When I was growing up in India, my grandfather was a farmer and his work on the farm, indeed the farm’s success depended on rain. When rain was plentiful, the crops were abundant, the farm was busy and the family did well. But one season, the rain didn’t come. I was young when this happened, but I remember asking my grandfather, “what will you do now that the rain didn’t come?” My grandfather’s answer has stayed with me ever since.

He explained to me that when the rain doesn’t come and the crops don’t grow, he takes that down time to focus on other tasks. He fixes the house and the barn, sharpens his tools, cleans and tidies, and takes time to think about how to make the farm – his business – that much better. During a bad season for crops, my grandfather didn’t panic – he instead used his time to tackle projects that would make next season easier and more productive.

There have been 17 noteworthy recessions throughout U.S. history. The most famous of these was the Great Depression which lasted from 1929 until 1938 and was the biggest economic crisis in U.S. history. Then there was the Great Recession which lasted from December 2007 to June 2009 and was triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis.

And now we’re experiencing another economic downturn. After expanding for a record 126 months, the coronavirus pandemic has put an end to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. At the beginning of 2020, millions of Americans locked down and businesses ceased operations, all in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19.

As borders closed and travel all but stopped in the name of public safety, immigration came to a halt as well. Consulates closed, business travel was cancelled and one presidential executive order and proclamation after another hampered immigration even further. This has obviously left immigration law firms worried and wondering – what to do next?

An INSZoom client recently reached out to me and expressed their worry about how slow business has been. The conversation I had with that client made me think back to what my grandfather told me – use this slow time to assess your current processes, identify what can be improved, and make your firm even better for when things pick back up.

Because they will.

What to do during an economic downturn

The Economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. Some many businesses have had to significantly scale back their operations while others have been forced to close entirely. You might feel that the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown your firm into chaos too, but here’s the thing – those firms that take action right now will better survive this recession.

So what to do? Use this opportunity to get ahead of your competition and prepare for the future. Push forward and explore new ideas that will help you come out on top after the quarantine has lifted. Here are some steps you can take to get ahead during this economic downturn:

List potential challenge and inventory your processes

Start by creating a list of challenges your business might face post-pandemic, and make sure to consider different scenarios, even the most absurd. A few extreme examples might be the end of business travel, universal adoption of “work from home” culture, massively increased outsourcing and more. These examples may be over the top, but think about how the way you run your firm today would look in those made up future realities.

Would your firm survive? Would you be able to make small changes to accommodate these new realities or would you have to scrap the whole thing and start from scratch? Take this time to plan for every scenario, even the worst case scenario, and analyze your processes accordingly. From there, back into a more realistic future state and then determine what changes are possible to your firm in order to adapt.

Upgrade your technology

It’s possible that most – if not all – your staff is currently working from home. Now is the time to ensure that communication will remain as efficient as possible. Assess every piece of software and digital tool your team relies on to get work done. Do you use Google Docs for collaboration? Do you rely on Asana or Trello for project management? Do you use Dropbox for file sharing?

Ask your team for their opinions and determine if your current technology is meeting expectations. If not, time to upgrade. Now is the perfect time to implement, experiment with, and master a new piece of technology.

Review and optimize your website

So often, we pay thousands of dollars to have our website carefully designed and then we ignore it for years. There is a chance your website is working against you. A well-designed – and frequently updated – website will help you generate more leads. Take this time to review your website content and determine that it is readable, easy to navigate, and optimized with the correct keywords and links.

As your content grows stale, your website will rank lower and lower in search engine results. Seek out a marketing professional if you need help auditing and optimizing your website. A little time and help from a professional can all but guarantee that your website content will engage customers and generate new leads.

Invest in people

If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that people are important to business. The customers, of course, but also the people who make businesses run. Invest both time and, if possible, money into improving your team and the way they work.

Create mentor-ship opportunities that encourage remote workers to interact. Organize training sessions to help employees learn new skills. Allow employees to sign up for virtual conferences to sharpen their skills and make connections. All this effort will support employees as they adjust to the new work-from-home culture. It will strengthen and develop new skills and prepare both your employees and business for the post-pandemic future.

Automate

Repetition slows down businesses – you need to automate to remain competitive. Automation lets you avoid human error while saving time in execution. Survey your team and identify any tasks that are repetitive and maybe even use this time to become familiar with artificial intelligence and machine learning. Because with the right machine learning tools, you can achieve maximum efficiency and turbocharge your business.

Here’s how INSZoom can help you retool.

I founded INSZoom in 1999 and so I’ve actually taken the company through two economic downturns (2000 and 2008). Not only has INSZoom survived and thrived during those recessions, we’ve seen hundreds of law firm clients do the same.

Here are two ways you can leverage INSZoom to help you retool during this downturn to come out stronger on the other side.

