One evidence list
Request every item through the matter with due dates. Clients upload from their phone, automatic reminders chase the stragglers, and you see what is outstanding before you assemble the filing.
BetterDocket for immigration
Evidence in one list. Families informed through the wait.
An immigration filing can need dozens of documents from the client, and one missing item stalls everything. Once it is filed, months pass with nothing to report, and the family calls anyway, because from where they sit silence is indistinguishable from bad news. BetterDocket gives every Client one evidence list and one place to see that the wait is normal.
The problem
Where immigration time actually goes.
Long evidence lists
Civil documents, financial records, photos, letters from friends and employers, translations. A single petition can need forty items from the client, in a specific form, and they arrive as photos in a group text with no way to see what is still missing.
Opaque government waits
Once a filing is in, the next event may be months away. Clients do not know that, or do not believe it, and every call to ask whether anything has happened lands on staff who have nothing new to say.
A whole family needs updates
Immigration matters carry more weight than most: work, travel, and reunification hang on them. A spouse, a parent, and an adult child may all want to know, and each of them calls separately.
How it runs
A immigration matter in BetterDocket.
Stage by stage, from the first call to the closed file, each step is something the product does today.
Screen eligibility as a Prospect Case
Open a Prospect Case for the consultation and request the passport photo page, current status document, and any prior filings. The prospect uploads from a phone. Nothing bills until you accept.
See howAccept it and name the stages plainly
Your template seeds phases the family will recognize: Gathering evidence, Preparing the filing, Filed and pending, Biometrics and interview, Decision. Each has a plain-English note in the portal, so “filed and pending” reads as progress instead of silence.
See howBuild the evidence list as requests
Every item is a Document Request with instructions on exactly what is needed and a due date. Ask one Client, several, or everyone on the Case. Phone-camera uploads land against the right request, “I don't have this” comes back with a note, and daily reminders continue until each item is answered.
See howSet expectations once, in writing
“Your petition was received on the 12th. Current processing at this office is running eight to eleven months. We will post an update when anything changes.” One templated Status Update is visible every time anyone in the family checks.
Share the dates that matter
Biometrics appointment, interview date, response deadline for a request for evidence. Add them as Key Dates the Clients can see, and change them once if they move. Clients can share availability for interview preparation without any calendar integration.
Keep the family on one Case
Add the spouse and the sponsoring relative as Clients on the same Case. Everyone you invite sees the same status, updates, and requests, while each person's messages and read state stay private. Per-client read receipts show who has actually seen an update.
Invoice by stage and keep your copy
Issue flat-fee invoices per stage from BetterDocket and record payments received elsewhere. When the matter resolves, close it with a closing note; it archives automatically and stays readable. Export a complete copy of the file any time.
See how
Client Portal
What your immigration client sees.
One private page in any browser: the current phase in plain English, the latest word from your Firm, the documents you have asked for, and what happens next. No app to install. Uploads work from a phone camera. Firm-only folders, notes, and drafts in progress never appear here.
Client portal
Your case
Haddad family petition
Filed and pending
From your firm · today
USCIS received your petition on the 12th. Processing at this office is currently eight to eleven months. We will post here the moment anything changes.
What we need from you
- Marriage certificate (certified copy)Received
- Joint lease or mortgage statementDue Fri
- Photos together, 2023 to nowReceived
Next step
Nothing is needed from you right now. We will tell you when a biometrics appointment is scheduled.
Why it fits
The follow-up handles itself.
Status through the wait
A templated Status Update explaining the wait sits at the top of the portal for months if it has to. Stale-update detection reminds you to say something when a Client has gone too long without hearing from you.
Shared dates
Biometrics appointments, interviews, response dates, and the related Firm tasks stay attached to the matter, with Clients seeing the dates intended for them.
Room for the whole family
Multiple Clients on one Case, each with private messages and their own read state, so you post once and everyone who should know, knows.
Deliberately focused
What BetterDocket does not do for immigration.
BetterDocket organizes the administrative work around a matter. The legal work, and the tools you already use for it, stay where they are.
- It has no government integrations. It does not check USCIS or consular case status, and it does not receive notices.
- It does not prepare, populate, or file immigration forms.
- It does not translate or certify documents. Uploads are stored as the Client sends them.
- It does not give eligibility opinions or legal analysis of any kind.
Keep reading
Related guides
How to collect documents from clients without the email chase
Make every request itemized, visible, and self-reminding: one list the client can see, uploads that land in the matter, and automatic follow-up.
Read the guideHow to keep legal clients updated without spending hours on the phone
Post one visible status update per milestone in a place clients can check themselves — a portal — instead of returning each call. Here is the playbook.
Read the guideWhat is a client portal for law firms — and what it isn't
A client portal is a private page where a client sees their case: status, next steps, messages, and requests. What it does, what it isn't, what to look for.
Read the guideQuestions.
Can clients upload documents from their phone?
Yes. The Client Portal works in any browser, and uploading from a phone camera is the normal path: a passport photo page or a civil document photographed and submitted against the specific request it answers.
Can several family members follow the same case?
Yes. A Case can include multiple Clients, and your Firm controls which Clients have portal access. Everyone you invite sees the same client-visible status, updates, and requests for that matter, with private messages.
Does BetterDocket track USCIS case status or file forms?
No. It has no government integrations and does not prepare or file forms. It keeps your status updates, document requests, key dates, and other administrative matter work in one place.
What if the client's English is limited?
The portal is plain-English and built around a short list: current status, what we need from you, and what happens next. Many firms add a family member who reads English as a second Client on the Case. BetterDocket does not translate content.
Is client information kept private?
Access is scoped to the Firm, Client, and Case at the database layer, and case documents live in private storage behind the same checks. Our security page describes exactly what we do today, and what we do not yet offer, in plain terms.
One evidence list. One place for the family to look.
Requests, dates, and updates that hold through the longest wait.
14 days. No card.