How to verify an RCIC on the CICC public register

How to search the CICC public register to verify an RCIC

To verify an RCIC, search the CICC public register, the only authoritative source, kept by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), the body that licenses and regulates every Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant in Canada. A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant is a representative licensed by the CICC to give immigration and citizenship advice and represent clients before IRCC for a fee. The register is free, open to anyone, and updated by the regulator itself, so it is the source of truth, not a consultant's own website, and it is exactly how you find out whether someone is really licensed. The CICC replaced the former ICCRC in 2021, so anyone still advertising as an “ICCRC member” is out of date and worth a second look. Here is exactly how to check, step by step.

1. 01

   Open the CICC public register

   Go to college-ic.ca and open the public register, also called "Find an Immigration Consultant." It is free and needs no account.

2. 02

   Search by name or licence number

   Enter the consultant's full name, or their licence number (an R followed by six digits). The licence number is the most precise way to search.

3. 03

   Confirm the licence is RCIC and active

   Check the record shows a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant whose status is active and in good standing, not suspended, revoked or resigned.

4. 04

   Match the name to your forms

   Make sure the verified name is the same person who will sign your application and appear as your representative on IRCC's form IMM 5476.

If all four checks pass, you are dealing with a licensed professional you can hold accountable to a regulator. If any check fails, stop and get an explanation you can independently confirm before you pay or sign anything. Verifying an RCIC on the CICC public register is free, takes about two minutes, and is the single most important check before you hire any immigration representative.

What to look for when you verify an RCIC

A genuine entry on the CICC public register, sometimes called the RCIC member list, tells you more than just “licensed.” When you verify an immigration consultant in Canada, these are the fields that matter and what each one should show.

What the CICC public register shows for each RCIC

The CICC public register lists each licensee's College ID, name, company, licence type and entitlement to practise in the search results, and each profile adds the licence status, licence history, contact information, agent details and discipline history (college-ic.ca, checked 12 October 2026).

• Search fields: you can search the register by first name, last name, College ID, company name, country or city.
• Entitled to Practise column: only licensees marked “Yes” in this column, with an “Active” status, can legally provide immigration advice or services, and a licensee marked “No” cannot.
• Status: “Active” means a licensee in good standing, while a restricted-practice status means the Discipline Committee has restricted the licensee's practice and the specific restriction is listed beside the status.
• Statuses that cannot practise: Leave of Absence, Resigned, Administrative Suspension, Administrative Revocation, Disciplinary Suspension and Disciplinary Revocation all show “No” under Entitled to Practise.
• Discipline history: the profile lists any suspensions, revocations, restrictions, current proceedings or past decisions, and the College also publishes separate lists of revocations, suspensions and restrictions, current proceedings and past decisions.

Read the register itself on the College's Find an Immigration Consultant page.

RCIC or RISIA: which CICC list should you search?

The CICC register lists RCICs and RISIAs separately, and you should search the RCIC list for any immigration application, because RISIAs advise only international students and their dependents and cannot represent you or complete your forms (college-ic.ca, checked 12 October 2026).

• RCIC: a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant can explain your options, recommend a program, complete and submit your application and communicate with the Government of Canada on your behalf.
• RISIA: a Regulated International Student Immigration Advisor works for a designated learning institution, advises on study permits and temporary resident visas, and does not collect fees directly from students.
• Licence class: the Type column on the register shows the class of licence, and the College lists Class L1 and Class L2 as RCIC licences, Class L3 as RCIC-IRB, and Class L4 and Class L5 as RISIA licences.

Who is allowed to charge for immigration advice?

This is the rule the whole question rests on. Under section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), and the matching rule in section 21.1 of the Citizenship Act, only three kinds of representative may charge a fee to advise on or represent a Canadian immigration or citizenship matter:

• A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) in good standing with the CICC.
• A lawyer who is a member of a provincial or territorial law society, or a Quebec notary who is a member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
• A paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario.

Anyone else who charges for immigration advice is acting outside the law. That is the heart of why verification matters: the danger is not “consultant versus lawyer,” both are licensed and regulated, but rather paying someone who is neither. If you are weighing the two licensed options, our guide to an immigration consultant vs lawyer explains how to choose.

Red flags: how to spot a ghost consultant

A ghost immigration consultant is someone who prepares applications for a fee while staying invisible to IRCC, no name on the forms, no licence, no accountability. They are the single biggest reason to verify before you pay. Watch for these warning signs:

• They will not give a licence number, or the number does not appear on the CICC register.
• They refuse to put their name on your application as your representative (IMM 5476).
• They ask you to sign as if you completed the application yourself.
• They guarantee a visa, PR or a specific outcome, something no honest representative can promise.
• They want payment only in cash or to a personal account, with no written service agreement.
• They pressure you to act immediately or pay before anything is in writing.

Verified RCIC vs ghost consultant: how they compare

When you verify an immigration consultant in Canada, the difference between a licensed representative and a ghost consultant shows up in every part of how they work. This side-by-side comparison makes the contrast clear before you decide who to trust with your case.

