It is very important to have a vision - preferably, a broad vision - of what you want to achieve, and to re-evaluate it with your performance, periodically ...
Q & A With Neelima Walia, Executive Director at Grewal Immigration Services Ltd
What services does Grewal Immigration Services Ltd offer?
Grewal Immigration Services Ltd offers consultation and immigration services for temporary residence and permanent residence applications to applicants both inside Canada and overseas. We also provide recruitment and placement services to overseas candidates looking to work and immigrate to Canada.
How did you come up with the idea to start Grewal Immigration Services Ltd, and what purpose did you intend to serve with the concept?
As an immigrant myself together with a couple of other directors, we went through this process of coming to Canada. We went through the challenges of going through this complicated process which brought in the idea of being able to provide true and genuine service to people wanting to come to Canada. Our personal experience gives us the empathetic edge of identifying with others who are going through the process. We offer speedy and excellent delivery. Our services entail, amongst others, relieving applicants of the burden of preparing the application themselves and making sure all the boxes for a successful application are dutifully ticked.
Which milestones have marked meeting benchmarks towards the fulfillment of your personal goals/ the company's vision and goals?
Our company’s aim thrives on client satisfaction through diligence and professionalism. Resultantly, our success rate in all the shades of immigration applications is quite high. Our focus to maintain highest quality standards has resulted in us servicing more than 4000 clients since our operations started. We have been recognized with Consumer Choice Awards, consecutively for the last two years, as the best immigration consulting firm in Northern Alberta. Additionally, we have been rated as the top immigration consultants on the Threebestrated.ca website over the last three years.
Which steps have you taken for the company to achieve the level of consumer trust that has been nationally recognized?
Our focus on quality of work, conducting comprehensive analysis of the case, providing excellent customer service and our ability to go above and beyond our expectations to deliver are the key factors that help us achieve our level of customer trust.
What part of your education or other experiences do you feel was the most helpful in preparing you for success?
My engineering background has taught me to apply logical reasoning to every situation. As a founding member of a non-profit organization, the ability to relate to people and understand their needs has assisted me in providing excellent customer service. My experience at Deloitte has emboldened my skills to meet our commitments to the client.
Which strategies have you found the most effective in growing your audience/ bringing awareness of your service to a larger consumer group?
We have an active website (https://gisl.ca/), which is constantly being updated with current information in the immigration sector. There, we share updated immigration news with the general public. We are also very active on social media. Our Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin pages are interactive. Aside from these, we have a vibrant marketing department that reaches out to prospective clients. We also enjoy referrals from current and previous clients.
Which partnerships, if any, have been the most constructive in bringing your goals closer to becoming a reality?
We have huge support from different industries here in Alberta, who partner with us for their recruitment needs. We have an employer-employee working relationship that is built on trust and a dedication to serve.
Are there any challenges that made it difficult to continue operation and that you managed to overcome? What was your approach to get past these?
One of the major determining factors for immigration services is government policies – both, federal and provincial. We leverage government programs, therefore, our work is subject to the vagaries of government policies. The circumstance of somersaulting government policies is, understandably, the aftermath of major happenings, like the issue of COVID 19 that led to the delay in processing visa and permanent residency applications. Aside from this, there are provincial policies that may also affect immigration services; for instance, there was the Alberta Refusal-to-Process-List for Work Permits for certain jobs. That being said, the major challenge is that we must learn to flow with the tide of government policies and be creative with it, or be a step ahead of it by envisaging it and preparing for it.
How do you balance work, passions/hobbies, and relationships?
I believe with time management, one can practically stratify these aspects of one’s life. For me, I like what I do, so I have found passion in my work. I create time to be with my family. Weekends are good times for bonding with my family. I also take out time for a yearly vacation with my family. The workload, though enjoyable, could be sometimes hectic, especially during the peak period when applications are back-to-back, so to avoid burnout, I usually take breaks to cool off. Weekends, holidays and vacations are periods of rest, recuperation and even re-strategizing.
What are your future plans to build on your personal/ company achievements and fulfill your vision for success/ what developments can your audience or clientele look forward to expecting next?
We look forward to expansion, in the same way that we started with immigration and now we have included recruitment services. We are expanding our services to Appeals, Business Immigration and Partnerships with institutions. We are also looking to open up locations in different regions to provide more accessibility to our customers overseas and out of province.
What advice would you like to give readers that hope to achieve success in your field?
There is a need for a good grasp of the immigration programs. It is also required to be current with the developments. One must be able to tailor the client’s need with the most suitable entry route. Timely delivery of services is also very important, as is the requirement to be consistent in what you do. I would like to add that it is very important to have a vision - preferably, a broad vision - of what you want to achieve, and to re-evaluate it with your performance, periodically.
Is there anything else you would like to share with Winner Magazine readers?
We are currently offering a discount on our immigration services, and we encourage Winner Magazine's readers to inform their circle of contacts to take advantage of our discounts.
We thank Neelima for sharing these insights and experiences, as well this generous discount with Winner Magazine's readers. If you are looking for Canadian Immigration and Recruitment Services, we would recommend reaching out to Neelima at Grewal Immigration Services Ltd!
