Immigration law firm intake software that speaks your clients' language and never answers for the attorney.
A proposed intake layer for immigration practices: it answers inquiries in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese and more, collects the documents each matter type needs, sets up the retainer payment plan and hands a clean file to Docketwise, INSZoom or LollyLaw. It never tells anyone whether they qualify.
Reply within one business day · Written scope and fixed price before any work starts
A proposed product shown with illustrative designs and demo data. We deliver it today as a custom build on our engines.
Status as of November 2026. How we label products
New inquiries
64
Non-English
41
7 languages
Consults booked
23
Advice questions routed
18
to attorneys
Recent intakes
| Prospect | Language | Channel | Matter type (staff) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosa Hernández | Spanish | Family-based adjustment | Consult Thu 10:00 | |
| Thanh Nguyen | Vietnamese | SMS | Naturalization | Checklist sent |
| Jean-Baptiste Pierre | Haitian Creole | Web chat | Not yet confirmed | Staff review |
| Ana Costa | Portuguese | Humanitarian | Asked about eligibility - routed |
Needs a person
- Conflict check: 2 possible matchesPierre intake
- Eligibility question from A. CostaAssigned to Atty. Ramos
- Translation review requestedVietnamese · 1 transcript
Items received
7 / 11
Need translation
2
Expiring soon
1
Passport · Mar 2027
Consult
Thu
Atty. Ramos
Documents
| Item | Uploaded | Language | Check | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passport bio page | Oct 28 | English/Spanish | Expires 03/2027 | Expiry noted |
| Birth certificate | Oct 28 | Spanish | Readable | Needs English translation |
| Marriage certificate | Oct 30 | English | Readable | Received |
| Prior USCIS notices | - | - | - | Requested · reminder Fri |
Active plans
38
Collected this month
$41,750
Due next 7 days
$9,200
Overdue
4
Plans
| Client | Matter | Plan | Paid / total | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P. Okafor | Naturalization | Deposit + 4 monthly | $1,800 / $3,000 | Current |
| R. Hernández | Family-based adjustment | Deposit + 6 monthly | $1,500 / $5,500 | Next due Nov 15 |
| M. Silva | Humanitarian | Deposit + 8 monthly | $2,000 / $6,000 | 12 days overdue |
| K. Tran | Naturalization | Paid in full | $3,000 / $3,000 | Complete |
In short
Agenbord Intake for Immigration Law Firms is a proposed multilingual intake system for immigration practices. It answers inquiries by web chat, text and WhatsApp, collects facts and documents against a checklist per matter type, books consultations, sets up retainer installment plans and hands the file to your case management system. It is a concept delivered as a custom build. It does not give eligibility opinions; attorneys do.
What slows immigration law firms down today.
The inquiry arrives in a language nobody at the front desk speaks
A Portuguese-speaking caller leaves a voicemail at 9 p.m. and a Vietnamese WhatsApp message sits until the one bilingual paralegal is back. By then the person has called the firm down the street - or a notario who answered right away.
Consults start without the documents, so they end without a decision
The attorney blocks an hour for a family-based consult and the client brings a phone photo of a passport and nothing else. Prior filings, marriage certificate, I-94 record - all still at home. The consult becomes a second appointment.
Payment plans live in a spreadsheet and a lot of goodwill
Most clients pay the retainer in installments. Someone tracks due dates in Excel, sends reminders by hand and has to tell the attorney whether work can start on the I-485 package. Missed installments are found late and awkwardly.
How the work flows through the system.
Each workflow runs on one shared record, so nobody re-types numbers between steps.
First contact to booked consultation, in the client's language
Prospective client → intake assistant → intake coordinator → attorney
- The prospect writes or texts in their language; the assistant says it is automated, that it cannot give legal advice and that an attorney will.
- It asks the firm's own intake questions (contact details, country of citizenship, current location, how they heard of the firm, conflict-check names) and records answers in the original language plus an English translation marked as machine-translated.
- Any question about eligibility, chances or which form to file is not answered; it is logged and flagged for the attorney.
- The prospect picks a consultation slot from the attorney's real calendar, pays the consult fee if the firm charges one, and receives the matter-type checklist.
- The intake coordinator reviews the transcript, runs the conflict check and confirms or corrects the matter type before the consult.
Document checklist by matter type
Client → assistant → paralegal
- The paralegal confirms the matter type (for example family-based adjustment, naturalization, or a humanitarian matter) and the firm's checklist for it is assigned.
