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Get an intro to using AI to create certainty in your immigration casework. Read the Guide

The Certainty Factor: Maintaining Control in the Unpredictable State of Immigration Law


An introduction to using AI in your immigration casework

 

What this guide is all about

There’s never a dull moment in immigration law. But the current landscape has you navigating policy whiplash and mounting caseloads at a pace like never before—all while trying to run your practice, support your clients, and maintain your well-being. It’s no wonder immigration law professionals are feeling burned out. 

New AI tools are emerging just in time to help you respond to the increasing demand. By automating what typically takes you hours, AI has a profound ability to let you reconnect with what likely drew you to immigration law in the first place: creative problem-solving, meaningful human connection, and the profound satisfaction of helping someone build a new life.

This guide explores how you can use purpose-built AI tools to create stability in the highly unpredictable landscape of immigration law. It covers:

The potential and pitfalls of AI

The need for human-AI collaboration

Specialized AI tools that can change the way immigration attorneys work

Practical pathways to assess and implement AI in your firm

How AI solutions can put the heart back in immigration law

Searching for solid ground: A personal introduction

Behind every immigration case is a human story. You see it in the families fleeing political upheaval. In young people pursuing educational dreams. In healthcare professionals bringing vital skills to underserved American communities.
"The not-so-secret recipe for the success of this country is the energy, the motivation, the ingenuity that immigrants bring."

Phillip Yadidian

Founder & CEO | Cerenade

Phillip Yadidian fled the religious persecution of the Iranian revolution at age 17, seeking education and freedom. Navigating complex immigration bureaucracy alone, he self-processed his student visa. This experience sparked the realization that the immigration process was wrought with inefficiencies. 

After studying computer science at UCLA, Phillip began developing digital tools for immigration lawyers. He eventually built the first immigration case management system. Today, he’s the CEO of Cerenade and the visionary behind eimmigration, the leading case management solution for immigration lawyers.

Today, your clients face the same, if not more, uncertainty than Phillip once did. On top of the redundant forms and seemingly arbitrary deadlines, policies are shifting with the political winds. The process feels like an endurance test that challenges even your most resilient clients. But seeing it through is worth it—for your practice, your people, and our country. 

"We're all essentially following the American dream–the promise that if you come to this country, if you apply yourself, if you work hard at whatever it is that you're doing, chances are good that you're going to have a comfortable standard of living while contributing positively to society–and the country as a whole. 


Despite the current turbulence, I’m confident that America's promise endures for those wanting to make it their home. And that the legal professionals supporting their journeys will continue to find ways to make their clients’ dreams come true.” 

Phillip Yadidian

The chaos immigration attorneys are facing

The chaotic landscape of immigration policy has created a “perfect storm” of caseload complexity. The volume of cases you have to rework, combined with new inquiries coming in, is likely taking a toll on your team and your clients. 

We recently asked immigration attorneys how current policy shifts and court decisions have affected their daily practice and workloads.

They candidly shared that cases are getting tougher, requests are multiplying, processing times are slowing down, and defensive strategies are becoming a priority.

The hard truth is that, under the weight of constant change, traditional approaches have become unsustainable. Working harder within the same frameworks simply isn't viable long-term.

The good news is you don’t have to go it alone. As in any industry facing disruption, new tools and approaches have emerged to help immigration law professionals adapt. 

The artificial intelligence you've been hearing about for years has evolved into a practical set of AI tools that can make your work easier.

Counterbalancing chaos: AI as a strategic response

What started as clunky research databases in the 1970s, legal tech has exploded into a $548 million industry. Thanks in part to the rapid adoption of AI tools. This growth isn’t slowing down any time soon. 92% of law firms reported plans to ramp up their AI usage.
AI usage statistic

Major firms like DLA Piper, Allen & Overy, and Dentons are diving headfirst into Generative AI capabilities. They’re using specialized legal AI platforms to streamline operations and make their practices more efficient. Some have even created in-house versions of ChatGPT. 

Even the USCIS has incorporated AI into operations through several applications, including biometrics enrollment, text analytics to catch security anomalies, and a name and date of birth harvesting system that streamlines the administrative process using machine learning to extract identity information from background check documents. 

This institutional adoption by these major firms, the USCIS, and other government agencies signals that AI has left the fringes to become an established piece of the immigration law landscape.

 

Chances are, you're already using some form of AI without realizing it. The research platforms you rely on have built AI functionality into their everyday tools. It’s powering parts of your office productivity software. And you can hardly log into any online system without seeing little stars flashing in the corner.

What’s new is the proliferation of Generative AI—a type of artificial intelligence that can respond to user-generated prompts and quickly:

Analyze large data sets

Produce new content

Create new images

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How AI can help you maintain control in the chaos

For you as an immigration attorney, these tools could be game-changers. While you're being tossed around by policy changes and growing caseloads, AI offers the stability you need by:

AutomatingTasks
Automating repetitive tasks
EliminatingManualData
Eliminating manual data entry
PullingInsightsData
Pulling insights from vast amounts of data
InformingStrategy
Informing strategy for complex cases

AI won’t replace your expertise, but can certainly amplify it.

One of the easiest ways to get started is to leverage a large language model (LLM)—like ChatGPT, Claude, or Harvey—to sharpen writing, vet arguments and counter-arguments, and identify logical inconsistencies. 

