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3 Steps to an Efficient
Immigration Process

Proven Strategies to Help
HR Manage Immigration

Introduction

It’s essential to your company’s growth and viability. However, it’s also time-consuming, complicated, and expensive. It keeps your business competitive on a global scale, yet none of your co-workers fully understand how it works. No one notices when the process goes smoothly, but everyone demands answers when the process is too slow or worse—when it fails.

We’re talking about managing the immigration process for your company.

We’ve worked with enough human resources professionals to understand just how stressful it can be for even the most skilled professionals.


Corporate immigration depends on the assistance and expertise of a reliable immigration attorney. However, many companies mistakenly believe the immigration process starts and ends with choosing a reputable law firm or lawyer.

That’s not true.

At VISANOW, we know that even after you hire a lawyer, many administrative tasks remain your responsibility.


In this guide, we offer:

3improved immigration
communication approaches
4cost-cutting
strategies
4benefits of switching
to an online process


Strategy

1


Fix Poor Communication
Processes

Working with immigration attorneys can be frustrating, since many still follow a pre-Internet approach to the application process by using outdated communication methods.

Whether it’s in-person meetings, mailing forms back and forth, or incredibly long response times, these inefficiencies can bog down the process by weeks or months. In result, dozens of time-consuming tasks are added to the HR manager’s to-do list.


What can you do?

Whether you’re evaluating a new vendor or optimizing the application process with your current service provider, start with a communication process evaluation. Here are some key points to focus on:

Have the vendor walk you through their application
process.
  • Look out for pitfalls or processes that seem inefficient or not
    well defined.
  • In order to prioritize your workload and address the most important issues as they arise, the vendor must have a system in place to quickly communicate which tasks need to be completed.
  • Ideally, you want to work with a provider whose process is clearly outlined upfront and allows you to stay updated on the status of each case.
Ask about average response
times for questions coming
from both you and your foreign
national employees.
  • Speed in the immigration process is key! No one wants to wait days to hear back on an important issue!
  • Either discuss communication issues with your current immigration attorney or look for a provider that guarantees fast responses—preferably within 24 hours.

A 2014 Stax market research survey reported that 93% of HR professionals have to wait at least 3-5 days for a response from their immigration attorney, compared to 91% of VISANOW clients who stated they receive a same-day response from an immigration attorney.

Ask if your employees will have direct access to the attorneys or at least support staff.
  • Speed in the immigration process is key! No one wants to wait days to hear back on an important issue!
  • HR professionals have a lot going on! If your employees can work directly with the attorneys, with your oversight, it helps keep the
    process moving.
  • ALERT Speed in the immigration process is key! No one wants to wait days to hear back on an important issue!


Strategy

2


Optimize Your Company’s
Budget With Cost-Saving
Immigration Processes

High attorney fees, caused by hidden charges and hourly billing, is one of the most common issues encountered by HR professionals.

Cost savings are always a simple, straightforward way to keep a balanced budget, but this doesn’t mean you should sacrifice quality. It means carefully researching legal services while prioritizing quality and cost-efficiency in order to improve your company’s immigration process.


Knowledge is power when analyzing immigration service providers, so you need to be equipped with the right questions before hiring or evaluating an attorney.

Here are helpful questions to ask potential or current immigration services providers:

What is your pricing structure? Do you charge by the hour or do you have flat fees?.
  • Working with a flat fee structure holds the attorney accountable.
Are there extra costs if a visa application receives an RFE (Request for Evidence)?
  • Look for attorneys that do not charge extra for submitting an RFE.
What happens if an application is denied? Do we get our money back?
  • A money-back guarantee is a huge perk.
How is billing handled? Will the company have access to a high-level overview of billing throughout the visa application process?
  • Having access to detailed reporting that provides oversight into expenses and charges is critical—you have the right to know!

By doing your research, you will also find the most affordable immigration providers are usually the ones who have created a streamlined, efficient process for their clients. They don’t have to charge by the hour because they’ve taken tedious, non-legal tasks out of your hands.

An even better way to ensure lower costs is to make sure your applications have a guaranteed approval. Real guarantees and true flat fees can protect you and your company from high costs and disappointing results.


Strategy

3


Take Your Immigration
Process Online!

Using online tools to help manage your immigration workload offers a variety of benefits including increased efficiency, improved communication between human resources and your employees, and easy document management.


Online Immigration Management Tools Help You Prioritize
  • One compelling benefit of an online immigration service is its case tracking and status update features. Having an immigration management tool in place helps you easily identify where your attention is needed and prioritize your daily responsibilities.

“The main benefit for us is that we always know where a case is at any given time. It’s easy to keep track of what documents are missing, who is responsible for uploading, and what stage the application is at.”
– URSULA KAPPUS, SYNOWLEDGE

Web-Based Communication Is Better, Faster, Easier
  • Human resources executives often spend valuable time mitigating communication issues between immigration attorneys and foreign employees. Electronic communication puts employees and HR in direct contact with attorneys and avoids delayed responses. Additionally, it allows foreign nationals and HR professionals to get answers quickly.

“The response time is awesome. Compared to working with a traditional law firm, this is a million times better and faster.”
– DAINA HOLMBERG, HEARTFLOW, INC.

Drag and Drop Document Submission Saves Time
  • Online immigration technology can help HRs bring efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness to the immigration process. This is especially true when it comes to document submissions.
  • It provides a centralized place where foreign national employees can submit documents themselves, rather than going through you or an attorney. The immigration process is an understandably overwhelming experience for them, and this sense of control can really put their minds at ease as well as yours.
  • Plus, rather than endless filing cabinets and paper stacks overwhelming
    your office, online immigration tools have built-in features to keep these
    documents organized.

“I love that everything is done online and stored in one spot. I also like being able to correspond with the attorneys online—makes the process so much more efficient.”
– CHRISSY MARTEL, ACLARA TECHNOLOGIES LLC

Form review and approval
  • As a busy HR professional, you won’t have to wait for documents in the mail or hunt them down in the fax machine when you can easily approve and sign off on them with a click of a button. This helps your case progress quicker.

BONUS: Expiration Date Tracking

It can be cumbersome to keep up with your employees visa expiration dates, on top of all your other duties. An intuitive online immigration management tool will alert you months before visas are set to expire so you and your
employees can plan ahead.


Conclusion: Learn More About Online Immigration Service Providers

3 Steps to an Efficient Immigration Process was created by VISANOW, a global immigration service provider.

Here’s what sets us apart:

Ask if your employees will have direct access to the attorneys or at least support staff.
VISANOW’s online platform allows HR and their employees to upload documents and automatically updates case statuses, keeping everyone informed of what is still required.
VISANOW’s online communication center allows HR and employees to post questions to the attorneys 24/7, with an average response time of 30 minutes. You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers!
VISANOW offers a money-back guarantee on all U.S. work visas. If your application is not approved, we’ll refund your legal fees.

The immigration process can be daunting and bringing a new technology into your workplace is not an easy task. But you’re not alone. Teaming up with a comprehensive immigration partner can simplify your workload, save you time and reduce your costs as you manage the immigration process.


To set yourself up for immigration success, take these three steps:

1

 

Evaluateyour current immigration attorney and process.

2

 

Make a list of must-have features: such as cost-savings, fast communication and an technology-assisted application process.

3

 

Shop Around: Conduct a side-by-side comparison of your
traditional immigration attorney and modernized service providers.


VISANOW understands that you’ve probably been working with your current system for awhile, but if you are interested in learning more about our services, give us a call or visit our website to request a live demo and to learn more.

Begin the conversation today!