Consider Zoomee to automate legal processes at your immigration law firm.

Zoomee is a powerful process automation bot that works with INSZoom to automate the immigration process. As the immigration industry’s very first virtual assistant, Zoomee reads, parses, and works with documents, handles bulk case creation, and automatically updates corresponding cases in the INSZoom platform.

Because Zoomee is powered by artificial intelligence, it is constantly learning. The more tasks Zoomee completes, the more it learns your processes and preferences, and the more efficient it becomes.

By using Zoomee to create applications, you can be certain no mistakes are made. Zoommee verifies crucial data, flags mistakes, and notes when fields are missing. Imagine the alternative, particularly in a high-volume situation: you or your staff are creating dozens if not hundreds of H-1B registrations. You could rely on copy and paste or simply type the information over and over again. But entering the wrong information can be an H-1B death sentence. Automation and artificial intelligence eliminates these errors.

Improve your INSZoom skills

Well-trained staff who know how to use software without making mistakes help organizations run more smoothly. INSZoom’s own certification program brings tremendous value to lawyers, paralegals, and clients. That’s why we launched the INSZoom Academy, which is designed to address day-to-day operations of platform and help you and your staff become certified, trained experts at it. An INSZoom certification shows an objective level of proficiency with and knowledge of the platform. Certification creates built-in confidence in the user’s skill level and ultimately their success at the firm.

We’ll get through this together

Having gone through two economic downturns and watch so many of our clients do the same, I’m here to tell you that it’ll be okay. While you may feel nervous about the current state of immigration and where it might go, it’s important that you take a moment to consider your options. You can panic, or you can take this time to assess and improve your business. Which one will you choose?

Want to learn more about Zoomee? Visit the Zoomee information page or reach out to your INSZoom representative at sales@inszoom.com.

• Interested in learning about the new INSZoom certification?

Check out the INSZoom Certification page for more information, chat with us on our website, or reach out to your INSZoom representative!

E-Consent Is Vital To Immigration Law Firms For Two Reasons.

Data privacy and consent are more important now than ever before, including for immigration law firms. Firms have learned — some the hard way — that when collecting personal information from clients, it’s vital to get informed and voluntary consent beforehand. Consent is simple and straightforward with written documents where it usually occurs through a handwritten signature. Electronic consent (otherwise known as e-consent) works on the same principle and is equally as important when confirming who the signer is and that they agree to the terms.

Of course, the concept of consent — both electronic and handwritten — is well-known from a legal point of view, but law firms may not realize how important it is from a business point of view as well.

So let’s dive into a little refresher about recent data privacy and protection laws and then go through the two reasons e-consent is important for immigration law firms not just important from a legal point of view, but also for immigration law firm business development.

Understanding GDPR and CCPA

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have changed the way organizations around the world collect and use personal data. Europe’s GDPR is probably the most comprehensive piece of data privacy legislation, and it affects American businesses, including your law practice. No matter where your business is located, you need to worry about the GDPR and the CCPA. Need a quick primer on what these laws cover? Here are the basics:

At a high level, per Forbes, GDPR is “a legal framework that requires businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of European Union (EU) citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states. It covers all companies that deal with the data of EU citizens, specifically banks, insurance companies, and other financial companies.” In other words, it’s a set of rules and regulations restricting the use of personal user information that many of today’s largest companies collect, store, and sometimes sell as part of their business.

According to TechCrunch, “CCPA, is a state-level law that requires, among other things, that companies notify users of the intent to monetize their data, and give them a straightforward means of opting out of said monetization.” CCPA became California law on January 1, 2020.

So what does any of this have to do with your immigration practice?

Collecting personal information is required in the immigration process. A visa candidate’s name, date of birth, home address, family member information is just a start. You may also need to collect financial data and health history. In the age of GDPR and CCPA, it is important that immigration law firms collect all of this personal information in a safe and secure manner. 

Refusing to implement privacy protections can put your organization at risk of fines and penalties. But complying with the current laws and regulations should not be your only motivation for using e-consent to protect yourself and your clients’ data.

Specifically, there are two important business-related reasons to prioritize e-consent: it’s best practice for your law firm and it’s becoming increasingly common in requests for proposal (RFPs). 

E-consent is key for immigration law firms for these two reasons.

Many companies have learned the importance of protecting client privacy through highly publicized privacy fails. Avoid joining their ranks! Privacy protections must be in place for collecting, storing, processing, accessing, transmitting, sharing, and disposing of the data. Yes, I know this list is long, but by prioritizing privacy you’re protecting your clients and your business.

For immigration law firms, one of the ways to prioritize privacy is by providing e-consent to clients who collect personal foreign national information. And here are two major reasons e-consent is great for your firm: it’s a good best best practice to protect you and your firm, and it’s also a powerful business development tool, especially when it comes to RFPs.