How to verify an RCIC before each stage of your case

It is worth taking a moment to verify an RCIC whenever you are about to commit to a new piece of work, because the same licensed representative supports very different programs. Whether you are mapping a route through Express Entry, scoring yourself on the Comprehensive Ranking System with our CRS calculator, weighing a Provincial Nominee Program stream, exploring Alberta immigration through the AAIP, applying for a Canadian work permit, bringing a partner over through family sponsorship, or finishing the journey with Canadian citizenship, the licence you confirmed on the CICC public register is what entitles that consultant to charge for advice at every step. Verifying once and keeping the R-number on file means you can re-check good standing at any time, for free, before you pay for the next stage.

What to do if a consultant isn't on the register

Not finding someone on the register is not always proof of fraud, but it is always a reason to pause. Work through it calmly:

• Recheck the details. Search again by the exact full name and by the licence number; a business name is not the same as the licensed person's name.
• Ask directly. Request the precise name and R-number on file with the CICC, then verify that.
• Don't pay or sign yet. Hold off on any fee or signature until the licence is confirmed.
• Report if needed. If they cannot be verified or pressure you to continue, you can report an unauthorised representative to the CICC, and walk away.

Not on the CICC register? Check the law society lookup

If a representative is not on the CICC register, check whether they are a member in good standing of a provincial or territorial law society or the Chambre des notaires du Québec, using the links on the Government of Canada page (canada.ca, checked 12 October 2026).

• Lawyers and notaries: a lawyer must be a member of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, and a notary must be a member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
• Ontario paralegals: a paralegal in Ontario must be a member of the Law Society of Ontario.
• Where to look: most law societies let you check online whether a person is a member in good standing, and the Government of Canada page links to the law society in every province and territory.
• If none of them lists the person: IRCC says that if a representative is not a member in good standing, you should not use their services.

Open the Government of Canada page Find out if your representative is authorized to reach each law society lookup.

How do you know the person contacting you is the licensee on the register?

To confirm the person contacting you is the licensee and not someone posing as one, take the phone number, email address and company name shown on the register, and contact the consultant directly using those details (college-ic.ca, checked 12 October 2026).

• Contact details: the College advises using the register's contact information, not the details in an advertisement or a social media message, to reach the licensee.
• Before you pay: the College says not to pay for services until you have verified the licence, communicated with the consultant using the contact information on the register, and signed a service agreement.
• Partners and recruiters: if someone says they work with an RCIC, ask that RCIC directly using the register's contact details, and sign the agreement directly with the RCIC.

How do you report an unlicensed or unauthorized representative?

You report a possible unauthorized practitioner to the CICC through an online College Portal account, and you report suspected fraud by a representative to IRCC through its web form and to the Canada Border Services Agency (college-ic.ca and canada.ca, checked 12 October 2026).

• Unlicensed practitioner: the CICC takes the report through its online College Portal, and an unauthorized person will not appear on the public register.
• Complaint about a licensed consultant: the College accepts complaints about an RCIC or RISIA only through the online College Portal, not by email, on paper or by phone.
• Complaint about a lawyer or notary: IRCC says to file it with the provincial or territorial law society or the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
• Refunds: the College says its authority to help complainants recover money is limited, and it encourages you to seek remedies through the civil court process, which can run at the same time as a complaint.
• Your application: if you already named an unauthorized representative on your file, IRCC says to update your application as soon as possible and cancel the representative.

The official instructions are on the CICC's Make a Complaint page and IRCC's page on filing a complaint against a representative.

Do overseas agents and consultants abroad need to be licensed?

Yes, anyone giving Canadian immigration advice for a fee or other benefit must be a College licensee or a Canadian law society or Chambre des notaires du Québec member, and the College says consultants working outside Canada are still subject to Canadian law (college-ic.ca, checked 12 October 2026).

• IRCC position: IRCC says it will not deal with representatives who charge a fee but are not authorized, and that if you use an unauthorized representative, in Canada or abroad, it may return or refuse your application.
• Payment of any kind: IRCC treats a representative as paid if you pay or compensate them in any way in exchange for their services, and a paid representative must be authorized.
• Agents and recruiters: travel agents, labour recruiters and student recruiters are in most cases not authorized to provide immigration services unless they are also a Canadian lawyer, a Quebec notary or a College licensee.
• Who can still help: IRCC says an unpaid family member or friend may help you as an unpaid representative, because the authorization rule applies to people who charge or receive compensation.

How to verify Wild Mountain Immigration as your RCIC

We hold ourselves to the same standard we are asking you to apply. Wild Mountain Immigration works under our lead RCIC, Nicola Wightman, licence #R706497, regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. You can verify our standing on the CICC public register right now, and we genuinely encourage it. Every client also gets a clear written service agreement with fixed-scope fees, and we never guarantee an outcome, because no honest consultant can. When you are ready, you can read more about Nicola and our practice, compare your options in our guide to an immigration consultant vs lawyer, or book a call. The habit is simple: learn how to verify an RCIC on the CICC public register, confirm the licence is active and in good standing, and never pay an unverified representative.