Marin Immigration Law is no longer taking on hourly file reviews or limited scope retainers. Every citizenship and immigration file we accept is now a flat fee file, where our lawyers, our genealogist and our research team prepare the application with you and stay with you until IRCC makes a final decision.
This was not an easy decision. Many of the people who asked us for an hour or two of review were thoughtful, organized and had already done a great deal of work on their own. We want to explain, openly, why we made the change and what we can offer instead.
A "quick review" is rarely quick
On paper, an hourly review sounds simple: look over the forms, glance at the family tree, and send it off. In practice, a proper review of a citizenship by descent application is anything but simple.
To tell you with confidence that an application is ready, we need to understand the whole lineage, not just the pages in front of us. Is there a better record for the Canadian ancestor? Is a marriage record missing for a woman in the chain whose name changed? Does a census return contradict a birth date? Are there documents that exist in an archive that no one has ordered yet? Answering those questions takes genealogical research, time with our research team, and often a fresh look at the evidence from the ground up. That work does not fit into an hour or two.
When a lawyer reviews an application, the lawyer takes on real professional responsibility for it. We are not comfortable putting our name to a file when we have only seen part of the picture, and we do not think it is fair to you either. You deserve a review that is thorough, not one that is rushed to fit a budget of hours.
The process keeps changing
The second reason is how quickly the citizenship process has been moving. At the start of this year, proof of citizenship applications were taking about eight to ten months. As of September 2026, IRCC's published processing time is about 33 months. Along the way, forms have been updated, document requirements have shifted, and the steps for things like urgent processing requests and Quebec birth certificate applications through the Directeur de l'état civil have changed more than once.
On hourly files, this created a real dilemma. We would review a package, and a few days later IRCC would release a new version of a form. We felt a duty to let our clients know, but they had not retained us to follow their file, and understandably, nobody wants to be billed for an email about a new form. After submission, many hourly clients came back to us with questions about acknowledgements of receipt, urgent processing, missing documents and changes to the process. We were always glad to help, but answering those questions well, on a file we did not prepare, is exactly where mistakes can happen.
It was never really about the time or the fees. It was about the risk of getting something wrong on a file we did not fully own, the risk of having to redo work, and the uncomfortable feeling of an obligation we could not properly meet. Based on our experience over the last few months, the hourly model simply was not letting us deliver the level of service we expect of ourselves.
What we do best
The work we are proud of is the complete service: genealogy and research, legal preparation, submission, and support until a decision is made. On a flat fee file, a lawyer leads your matter from start to finish, our in-house genealogy and research team traces and documents your line, a second lawyer who has not worked on the file reviews it the way an officer would, and Cédric Marin does the final review before anything is mailed. After submission, we keep helping you with IRCC correspondence, requests for documents and urgent processing, as set out in our promise to clients.
That model gives us what an hourly review never could: the full picture, the time to do it properly, and a clear, shared understanding of what we are responsible for. It also means you know the full cost up front, with no invoice for every email and no surprises down the line.
What this means for you
If you have already gathered your documents, that work is not wasted. We are happy to take on your file as a full client, use what you have, fill in any gaps with our research team, draft the forms and legal submissions, and submit the application for you. Our fees are listed on our pricing page.
If you would like advice first, consultations are still available. During a consultation we are glad to walk you through how we would prepare your application, answer your legal questions, and talk about the most common mistakes we see on citizenship forms. After the call, if you would like our help, it will be on a flat fee basis. You can book a consultation here.
If you booked a consultation before October 21, 2026 with an hourly review in mind, please do not worry. We will talk it through with you on the call and honour what we offered when you booked.
Thank you
We know this change will not suit everyone, and we are grateful to every client who trusted us with a review over the past year. Our goal is simple: when we take on your file, we want to be able to stand behind it completely, from the first record we order to the day IRCC makes its decision. We believe that is the best way to serve you well.
If you have questions about this change, email us at contact@marinimmigrationlaw.ca.
Disclaimer: This blog is general information only, not legal advice, and may be incomplete or out of date. Laws change often. For advice on your situation, consult a qualified lawyer.