E-consent is a good business practice.

Some companies make the mistake of assuming that their established business ethics policies or a code of ethics are enough. Ethics policies typically ensure that confidential information will be handled responsibly, but more must be done to actually protect personal data. 

As far as the immigration industry is concerned, law firms’ clients are increasingly demanding that their privacy be proactively protected. That’s why e-consent and other privacy measures should be viewed as not just something legally required of us, but a standard practice across all our operations.

By adhering to GDPR and CCPA data privacy requirements, we’re ensuring both your employer clients and the foreign nationals they hire and support feel secure and worry-free. This next-level data protection is also excellent marketing for your firm because potential clients choose law firms based not only on the ability to file cases but for the broader client experience and support, including robust data privacy.

E-consent can be a deal-breaker when it comes to RFPs.

A Forbes Insights report found that 46% of organizations suffered reputational damage as a result of a privacy breach. And a Pew report found that it was important to 90% of Americans to control the specific types of information that was collected about them.

Almost 75% of internet-using households in the US had significant concerns about online privacy, and according to an Australian study on the impact of data breaches on reputation, 65% of people whose personal data was breached lost trust in the organization that they entrusted to protect that data. 

Convinced yet?

That’s why corporate clients are starting to demand more technology and data protection from their immigration law firms, particularly during an RFP when they are looking to switch firms or perhaps add an external immigration provider during a period of growth. Don’t have good privacy practices? They’re not interested in doing business with you.

That’s why law firms that implement privacy protections — such as e-consent — will strengthen and grow their business as they become preferred over their competitors which do not provide such privacy protections.

Did you know that INSZoom has an e-consent module?

INSZoom’s E-Consent module can be used to protect yourself and your organization. It ensures the accuracy and validity of the information your clients provide, gives your clients the ability to pre-consent to your Terms of Service, and allows you to customize the e-Consent message per your organization’s needs. E-consent in INSZoom is a customizable way for organizations to manage and track consent, whether it is terms of service, terms of use, or a statement of truthfulness.

Here’s an example of how it works. If your law firm wants to send a questionnaire to a foreign national to collect personal information or documentation, you can have an e-consent pop up that asks the foreign national to accept or decline a customized message. You can either send this via email, or directly in INSZoom’s foreign national portal.

Ultimately, if an employer needs to procure and track foreign national consent, or if they need to get an official declaration from their users that some information they are providing is accurate, e-consent in INSZoom is the answer.

Want to learn more about how INSZoom’s e-consent module, or get information from our team if you’re going through an RFP and e-consent is part of the engagement? Reach out to connect with an INSZoom rep or visit our website to learn more!

Since its founding in 1999, INSZoom has prioritized its customers. Over the past 20 years, we built our business on creating products that ensured happy and successful Zoom users, and after years of hard work, we are excited and proud to announce that INSZoom has won the Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year!

 The Stevie Awards are the world’s premier business awards. These awards were launched in 2002 as a way to honor and publicly recognize the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and professionals worldwide. In the years since its founding, Stevie has become one of the world’s most coveted accolades.

What is a Stevie Award?

Each year, more than 1,000 professionals worldwide participate in the Stevie Award judging process. While demanding, the Stevie Award application process itself was beneficial to our organization because it forced us to research, gather evidence, and write about INSZoom’s customer service to a great level of detail. Ultimately, our application told a compelling story of achievement and enabled INSZoom to recognize and celebrate its employees’ accomplishments. Even before we won the Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year, we told our team that their achievements are worthy of national recognition.

Our award entry — which included our company’s story and evidence of customer success via our customer service software — was then evaluated by Stevie Award judges who include many of the world’s most respected executives, innovators, and business educators. Over two months, judging committees viewed and rated entries with each entry being reviewed and rated by no fewer than five judges.

It was after this intensive judging process that INSZoom was officially named a winner!

We don’t mean to brag, think INSZoom’s customer service is pretty great

“Listen & Deliver Wows” has been our motto for over two decades. By truly listening to our customers we understand their immigration experiences, challenges, and successes. We have always relied on listening to the customers to create effective software and deliver exceptional customer service.

At INSZoom, we have three core values that drive our business:

1. Always be available for your customer,
2. Approach with innovation, and
3. Approach with personalization

Customer service is part of everyone’s job, from the engineering team to marketing. In the business of immigration technology, a slight delay can cost someone their dream visa, so we take great pride in knowing that our customer service team is available over the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In terms of innovation, we understand that each customer has a different and entirely unique immigration issue. Every member of the customer service department is trained to respond to customers by taking an innovative and creative approach to problem-solving. We believe that creativity is a skill that goes beyond the marketing department, and our customer service representatives rely on creativity to achieve customer success.

