Immigration law presents unique intake challenges. Cases are highly fact-specific, documentation requirements are extensive, and filing deadlines can be absolute — missing them can permanently destroy a client's immigration options. The intake process in an immigration practice isn't just administrative housekeeping. It's the foundation of legal strategy.
Why Immigration Intake Is Different
Several features of immigration practice make intake unusually important:
Deadlines are often unforgiving. An asylum application must typically be filed within one year of entry. A visa petition window can open and close. A removal order triggers appeal deadlines measured in days. The intake process must identify these deadlines immediately — before anything else.
Document requirements are extensive. Immigration cases require birth certificates, passports, marriage certificates, employment records, financial records, court records, and more — often from foreign governments, in foreign languages, requiring certified translation. Collecting a complete document inventory at intake sets expectations and prevents last-minute scrambles.
Case eligibility depends on facts that clients may not realize are relevant. A prior removal order. A criminal conviction, including a minor one. A prior visa application that was denied. A prior period of unlawful presence. These facts may disqualify a client from certain relief or significantly affect strategy — and clients won't always volunteer them without being specifically asked.
Family relationships are central. Many immigration cases involve family-based petitions where the facts about a petitioner, beneficiary, and their relationship all matter.
Immigration Intake by Case Type
Family-Based Immigration (I-130, Adjustment of Status, Consular Processing)
Petitioner information:
- Full legal name, date of birth, place of birth
- Current immigration status and how obtained
- U.S. citizenship documentation (certificate number, passport number, or naturalization number)
- Current and prior addresses
- Employment information
- Prior marriages (dates, how ended)
- Prior immigration filings and their outcomes
- Any prior removal orders, deportations, or voluntary departures
- Any criminal history (arrests, charges, convictions — including expunged)
Beneficiary information:
- Full legal name and any prior names
- Date and place of birth
- Current country and address
- Current immigration status in U.S. (if present)
- Entry history (every entry to the U.S., dates, visa types, authorized period of stay)
- Prior periods of unlawful presence in the U.S.
- Prior visa applications and outcomes (including denials)
- Prior removal orders, deportations, or voluntary departures
- Prior immigration filings
- Criminal history in any country
Relationship documentation:
- Date and place of marriage
- How the couple met
- Evidence of bona fide relationship (photos, communications, shared finances, joint accounts)
- Prior marriages of both parties and how terminated
Employment-Based Immigration
Employer information:
- Company name, address, EIN
- Number of employees
- Gross annual revenue (relevant for PERM)
- Nature of business
- Prior immigration filings and their outcomes
- Prior PERM audits or denials
Employee/beneficiary information:
- Full legal name, date of birth, place of birth, nationality
- Current immigration status and authorized period of stay
- Education (degrees, institutions, countries, dates — transcripts needed)
- Work experience (detailed, chronological — particularly in the specialty occupation)
- Prior immigration filings
- Current and prior visa status
- Any unlawful presence or status violations
Position information:
- Job title and duties
- Education and experience requirements
- Wage rate (must meet prevailing wage)
- Whether position is full-time, permanent
Asylum
Asylum intake requires particular care and sensitivity. Many asylum clients have experienced trauma and may be reluctant to discuss the specific incidents that form the basis of their claim.
- Full name, date of birth, nationality, ethnicity, religion
- Date and manner of entry to the United States
- Date of last entry (the one-year clock runs from here for affirmative asylum)
- Basis for fear of persecution: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or particular social group
- Specific incidents of persecution or harm the client experienced
- Who persecuted or threatened them (government actors vs. private actors — important for nexus and government protection analysis)
- Whether the client reported harm to police and what happened
- Family members in the U.S. or abroad
- Any prior asylum applications in the U.S. or other countries
- Criminal history in any country
- Prior removal proceedings
Sensitivity note: Asylum clients may not be ready to share all traumatic details at the initial intake. Design your questionnaire to capture the essential facts for eligibility assessment, with a note that details will be developed further as the attorney-client relationship progresses.
Removal Defense
- Notice to Appear (NTA) — obtain and review immediately
- Date of first hearing (docketing is often the most urgent task)
- Immigration court and judge assigned
- Prior removal orders (if any)
- Entry history and immigration status history
- Length of U.S. residence
- Family ties in the U.S. (U.S. citizen or LPR spouses, children, parents)
- Criminal history (complete — including arrests without convictions)
- Potential forms of relief (cancellation, adjustment, asylum, withholding, CAT, etc.)
- Prior applications for relief and outcomes
The Document Inventory
At intake, provide the client with a complete list of documents you'll need. For most immigration cases this includes:
- Passport (all pages, all passports)
- Birth certificate (certified translation if not in English)
- Marriage/divorce certificates as applicable
- Prior visa approvals and denials
- I-94 arrival/departure records
- Prior immigration filings (petitions, applications, notices, decisions)
- Tax returns (typically 3 years)
- Employment records
- Criminal court records if applicable
- Police reports if applicable
Being specific about what's needed — and why — reduces the back-and-forth that delays case preparation. Clients who understand what's required and why are more likely to prioritize gathering documents.
Deadline Identification at Intake
Every immigration intake should include an explicit deadline review:
| Matter Type | Key Deadlines to Identify |
|---|---|
| Asylum | One-year filing deadline from last entry |
| Removal | Hearing dates from NTA; appeal deadlines |
| DACA renewal | Application window (180 days before expiration) |
| Status maintenance | Authorized stay expiration; OPT/CPT deadlines |
| Visa petition | Priority date movement; filing windows |
If any deadline is imminent, it becomes the first priority — before the engagement letter, before the fee discussion, before everything else.
Handling Sensitive Information
Immigration clients often share information that could have serious legal consequences — prior unlawful entries, past criminal matters, prior visa misrepresentations. The intake process must create an environment where clients feel safe being complete and honest.
Frame sensitive questions helpfully: "Immigration agencies conduct thorough background checks. The best way I can help you is to know everything upfront, even things that seem embarrassing or complicated. Everything you tell me is protected by attorney-client privilege."
Document that you asked these questions and what the client disclosed. If a client later claims they weren't asked about a prior removal order, your intake record shows otherwise.
Multilingual Intake Considerations
Many immigration clients are not fluent English speakers. Consider:
- Intake questionnaires available in Spanish and other languages common in your practice
- Professional interpretation for consultations (not family members — especially not minor children)
- Certified translation for all foreign-language documents before they're relied upon
- Clear communication about what "confidential" and "attorney-client privilege" mean across cultural contexts
MatterFlow supports immigration attorneys with customizable intake questionnaires and automated engagement letter generation. Learn more at matterflowlegal.com.