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By: Maria Bychkova
Published On: July 9, 2019More often than not, every immigrant has a similar story, one that is filled with challenges and obstacles. Badmaarag’s story is no different. She faced many hardships in Canada until her inner strength and determination for a better life led her to Ashton College. Today, with her newly-acquired knowledge, skills and confidence, she’s ready to start her immigration practice and become an entrepreneur.
I came to Canada four years ago. I was a lawyer back home in Mongolia, but here, I had to start from point zero. Starting a new life as a single parent to a young child wasn’t easy. Finding employment, housing, and the community was challenging. My first challenge was to obtain an official status in Canada. Since I couldn’t find any Mongolian immigration consultants who were familiar with the process for applying for refugee status, I spent a lot of my time in public libraries looking for information on Canadian law, immigration, eligibility criteria, and so on. But finally, I was fortunate to find a Canadian lawyer, and with his help, I was admitted to the country as a refugee claimant.
Why did you decide to enroll in the Immigration Consultant Diploma program? Have you worked in this field before, or was it a career change?
While researching the Canadian immigration process and regulations, I found out about the immigration consultant program. I didn’t have any prior experience in this field. However, since I have a background in law, I realized that studying immigration law and becoming a consultant will be a natural progression for me.
Why did you choose to study at Ashton College?
Once I got my permanent resident status, I continued to research immigration consultant programs offered by educational institutions in Vancouver. At that time, I met several admission officers. I want to emphasize here that the admissions officer from Ashton College gave me the most detailed information and explained every stage of the application process. Moreover, Ashton was well-known for its seasoned instructors and long-standing expertise in the immigration field. In addition to that, I met several immigration consultants who had graduated from Ashton, and they all recommended the college as well. The program enriched and strengthened my knowledge and gave me insight into immigration and refugee issues.
What was the best part about Ashton? Will you recommend Ashton to others?
As I have mentioned before, I conducted extensive research before joining Ashton College, and one of the main factors that swayed my decision was Ashton’s reputation. I chose the in-class program, as I am more comfortable with this style of learning. It helped me get immediate feedback from my instructors whenever I had a question or a doubt. I also appreciated the opportunity to learn from my classmates who were from all over the world. We shared our experiences of immigrating to Canada with each other. I would strongly recommend Ashton to anyone who wants to become an immigration consultant in the future.
How do you feel about winning the AURAY Capital bursary for your dedication and commitment to studies?
I was so thrilled that I had been chosen by AURAY Capital to receive their bursary. It motivates me a lot to achieve career success. I am confident that this bursary will help me fulfill my dream of starting my immigration practice. It will assist me in paying some of the initial costs towards starting my business, such as my license, ICCRC license, and Errors and Omissions Insurance.
What are your future plans?
Mongolia, my home country, is one of the newer markets for immigration. There are many young people there who seek to advance their education by studying in Canada. There are also others who want to explore opportunities for working and living in this country. Unfortunately, due to lack of professional consultancy service, the absence of proper information resources, insufficient knowledge of the English language, many Mongolians have been losing their time, money, and efforts in vain. My hope and dream are to help and provide professional and competent services to other Mongolians.
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