Lastly, personalized service has been our key to winning customers’ loyalty. At INSZoom, customers are not just “support tickets” that bounce from representative to representative. Instead, INSZoom customer support reps build a strong rapport with customers and remember details of previous interactions. H-1B cap season, for example, is one of the busiest times in the world of immigration, and also one of the most crucial times for our clients. Thousands of H-1B visa applications are prepared on the INSZoom software, and we received a 100% satisfaction rate in the months of March and April 2019, the two busiest months of the H-1B filing season that year. This stellar satisfaction rating is thanks to our hands-on, personalized approach to customer support.

We reached out to one of our long-time customers, Jake Lipman at Visawolf, to ask if he’d be kind enough to share some of his thoughts working with INSZoom all these years. He told us, “The customer service team at INSZoom is amazing. Over the many years that our firm has used INSZoom, you’ve never let us down. You answer inquiries within moments, we never have to wait on hold or swirl around, getting passed from tech to tech, and the support team is patient and easy to communicate with.”

We take pride in not just servicing our clients but, in a way, being on their team. Lipman also told us that the INSZoom team, “understands my business and what I am trying to do. You understand that we’re legal professionals and have high standards for responsiveness and accuracy, and still, you regularly exceed our expectations. I am very pleased that you’re being recognized for your diligent customer service efforts!”

Our loyal customers have made INSZoom what it is today. INSZoom customers are our biggest brand advocates and their word of mouth testimonials have supported our company’s growth.

INSZoom is built on customer success

Our engaged and valued customer service team is motivated each day by curiosity, job progression, and the drive to constantly improve. We conduct continuous training programs for our employees covering various immigration topics so that the INSZoom team can deliver the best customer support with the most innovative solutions.

But we also know that we can’t rest on our laurels and assume that just because things have been going pretty well for us that that will continue. We have to keep working and keep delivering good service in new and creative ways.

So here’s a sneak peak at just a few things we’re working on.

First, we’re investing in enhanced digital content and on-demand customer education. For example, imagine being able to instantly access quick how-to videos when using INSZoom, right in the product. Video is one of the most consumable forms of content, and we are working hard to get short, informative videos right into INSZoom to help throughout the user journey.

Also, through informative and insightful articles (like this one you’re reading right now!) we strive to educate a broader audience about immigration topics and how we can help. We know that customer service is about more than reacting to customer issues – it’s also about being proactive, sharing knowledge and solving problems before they arise.

Want to experience INSZoom’s award-winning customer support yourself? In the process, you can also learn how INSZoom can improve and secure the immigration process for immigration law firms, companies, and foreign nationals? Reach out to connect with your INSZoom rep or visit our website to learn more!

Every year, more than 700,000 green card holders are naturalized in the U.S. But in 2020, the numbers might be a little lower. The coronavirus pandemic has stopped some immigration services and postponed naturalization ceremonies.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)— the agency that manages the naturalization process — closed its offices in reaction to COVID-19. In addition to naturalization ceremonies, USCIS has suspended applicant interviews, which will only further increase the citizenship backlog. To make things even messier, USCIS has not announced when naturalization ceremonies will resume.
So why are naturalization ceremonies so important?

The naturalization ceremony is a legal requirement on the path towards citizenship. After a complicated legal process and hundreds of dollars in filing fees, soon-to-be citizens reach the final milestone in their citizenship journey: they pledge their allegiance to the U.S and recite an oath to the Constitution.

Since U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services closed its doors, over 100,000 future Americans have been left in naturalization limbo. These would-be citizens have completed every step of the arduous immigration process, but now all they can do is wait. It is unknown how long before they can become full U.S. citizens and gain the right to vote — hopefully before the 2020 election.
Remote naturalization ceremonies may be the solution to this problem.

The Australian government has taken its citizenship ceremonies online and has already conducted 170 online ceremonies with officials from the Department of Home Affairs. Australian Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge expects 90,000 people will receive their Australian citizenship through online ceremonies in the next six months. Can the same thing work in the U.S.?

A group of House Democrats has asked that the next coronavirus relief package allow U.S. Customs and Immigration Services to conduct naturalization ceremonies virtually.“Virtual naturalization would provide vital benefits to more than 100,000 people who are already approved to become our fellow citizens,” U.S. Representatives Norma J. Torres (D-Calif.) said. She continued by adding, “It would also ensure this nation, built and made prosperous by immigrants, continues that rich heritage despite the challenges of COVID-19.”

These House Democrats argue that remote naturalizations provide USCIS with flexibility even beyond the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. So, online naturalization ceremonies seem like a win-win, right?

