Free ≠ Volunteering. Feel the difference.
As specialists, often times we work on a volunteer basis.
We write articles, respond to comments, manage social media platforms, analyze cases, shoot videos, and share our practice. All this is done without contracts. Without a “thank you”. Without a “donate” button.
This is volunteering. Voluntary. Conscious. Because we understand: the world is changing, and knowledge should be accessible, especially when someone is in bad situation; especially when people are in trouble.
But there is a special category of people-those who confuse volunteering with free service.
These are the ones who write after a paid consultation:
- “Oh, I forgot to ask…”
- “Here’s another question, the last one…”
- “You already know this… well, just tell me, please…”
- “Why didn’t you answer right away, it’s already been TWO hours?”
Or they “show up” a month later and ask:
— “Do you remember, we talked about a matter in October, you advised me one thing then, and now a new program has opened...So consult me again.. and it’ll be free, right?”
⠀
No. Not for free.
And not because we feel greedy. It’s because this is a different type of work. Each new question of yours is not just a “yes” or “no” answer. It is:
- context analysis,
- documents verification,
- risk assessment, and
- most importantly, responsibility for the consequences.
Specialists are not paid for “knowing something”.
They are paid for the fact that they knows what it will lead to, how to formalize it and how to avoid the possible collapse in 3 months.
That is why every time someone answers you outside of a consultation, it is a gift. A rarity. An exception. Not an obligation. Volunteering is when WE OURSELVES decided to share.
Free is when YOU decided that YOU MAY NOT PAY. And here is the fundamental difference.
Because free means “Karma will make you pay”: it happens when a person takes something without giving anything in return, without respect, without gratitude, without responsibility.
And what is most interesting is that the person still pays. Just not to us. He pays with:
- errors in filing,
- visa refusals,
- breach of trust,
- a problematic case that no one wants to work with.
Or pays with just... money. Later. And in greater amount.
Remember: life never gives anything "for free". It will simply postpone the bill.
⠀
Another important point:
When you signed a contract with an immigration specialist for sponsorship, your case is under sponsorship.
If you write to a specialist a week later:
- "Oh there is a new program opened in New Brunswick, do I qualify?"
The answer is honest and short: This is not a specialist’s job.
A specialist is not your personal free lawyer for all occasions.
He/she works on a specific file, which he/she signed. Everything else is either a new consultation, or volunteering. If a specialist did respond to you, appreciate it. Thank them. Do not take it for granted.
⸻
And finally, let’s talk about toxicity.
If you think that a specialist writes worse than ChatGPT, then go consult ChatGPT.
If you know everything better, then why you are following a specialist's social media public page?
If you allow yourself to write nasty things in private messages, remember that it is not the specialist who will issue the bill for your behavior. It’ll be Karma.
Because everything in the world works on the principle of give and take.
When you always just take and do not ever give anything in return, do not think that you’ll get away with it.
Specialists are not gods. We are not machines. We have families. We get tired. We burn out. We hold thousands of other people's stories on ourselves. We work ourselves to the point of exhaustion. And if we continue to share, please do us a favor: do not use us.
Appreciate. Thank. Or move on.
Free is not a business model. Free is a trap where someone else ALWAYS pays. And sometimes it's you.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Immigration and Refugee Consultant in Canada
Copyright 2025 «SKI Immigration Inc.»
All rights reserved.
