I think maxim is right..its very easy to fill up the immigration form and I belive hiring a consultant is usless..as most of the people filed it by thier own.

Time to time these consultants or consulting firms do arrange seminars. Its a good idea to attend them.
Make a list of all doubts, questions and other related matters. Ask them during question hour during seminar.
We can also avail oppourtunity of one free assement interview with them. Gather as much as information possible and for the rest CD is always there ( To me it provided lot of inputs).

Applying through consulting firms or directly is purely one's own decision.

Regards

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Shreenivas

Well, it IS a personal choice, of course.

Things have, however changed these days. Not that I'm FOR consultants, but my choice of hiring one was to save time, both now as well as the total time between now and till I get to go.

These days, the waiting period has gone up - the current applications might take up to 4 years to get processed, depending on the skills requirement in Canada. Also, a lot of applications are getting rejected, so one can never be too careful in filling forms or sending the right documents (This is NOT what some consultant has told me - I KNOW people waiting for 3.5 years with no news of the visa as yet).

If a visa officer gets the right documents, the processing time is significantly shortened - and an GOOD EXPERIENCED consultant will HELP in having ALL the RIGHT documents in minimum time. Interview waivers too are based on this fact.

The point is getting a GOOD consultant, and not a GREEDY or COMMERCIAL one. Then the money spent will be well spent. And the time saved can be used to earn that extra money .

Meanwhile, one can use one's time in upgrading skills as per requirements there and also preparing for the first few harsh months that r bound to happen unless one is very lucky.

What say ?

p.s. Anyone on CD who knows or has used Real Services to reach there ?