Why is it important now?
Under the Trump administration, gaining citizenship has become a long, expensive, and complicated process. Right now, the immigration process is long and drawn out. It can take 10 years or more for a person in the U.S. on a visa to become a citizen. That includes the five years it can take to get a green card, and another five years to become eligible to apply for citizenship. And with country-specific backlogs, just getting a green card can take decades.

Becoming eligible to vote in all federal, state, and local elections is a high priority for many, but there are other benefits to citizenship. Gaining citizenship is a smart financial decision as U.S. citizens fare better economically. Research has also shown that naturalized immigrants earn an average of $3,200 more annually than eligible non-citizens. Naturalized citizens also increase their homeownership rate by 6.3%. Need more evidence that gaining citizenship is a good financial decision? If even half of the 9.3 million citizenship eligible immigrants were granted citizenship, it would boost America’s GDP by up to $52 billion a year. And that figure is from research done back in 2013 – today, that number is likely to be higher.

The benefits to U.S. citizenship are tangible and worth the effort, but because of that, some green card holders employed by your clients may be already trying to tackle the process themselves.

So what can you do as a law firm? What immigration law firms can do right now?
By being proactive and reaching out to your clients, you may be able to assist these individuals in gaining U.S. citizenship. Going the extra mile may even help your business during otherwise slow or challenging times.

In recent years, naturalizing has only gotten harder and more expensive. It is most likely because of these barriers that many immigrants who manage to secure U.S. permanent residency often fail to take the final steps to become U.S. citizens. In 2015, Believe it or not, only a third of citizenship-eligible green card holders — around 9.3 million people — were eligible to apply for citizenship that year have yet to apply for U.S. citizenship. Today, in 2020, that number is likely higher as well.

As the CEO of INSZoom, I can relate both professionally and personally in this situation. Back in the 1990s, I had an approved green card but delayed applying for U.S. citizenship. It took me years before I finally took the final step in my immigration journey.

Now, the citizenship application may become slower and more expensive if the Trump administration continues to overhaul immigration rules. If someone is eligible for citizenship today, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will be tomorrow.

So if your clients’ employees are among these millions eligible for citizenship, encourage them to fully complete their immigration process!
Check if your corporate clients’ employees are eligible for US citizenship and encourage them to take that next step as soon as possible.

How can INSZoom help?
If it turns out that any of your clients’ employees are eligible to become U.S. citizens, they’ve already earned their place in this country. Let INSZoom help you help them cross the finish line.
While you do the important immigration work, INSZoom has robust reporting features that can help you discover who may be eligible for citizenship. Once you’ve figured that out, you can reach out to those clients and engage them accordingly. And if you need help with INSZoom reporting, reach out to your Zoom representative, or visit the INSZoom website.

The assault in black communities through lethal racism must end now. Each person has a responsibility to speak out against it, and most importantly, to act on it. We here at INSZoom stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, the many victims of racist brutality, and those using their voices and platforms to challenge it.

This grief is not new; it is simply being filmed. These violent acts of hatred are the result of long-standing and systemic racism. There is no quick solution to the complex problems we as citizens in the world face; however, INSZoom is working against these challenges and affect change. This duty belongs to all of us.

Let us send love and strength to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others.

Our vision as Zoomers is to provide borderless opportunities across the world, and we are committed to using our platform to address these critical and painful issues of race, justice, and issues globally. We will continue to use our voices to encourage meaningful dialogue, identify solutions, and galvanize communities towards the change needed.

Many organizations are on the front line to fight for justice. To take immediate action, citizens can contribute to their efforts to secure the safety and freedom of Black Lives.

For a list of organizations to contribute to supporting the ground efforts and petitions to sign in for legal action, please visit these following links.

INSZoom is equally committed to making our voices heard in the voting booth. Voting is not only a tool for freedom but remains an essential one. Our futures are on the ballot.

Going forward, let us reflect on the past, act in the present, and hope for the future because lives do depend on it.

#BlackLivesMatter

Donate:

Minnesota Freedom Fund
https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/

George Floyd Memorial Fund
https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

I Run With Maud
https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud

Black Visions Collective
https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/

Reclaim the Block
https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home

Campaign Zero
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/solutions#solutionsoverview

Communities United Against Police Brutality
https://www.cuapb.org/

Black Lives Matter
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

NAACP Legal Defense Fund
https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6857/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=15780&_ga=2.209233111.496632409.1590767838-1184367471.1590767838

American Civil Liberties Union
https://www.aclu.org/

Petition:

Justice for George Floyd on change.org
https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd?recruiter=1096617288&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=2943f820-a174-11ea-b563-a538d17ee3bd

Justice for George Floyd on act.colorofchange.org
https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justiceforfloyd_george_floyd_minneapolis

Immigration and employment are one of the many things highly impacted since the Covid-19 Pandemic has begun. At the time of writing, there are over 33 million American workers who lost their jobs. A big chunk of these are immigrants holding different type of visas which are either in jeopardy of being sent back to their home country or lose their status altogether. Given this scenario, INSZoom foresee attorneys or law firms needing to contact clients to provide a possible solution to figure out the next step in helping their clients remain in the United States. As a company, INSZoom would like all its clients to prosper and pivot during this strange shift by providing a solution from an untapped feature that will create significance with both their new and existing clients: The Broadcast Module.