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The boundaries of AI in legal practice

Understandably, many lawyers hesitate to fully adopt AI, citing professional responsibility and ethical commitments as their deterrents.

We should acknowledge that all AI systems have crucial limitations.

Accuracy constraints

Even sophisticated AI tools can produce errors or completely "hallucinate" information, particularly when confronting novel legal scenarios with no historical context. 

Contextual awareness

Current AI systems may miss critical nuances in complex immigration scenarios or fail to properly contextualize information within specific jurisdictional frameworks.

Knowledge recency

Most AI platforms have knowledge cutoffs and may not incorporate the latest policy memoranda, regulatory changes, or precedent decisions.

Think of AI applications as powerful assistants rather than a replacement for your professional judgment.

They exist as support for you to offload the repetitive, administrative aspects of your work so you can refocus on personal relationships and legal strategy. But they still require a human in the loop to preserve the integrity of decision-making. 

A practical approach to start using AI in your
immigration work

If your caseload feels extra heavy. If manual data entry is slowing you down. If your team doesn’t have enough time to engage with your clients in a meaningful way, it’s time to put AI to work.
Greg Siskind AI legal tech expert

Greg Siskind is a pioneering immigration attorney and legal tech innovator. Founding partner of Siskind Susser, he was the first immigration attorney to launch a website. More recently, he co-founded Visalaw.ai to help immigration lawyers streamline case research and complex drafting.

Greg believes AI holds strong potential, not just to streamline case work, but to help attorneys build stronger cases. 

He reminds us that AI is already embedded in much of our day-to-day software—functioning as an intelligent assistant working behind the scenes to boost productivity right where we work. For those hesitant about what they perceive as untested technology, he recommends easing into the waters.

"I think a lot of the work done by people now will be done by AI agents soon. There are a lot of manual things that lawyers do today that can be handled by AI. 

Much of it could happen within the same tools we already use—like pushing information from forms to the case management system, and then AI agents using the data to draft petition letters, generate and review forms, and spot issues in cases, basically vetting the case strategy.

“If you want to ease into the waters, start with a business tool like Microsoft’s Copilot or Google Gemini. Get comfortable with the technology and educate yourself on the limitations of the tools. Use it for a lot of your day-to-day work.  And use at least one good language model, whether it's ChatGPT or Claude or something else.” 

Greg Siskind

Co-Founder | Visalaw.ai

5 types of specialized AI tools for immigration attorneys

Beyond general-purpose capabilities, specialized AI tools have emerged that are designed for immigration law specifically. These purpose-built AI solutions can help build your caseload capacity and improve case strategies. 

A process for implementing AI in your immigration law firm

Even if you’re starting to see the use cases for each of these solutions in your practice, you can’t implement them all at once. We recommend you take a step back to identify where AI can make the biggest impact for your practice.

process to prioritize AI in your immigration firm

Documenting your pain points will help you see where your biggest challenges are and where you stand to gain the most benefit from adopting AI.

Use this assessment process to see where your firm should get started with AI.

AssessWorkflows

Assess your workflows

Calculate the time you spend manually keying in client and case info into multiple places, setting and sending reminders, following up on tasks, and transferring data between systems.

EvaluateIntakeProcess

Evaluate intake process

Map every step from initial consultation to complete profile creation. Identify points of friction where your staff experiences frustration or where redundancies occur.

AnalyzeLanguage

Analyze language barriers

Document how translation challenges affect case progression and client communication. Consider both the time costs and the qualitative impact on client relationships.

ReviewCaseProcesses

Review case processes

Measure how long it takes to research precedents and get new team members up to speed on complex legal frameworks. Calculate the opportunity cost of this time investment.

IdentifyErrorPatterns

Identify error patterns

Examine where mistakes typically occur in applications and filings. Assess both the tangible costs of these errors and their impact on team morale and client confidence.

AI can’t replace humanity in your immigration practice

No matter how technology evolves, certain aspects of immigration practice will always require human expertise. 
NuancedRelationship
The nuanced attorney-client relationship that's built on trust and empathy
ProblemSolving
The creative problem-solving to navigate seemingly impossible situations 
ProfessionalJudgment
The professional judgment that no algorithm can replicate 

With this in mind, as you start to implement AI, be sure to identify:

Clear guidelines for a person must review AI output

An audit process to compare AI outputs against established standards

Regular training on both legal developments and AI capabilities

If Greg Siskind predicts it right, AI won’t replace attorneys, but it will give the best ones a competitive edge.

"AI is not going to replace lawyers. AI is going to replace lawyers with bad personalities. The main thing you and your paralegals are going to be selling is the human touch relationship that makes them want to work with you, because you're managing the process for them and not making them worry about it."

Greg Siskind

Take the first step to counterbalancing the chaos

It’s inevitable: policy will continue to change. A growing roster of AI-powered tools can help you navigate the complexity and create more certainty for the clients whose futures depend on your expertise.

Whether you want to:

Reduce the burden of heavy workloads

Increase your caseload capacity

Build stronger case strategies

Or all of the above, you can choose the tools that fit your practice. Ultimately, embracing right-fit technology will make space for the work that truly matters: helping more people on their journey to secure legal status in the United States.

Ready to find the AI tools that are right for you?

See eimmigration’s suite of AI Workmates.