- The client uploads photos or PDFs through a secure link; each upload is labeled (passport bio page, birth certificate, marriage certificate) and checked for legibility and expiry dates.
- Foreign-language documents are flagged as needing a full English translation with the translator's statement of competence before filing.
- Reminders go out by SMS or email (WhatsApp if the client chose it) for what's still missing, with links that never expose other documents.
- The paralegal sees one status per matter: complete, or exactly which items are outstanding - and decides what is sufficient.
Retainer installment plan and handoff to the case system
Attorney → billing → client → case management system
- After the engagement letter is signed, billing sets the installment schedule the attorney agreed (for example, a deposit and six monthly payments).
- The client gets scheduled reminders and a payment link; each payment posts to the client ledger and records which firm account it went to.
- A missed installment raises a task for billing - never an automatic stop on legal work, which stays the attorney's decision.
- The matter, contacts, answers and labeled documents are pushed to Docketwise, INSZoom or LollyLaw via API where the vendor provides one, or as a structured export the firm imports.
What's included in Agenbord Intake for Immigration Law Firms.
Multilingual inbox
Web chat, SMS and WhatsApp in one inbox, with each conversation shown in the original language beside an English translation.
Firm-defined questionnaires
Your intake questions per matter type, including conflict-check fields, editable by staff without a developer.
Advice guardrails
Detects eligibility and strategy questions and routes them to an attorney instead of answering. Every refusal is logged.
Matter-type checklists
Document lists per matter type, owned by the firm, with per-item status, expiry dates and translation flags.
Secure document upload
Expiring upload links, encrypted storage, and per-matter access so a family member's link only shows their own items.
Consult scheduling
Booking into each attorney's real Outlook or Google calendar, with consult fees collected at booking if the firm charges them.
Retainer payment plans
Installment schedules, reminders, payment links and a running client ledger that shows paid, due and overdue.
Case system handoff
Push to Docketwise, INSZoom, LollyLaw or Clio via their APIs where available, or a structured export when not.
Consent and audit log
Records when and how each person agreed to texts or WhatsApp, and who viewed or changed each file.
AI that does specific jobs and shows its work.
Every AI feature is tested on your own records before it's switched on, and a person approves anything that moves money or goes to a customer.
Multilingual intake conversation
Holds the intake conversation in the client's language using only the firm's approved questions, and declines any question about eligibility, forms or chances. Limits: translations are machine-generated and labeled as such; a bilingual staff member reviews anything that goes into a filing. We test it on your past inquiries in each language before launch and share the results.
Document labeling and checks
Labels uploaded files against the matter checklist, reads expiry dates from passports and permits, and flags blurry, cropped or non-English documents. Limits: it flags; a paralegal confirms. It does not judge whether evidence is sufficient - that is legal work.
Who it's for and who it isn't.
A good fit if you are
- Immigration firms receiving 100+ inquiries a month in two or more languages
- Practices handling family-based, naturalization, humanitarian and employment matters with repeatable document lists
- Firms that offer retainer installment plans and spend staff hours chasing payments
- Teams already on Docketwise, INSZoom, LollyLaw or Clio who want cleaner files arriving in them
Probably not the right fit if you are
- Solo practitioners with a handful of new matters a month who can answer every call personally
- Firms looking for software that screens people for eligibility or recommends a visa category
- Corporate immigration teams whose intake comes through HR portals rather than individual inquiries
Designed around the rules you work under.
Plain-English notes, not legal advice. Software supports your compliance process; it doesn't replace your attorney, CPA or compliance lead.
No legal advice from software or non-lawyers
USCIS warns that only an attorney or an accredited representative of a Department of Justice-recognized organization may give immigration legal advice, and federal rules at 8 CFR 292.1 list who may represent people before DHS. Notario fraud thrives on fast answers. The assistant is designed to collect information and schedule, and to say clearly that it cannot advise. USCIS - Common scams · 8 CFR 292.1.
ABA Formal Opinion 512 on generative AI
On July 29, 2024 the ABA ethics committee issued Formal Opinion 512, applying the duties of competence, confidentiality, client communication and supervision to lawyers' use of generative AI tools. It is persuasive, not binding; your state bar's guidance governs. The build is designed so the firm can supervise every AI conversation and control what client information the model sees. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (PDF).
Translations of foreign documents
USCIS regulations require a foreign-language document to be accompanied by a full English translation, with the translator's statement that it is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate. The checklist flags these documents; machine translations from the assistant are for staff understanding only. 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3).