The Broadcast Module (or as I fondly call it B-module) is an Automated E-mail Solution built within the INSZoom Case Management Software and is a powerful business tool for sending direct messages to clients. The module can be used to replace broadcast messaging and even existing e-mail marketing software (e.g. Constant Contact, Campaigner, Mailchimp, Hubspot, etc.). A remarkable benefit of using the B-module is that it pulls a list right from an existing database, already stored in INSZoom. It provides the ability to send important announcements and broadcast messages on the latest immigration laws or changes targeted to a specific client or case segment. The Broadcast Module will help grow your business by generating leads from your existing or prospective clients. It comes with advanced features that enable a user to create and design professional looking messages using HTML, images, and hyperlinks.

INSZoom recently enhanced the Broadcast module by providing a more robust recipient list filtering approach. A list generated from the database can be filtered by recipient list, case type, by company, date or group, priority, or expiration dates. Users will be given the ability to upload a contact list to target specific audiences. Messages can also be scheduled for future dates or intervals giving the sender the ability to predict a preferable time to send messages. Improved message tracking, including viewed rate, failure to send are also part of the functionality.

I became a fan of the INSZoom Broadcast Module since the day I mastered the skill of using the feature. It became my lead generation mechanism when I want to reach specific clients. It has provided favorable results when I want quick & direct response from clients. The straightforwardness of use while having essential functionalities to reach clients, without having the need to use another software when sending messages and eliminating separate excel sheet makes it worthwhile. The fact that all client and case-related information is already in INSZoom made my life easier back in the day when I have three or more different groups to reach in a week. I know the struggle of mass e-mailing and I am glad I have this platform to share some of my real-life experience using the INSZoom Broadcast Module.

1. Reach out to a micro-sized audience

It gave me the capability to reach out to a micro-sized audience derived from the firm’s existing cases – for instance, sending a message to clients with H or L visas only because they are the most affected segment during this pandemic. The first step is to compose a compelling message and choose specific recipients by using the “All Foreign Nationals of Specific Petition” from the Recipients drop-down menu, choosing H-1B & L Visas under “Choose Petitions” and after a few more clicks I get to send my message to my intended audience instead of sending a mass e-mail to everyone who are not going to benefit from my message.

2. Send Messages as immigration news and events are unfolding

The B-module favored me in sending messages as recent immigration events unfold. After composing messages with hyperlinks or images from reliable sources (e.g. government sites, statistics, etc.), I navigate to the recipient’s drop-down menu, choose my desired audience, and finally send my message. Taking into consideration that almost everyone is working remotely these days, clients are continuing to access information via e-mail using their mobile devices. Clients are best served with information right in front of them during these challenging times – they become more reliant and purposefully act to find an attorney. Law firms should capitalize on immigration law changes and must be quick in sending the latest updates to show that they are always ahead of their game.

3. Level-up client or case focused storytelling using real-life success stories

The INSZoom Broadcast Module leveled-up my client or case-focused storytelling. The Module gave me the ability to announce firm achievements to both prospective and existing clients. Law firms and attorneys should be the deliverer of good news and in most cases, success stories promote positive results and convey signs that your firm is the best. I have composed success stories on the module using actual client photos (after getting their written consent of course) and sent it to everyone in the database to tell the world that the firm just won a unique and challenging case.

4. Create a bridge to reconnect with past clients

The INSZoom Broadcast Module created a bridge to reconnect with past clients. Previous clients may have pending immigration cases that they have been putting off for a long time and a message from their immigration law firm might just be their wake-up call. Sending updates or just showing concern relating to recent events can generate new business. After composing my message, I can activate the past client segment by downloading a report of closed cases. I then navigate to the Broadcast Module and use the “Import your own list” from the recipient’s dropdown, upload the list I generated via the INSZoom Reports Module and then I can either send it right away or schedule a time to deliver my message.

5. Generate more business from your existing database

Technology does not replace the knowledge and qualifications of Immigration Attorneys and/or practitioners in terms of developing strategies towards a successful case, but it is something that can be utilized in generating more business with improved efficiency. Instead of manually creating lists or mail merging in MS Word, applying the INSZoom Broadcast Module functionality in your day to day mass communication activities will likely produce beneficial results in terms of direct client response.

