Be it a firm specialising in Canada, New Zealand or Australia - the three countries where migration is relatively easier and open - business is on an upswing.

From a small room in an apartment in 1996 to a plush office on the Boat Club Road, it's taken the Pune branch of World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services Ltd. (WWICS), that specialises in migration to Canada, just about three years to make a giant stride forward. Handled by Brigadier Baldev Singh (retd) and his wife the agency, that began in 1994 in Chandigarh and slowly spread to about 20 cities in India, has to date successfully obtained migration for 47 applicants and their families from Pune while another 250 cases are there in the pipeline. ``On an average we get about 50 to 60 telephone inquiries from potential clients every day. In addition there are a number of people who visit us on our website all the time,'' says Brigadier Baldev Singh.

According to Urmilla Biyani, who specialises in migrations to Australia and New Zealand, there is similarly no dearth of inquiries that pour in constantly at her Jewel Immigrations Consultants everyday. Despite being in the business for just about a few months she already has some 20 clients on her account with her first successful applicant having left for Australia just last week. Padma Pandey of Mansa Communications has had to turn her immigration consultancy into a full-time job from the part-time work it began as, in response to the number of applications she was called upon to handle. Specialising in both Canada and new Zealand, Pandey however feels that the demand for the former definitely outnumbers the latter.

But what is it about immigration that makes it such an attractive option luring hordes of Puneites into its fold?

``Better quality of life,'' offers Lt Col B.S Sandhu (retd) president and managing director of WWICS by way of explanation. ``Canada has a 95 per cent employment rate with the demand for IT professionals, engineers, chartered accountants, hospitality professionals, researchers and marketing and sales professionals being the maximum. It's also been rated as the best country in the world to live in by the UN for years in a row because of its employment rate, per capita income, crime free society, social welfare schemes, pollution free environment and of course its proximity to the United States,'' he adds.

Admission to Canada is governed by the Canadian Immigration Act and Regulations, a complex set of rules with prospective immigrants required to apply under five main categories of independent class, assisted relative, business, family business or family.

For New Zealand and Australia it is the point system that is at work, making the eligibility a little more difficult. The route for all three however is inevitably both cumbersome and complicated right from getting all the requisite papers together to filing the application. And it is here that companies like the WWICS and others step in to take on the task on behalf of the clients. All at a sum of course.

The total cost of migration ranges between Rupees one to two lakh with the time taken for processing of the immigration being anything from eight months to two years.

While most of the agencies like Biyani's do not take the responsibility of placements for the migrants there are some who have extended this facility too. ``We assure people who migrate through us a job in two weeks and a job commensurating with their qualifications within three months of their landing there through the Global Placement Services,'' claims Sandhu. ``In fact ours is the only company in the world, which provides complete transition package to its clients i.e. immigration, enlightening them about the additional educational skills and training required as per Canadian standards and thereafter, in settlement and placement in Canada.''

In fact so confidant is he of the allure of the West and its ability to entrap, that he even offers a complete refund of the money to clients who still want to come back after an initial period in Canada. ``It's all in keeping with our policy of transparency and complete credibility. However till now not a single migrant has returned,'' he smiles proudly.

And as the urge to go West becomes more pronounced, so does the success rate of these immigration agencies, that total over a dozen in Pune operating from poky little rooms to swank offices in modern arcades.

All, however, pedalling a common dream- that it's best in the West. For the aspirants and certainly for the agencies they help keep in roaring business.