The 9-point checklist
- Confirm regulator licence by name — Ask which government regulator licenses the named representative. Reject any consultant who cannot name a specific regulator (CICC, MARA, IAA, state bar). If they say "we are partners with international firms" without naming a licensee, walk away.
- Verify on the official public register — Search by name or licence number on CICC, MARA, IAA. The register shows licence status, class, and any disciplinary history.
- Require a written engagement letter — Before any fee changes hands, get a written agreement listing scope, deliverables, total fee, milestone payments, refund triggers, and the named licensed individual representing you.
- Insist on a named individual representative — Licences attach to people, not firms. A "CICC-affiliated consultancy" without a named CICC RCIC on the register is not legally able to represent you.
- Check trust-account handling — CICC and MARA require client funds to be held in trust until milestones are met. Ask which trust account holds your retainer. If the answer is "the company account," it is non-compliant.
- Ask for the honest pre-assessment — A licensed consultant should be willing to tell you when not to apply. If the first conversation is a hard sell without reviewing your profile, that is a sign you are buying optimism, not advice.
- Cross-reference reviews on verified platforms — Don't trust one surface alone. Check identity-verified review platforms such as Trustpilot and Google Business Profile (Google Maps). Sudden review clusters in either direction (5-star bursts or 1-star clusters) suggest curation or service issues; look for steady patterns over time.
- Confirm a visitable UAE office — A registered UAE office address you can physically visit (not a co-working badge) signals accountability and brings the relationship under UAE consumer-protection law.
- Read the complaint and refund process — Ask: "If I am unhappy at month 6, what happens?" Licensed consultants have a regulator complaint mechanism. Unlicensed advisors typically do not — and that is when payment-dispute cases go untraceable.
Five red flags
Walk away if you see any of these
- Cannot name a CICC, MARA, IAA or state-bar-licensed individual representative.
- Refuses a written engagement letter before payment.
- Demands full payment before any document review or eligibility assessment.
- Guarantees approval or specific timelines (no consultant can — only the regulator decides).
- Refuses to share a regulator licence number you can verify yourself.
How Cosmos Immigration meets this checklist
The same 9 points, applied to us
| Regulator licences | CICC (Canada) + MARA (Australia) + IAA (UK) + ABA/NYSBA-licensed associates (US) |
| Public-register verification | Named RCICs on CICC register · Named MARNs on MARA register — see /verify-credentials |
| Written engagement | Yes — issued before any retainer; lists scope, fees, milestones, refund triggers |
| Named individual representative | Yes — the licensed associate handling your file is named in the engagement letter and on the signed application forms |
| Trust-account handling | Yes — per CICC and MARA code of conduct, client funds in trust until milestones |
| Honest pre-assessment | Yes — our positioning since 2014: we tell you the honest answer, even when it is "don't apply yet." See cases we declined. |
| Reviews across verified platforms | Google Business Profile (Dubai HQ and Abu Dhabi) and Trustpilot — the two identity-verified review surfaces we treat as authoritative. We link both, not just the favourable ones. |
| UAE office presence | Dubai HQ (Oud Metha — Al Fajer Complex), Abu Dhabi (Salam Street), Hyderabad, Oakville (Canada — representative office) |
| Complaint and refund | CICC + MARA regulator-level mechanism; our written engagement letter spells out refund triggers in plain language |
What this page deliberately does not say
It does not say "we are the best." It says: here is the test. Cosmos Immigration has been operating since 2014, holds the licences listed above, and has guided 10,569 UAE residents. We do not guarantee approvals or timelines — government decisions remain with regulators. Use the checklist on any consultant you evaluate, including us.
Get a Signed Eligibility Letter from a Licensed Consultant →
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