The INSZoom Broadcast Module is a compelling business tool that supports law firms in client or case segmentation. Any message being sent to clients without any form of filtering is not as effective as when you reach a potential group that will benefit from a new service or strategy that a law firm or an attorney can provide.

The current situation calls for unique ways to reach out to clients. INSZoom has built-in tools to help any firm reach out to different cases or client segments. To learn more about the INSZoom Broadcast Module and all of its other helpful features, please visit www.inszoom.com or contact any of the Expert Services Team.

The past two years have seen a massive shift in international privacy laws. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect on May 25, 2018, as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which went into effect on January 1, 2020, have changed the way organizations around the world collect and use personal data.

We’ll dive into each of these laws just below, but first thing’s first – immigration law deals with voluminous sensitive, personal data, so this article is about how these two acts affect the practice of immigratin law, specifically around data collection and storage. So the purpose of this article isn’t to explain every detail of GDPR and CCPA but rather to give a high-level overview of what they mean and connect it to immigration practice.

Ok, so what’s GDPR and CCPA?

At a high level, per Forbes, GDPR is “a legal framework that requires businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of European Union (EU) citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states. It covers all companies that deal with the data of EU citizens, specifically banks, insurance companies, and other financial companies.” In other words, it’s a set of rules and regulations restricting the use of personal user information that many of today’s largest companies collect, store and sometimes sell as part of their business.

One of the key things to take note of here is that it also applies to companies outside the EU. As the EU’s own site, gdpr.eu, emphasizes, “if you process the personal data of EU citizens or residents, or you offer goods or services to such people, then the GDPR applies to you even if you’re not in the EU.”

Without getting into the “how,” it’s important to note what type of data GDPR protects: “personal data” and “sensitive personal data.” Per Wired, here’s the distinction:

• Personal data. Personal data can be anything that allows a living person to be directly or indirectly identified. This may be a name, an address, or even an IP address. It includes automated personal data and can also encompass pseudonymized data if a person can be identified from it.
• Sensitive personal data. GDPR calls sensitive personal data as being in ‘special categories’ of information. These include trade union membership, religious beliefs, political opinions, racial information, and sexual orientation.

How about the CCPA?

Well according to TechCrunch, “CCPA, is a state-level law that requires, among other things, that companies notify users of the intent to monetize their data, and give them a straightforward means of opting out of said monetization.” CCPA became California law on January 1, 2020, but the state is giving businesses a six month grace period to amend their practices, policies, and procedures to become compliant.

Ok so now we have a very broad overview of CCPA and GDPR. They’re regulatory requirements of companies that collect personal and private user data to safeguard that data, refrain from selling, sharing, or otherwise monetizing it, and when possible avoid collecting it or enable users to opt-out of sharing it.

This is a great step forward, especially after the recent Equifax and Facebook (and other) data breaches.

But how do these rules affect the immigration practice, and what steps can immigration practitioners take to enhance data security?

The number one privacy mistake immigration practitioners are making

The immigration process inherently requires collecting personal information. Let’s say a company is looking to bring in a foreign worker on an H-1B visa – in order to file an H-1B petition, the company needs the candidate’s name, date of birth, home address, family member information and much more. There are also instances where financial data and health data need to be disclosed too.

Against the backdrop of GDPR and CCPA, you would expect that most immigration practitioners collect this and other personal information in a safe and secure manner, right?

Well, the reality is, not always. And the number one mistake many are making is based on something we all use every single day: email. That’s right, one of the most common forms of digital communication actually exposes immigration professionals, and the companies and beneficiaries they service, to potential data security breaches.

Here’s a not uncommon scenario: a law firm staff member has to send a beneficiary a copy of some of their personal documentation. The staff member accidentally sends the email to the wrong foreign national (FN) in an instance where two people in the company have the same name.

Not only did this cause confusion when the wrong person received an email about a visa process that wasn’t related to them, but the employer of the individual whose data was compromised also had to involve their privacy attorney, and was otherwise very much upset about the whole situation. This simple mistake ended up costing the employer money by way of attorney fees and caused unnecessary stress.

This was a real scenario, and there are many more instances of sensitive beneficiary information sent around in not-so-secure ways that end up costing time, money, and trust.

INSZoom’s foreign national portal is the answer.

INSZoom takes GDPR and CCPA very seriously, and one of the ways we do that is through our robust FN portal. Here are just a few of the security features built into the INSZoom FN portal:

• Portal Setup. An immigration law firm using INSZoom controls the foreign national portal setup and can choose what information each user can see or access. That means no one can see or access more than they’re supposed to.

• Single Sign-On (SSO). INSZoom access can be tied to an FN’s corporate network, which means they can leverage the same secure authentication they use for work.

