to take the consultation online, he should have a working microphone, headset or speakers, and if possible a camera.
9. The regular consultation fee is of 350 (three hundred fifty) Canadian dollars. Canadian provincial and federal sales taxes apply if the client is physically in Canada at the time of the consultation. Money transfer fees are at the client's expense.
10. The consultation can be cancelled and the fee is reimbursable, minus an administrative fee of 20%. This can be done up to 48 hours before the appointment. In case of a reimbursement, any transfer and banking fees will be charged to the client.
11. Should the client need to cancel or re-schedule the appointment, he should inform at least 24 hours in advance. Otherwise, the consultant reserves the right to cancel without any reimbursement.
12. Should the client decide to hire the consultant to represent him in front of the Canadian immigration authorities in the future, the fees for the preliminary consultation will be deducted from the total honoraria for the representation services, as follows:
a) The deduction of the fees for the preliminary consultation can be applied only once. For greater clarity, the fact of having two or more preliminary consultations does not allow to have two or more deductions of fees.
b) The value of the preliminary consultation honoraria applies as a discount when it represents 10% or less of the total honoraria for the representation services.
c) The discount applies when a contract is signed within 4 weeks after the date of the preliminary consultation.
13. The consultant will inform the client of the honoraria for the representation services during the preliminary consultation or soon after. The honoraria are established based on a variety of factors including, in particular, the type of immigration program, the number of family members, the complexity of the case, or any particular circumstance, based on the information disclosed by the client during the consultation. Fees are subject to change without notice, especially if new elements or circumstances warrant it. Should the client require representation services for an urgent matter, the honoraria may be increased by 38%. An urgent matter means an application to be submitted or a reply to be given to a Canadian authority within less than 31 calendar days following the date of the signature of the representation services agreement.
14. Should the client schedule an emergency consultation, an additional charge of $100 may apply. Upon signing a full representation service agreement, the extra charge cannot serve as a discount on the full amount.
15. By taking the consultation the client has no obligation to hire the consultant for any further immigration procedures.
16. Taking the consultation does not imply that the consultant represents the client before any immigration authorities.
17. In order to receive accurate advice the client should provide clear answers and genuine information.
18. All the information is considered to be strictly confidential and not going to be shared with any third party. The employees and consultants of Martineau & Mindicanu are not considered to be a third party for the purpose of these terms and conditions.
19. Under exceptional circumstances the client and the consultant have the right to postpone the consultation without additional fees two times. For additional postponements a fee of $50 (Canadian dollars) will be charged each time to the party that makes it.
20. Should the client have additional questions after the 60 minutes of consultation have passed, scheduling another appointment will be needed, unless a representation contract is signed. For greater clarity, should the client need assistance after the consultation, there is the option of scheduling another meeting or to hire the consultant for complete assistance.
21. Should the CLIENT desire to file any complaint against the CONSULTANT, the CLIENT must file his complaint with the CONSULTANT in writing within 10 business days of the event for which an issue has occurred. Should the CONSULTANT fail to respond to the complaint and resolve it in a reasonable manner within 10 business days, the CLIENT may file his complaint with the ICCRC at cd-pd@iccrc-crcic.ca, by phone at 1-877-836-7543 or by at fax 1-877-315-9868.
22. These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws in effect in the Province of Quebec, Canada.
23. As the context may require, the singular shall include the plural and vice versa; words importing the masculine shall include the feminine gender and vice versa.
24. The client and the consultant agree that for the purpose of this agreement, by pressing the SUBMIT button, the client accepts and signs the present agreement.
25. The consultant will send the client a copy of the present agreement by email, which counts as the electronic signature of the consultant.
26. The parties acknowledge that they have requested that the foregoing be drawn up in the English language; Les parties reconnaissent qu'elles ont exigé que ce qui précède soit rédigé en la langue anglaise.