Consent for texts
Replies to someone who wrote to the firm are handled differently from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent under the TCPA rules. The system records consent and opt-outs per channel. 47 CFR 64.1200.
What exists today and what's being built.
Reused from our production engines
Capabilities of the engine this edition is built on.
- Shared WhatsApp inbox with an AI assistant, running in production
- Scheduled invoicing and reminders over WhatsApp
- Digital payment collection with auto-reconciliation
- Self-updating client ledgers
Built for your project
Scoped and delivered as a custom build.
- SMS and web chat channels for U.S. clients, with TCPA consent records
- Firm-defined multilingual questionnaires and advice guardrails
- Matter-type document checklists with secure uploads
- U.S. payment processing (LawPay or Stripe) with trust/operating account tagging
- Docketwise, INSZoom, LollyLaw and Clio handoff
Connects to the systems you already run.
Systems we integrate with
Named platforms are examples we build against through their public APIs - not partnership claims.
How it compares - honestly.
Established products are often the right answer. Here's when each one is the better choice.
| Product | What it is | The better choice when |
|---|---|---|
| Docketwise | Immigration case management with multilingual client questionnaires that fill USCIS forms and can be sent by text or email. | Your main gap is form preparation and case tracking, and the built-in questionnaires already cover how clients reach you. |
| Lawmatics | Legal CRM and marketing automation with intake forms, pipelines and e-signature, used across practice areas. | You want a packaged legal CRM you can configure yourself, and English-first web forms are enough for your intake. |
| Clio Grow | Clio's intake and client relationship product, tightly linked to Clio Manage. | You already run the practice on Clio Manage and want intake inside the same vendor with no custom work. |
What it costs, up front.
Immigration intake is a concept delivered as a custom build. Price depends mainly on languages, channels, the number of matter types and how your case system accepts data.
Intake pilot
From $8k
Web chat and SMS in two languages, your questionnaire for up to three matter types, consult booking and email handoff, tested on real past inquiries.
3–5 weeks
Production intake
$20k–$45k
Adds WhatsApp, more languages, document checklists with uploads, retainer payment plans and handoff to Docketwise, INSZoom, LollyLaw or Clio.
2–3 months
Multi-office
$45k+
Several offices or attorneys with routing rules, practice-group checklists, analytics by source and language, and admin tools.
Phased
Immigration law firms: common questions.
Will the assistant tell people whether they qualify for a green card or visa?
No. It is designed never to assess eligibility, suggest a form or predict outcomes. When someone asks, it says an attorney will answer at the consultation and flags the question for the attorney. That rule is part of the testing we run before launch.
Which languages can it handle?
The model handles most widely spoken languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi and Tagalog. We switch on only the languages we have tested on your real inquiries, and a bilingual staff member reviews translations that matter for a filing.
Does it work with Docketwise, INSZoom or LollyLaw?
It is designed to hand off to them. Where the vendor offers an API to your firm we push matters, contacts and documents directly; otherwise we produce a structured export your team imports. These are integrations through the vendors' own interfaces, not partnerships.
Is WhatsApp safe for client documents?
Documents never travel as WhatsApp or SMS attachments. Messages carry a short secure upload link; files go to encrypted storage with per-matter access. In the U.S. we lead with SMS and email and offer WhatsApp to clients who prefer it.
How does it handle retainer money and trust accounts?
Your firm decides, under its state bar's rules, whether each payment goes to the trust or operating account; the system records that choice and never moves money between accounts itself. A missed installment creates a task for billing, not an automatic pause on legal work.
Is this a product we can buy today?
Not off the shelf. It is a concept built from production components we already run - an AI assistant in a shared WhatsApp inbox, scheduled billing reminders and payment reconciliation - delivered as a custom build for your firm.
Sources
- USCIS - Common scams (notarios and who may give legal advice)
- eCFR - 8 CFR 292.1, representation of others
- ABA Formal Opinion 512 - Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (July 29, 2024)
- eCFR - 8 CFR 103.2, submission of benefit requests (translations)
- eCFR - 47 CFR 64.1200, TCPA delivery restrictions
- Docketwise - immigration case management
Regulatory notes are plain-English summaries, not legal advice.
Concept
Want Agenbord Intake for Immigration Law Firms built for your business?
Send us your workflow and the systems you use. We'll reply within one business day, then a free 30-minute call, then a written scope with a fixed price - including an honest view on whether an off-the-shelf product would serve you better.
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