• Multi-factor authentication. Still, INSZoom may require the user to authenticate with an additional ID or password such as code generated from a mobile app, sent via SMS, generated via a hard token (a little hand-held device that generates unique codes and changes continuously), etc.

• One-Time-Password (OTP). FNs, corporate users, and others get a one-time password to access their INSZoom account for the first time. They are then prompted to change their password to something new that no one else knows.

Let’s think about a service we all know well – online banking. Does your bank send you your bank statement via email as a PDF attachment anymore? Are you able to see sensitive account information in the body of an email? Absolutely not. Email prompts from your bank always send you to your bank’s secure website where you have to log in, often using multi-factor authentication, and only then can they get access to your sensitive financial data.

Immigration should be the same.

We’re seeing more and more INSZoom users adopt the FN portal, and the industry, in general, is moving in this direction across the board. But we’re not fully there yet. Small firms, particularly those that deal with small corporate clients or individual clients who may not come with stringent security requirements, should take it upon themselves to be proactive with their data safety and security.

Just the other day we spoke with an INSZoom user that absolutely requires all their clients to use INSZoom’s FN portal for correspondence, and has a no-email policy for documentation and sensitive information. A great example of how immigration law firms can lead the way. Not only does that promote compliance with frameworks like GDPR and CCPA, it also protects user data and, in the end, the safety and identity of the individuals the industry is meant to help – immigrants moving across the world for new opportunities and a better life.

Want to learn more about how INSZoom supports data privacy and security? Reach out to your INSZoom rep or visit our site and read about how we’re addressing it head-on!

The coronavirus pandemic, which has both literally and figuratively shut down much of the world, is bad news for the global economy. Yes, the “r” word – recession – has been floating around, both by news agencies and international bodies alike.

Believe it or not, however, there is a bright side here. It’s not immediate, but it exists. According to Reuters, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that “the coronavirus pandemic will cause a global recession in 2020 that could be worse than the one triggered by the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.” But they added that “world economic output should recover in 2021.” In other words, at least from an economic perspective, things will be back to normal by 2021.

So what does this mean right now for immigration lawyers who are worried about potentially losing their jobs or have already lost it? It may actually be a good time to start your own law practice.

Hear me out.

Following the 2000 market crash and the 2008 recession, immigration lawyers who experienced layoffs seized the opportunity to lay the foundations for their own solo practices. Many of them weathered the storm and eventually flourished.

How do we know? INSZoom launched in 1999, and many of the solo and small law firms that launched and signed up with us after the 2000 and 2008 down markets continue to be with us to this day, and in many cases have grown. It’s not uncommon for attorneys to launch successful solo practices during such times.

So whether you’re motivated to start your own practice today or you’re just preparing, here are ten tech tools you need that will help get your solo or small immigration firm up and running.

1. A reliable computer

It’s obvious that you need a computer, but when you start looking into it, you realize that there are lots of options. The big divide is between a Mac and a PC – if you’re a Mac person, then the choices are fairly slim – a Macbook (the laptop), or an iMac (the desktop). For most lawyers an iMac is unnecessarily large and expensive – it’s truly meant for graphic designers and can be overkill for a lawyer. A simple Macbook Pro or even Macbook Air can suffice, especially in the beginning. If you’re a PC person, there are way more choices, but make sure that above all you get virus protection and good insurance policy so that if the computer ever breaks or needs to be repaired, it can be done easily, smoothly and without breaking the bank.

2. Basic workplace tools

Many existing law firms use PCs that come with Microsoft Office, and lawyers often grow used to programs like Microsoft Word for word processing, Excel for tables and charts, PowerPoint for presentations, and so on. But the reality is that there are other options for product suites that are worth noting, such as Google Suite, which comes with word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and lots of other native and third-party plug-ins. Macs also come with similar products pre-installed under the iWork brand, including Notes, Pages and Keynote. Depending on the kind of computer you get, you may either have these workplace tools pre-installed or you may have to purchase them separately. As a note, most of these services come with cloud storage, so you can store your entire firm in the cloud, or at least back it up there.

3. Email 

It feels like everyone in the world has a Gmail account, but when it comes to work, there are multiple email providers. There’s Gsuite, which provides a business email as well as cloud storage and the Google-built workplace tools mentioned above. There’s also Microsoft’s email client that’s part of Office 365. There are other third-party email clients out there which you can research, but these are the big ones.

4. Finance and Billing

Managing your finances is central to keeping a new law firm afloat. Whether it’s invoicing, keeping track of expenses, eventual payroll, etc., and whether you charge flat fees, hourly, or a combination of the two, you need a system to centralize and manage all of it. You need a system that can handle credit card payments, bank transfers and checks, will sync up to your bank and maybe even kick start tax prep throughout the year. There are plenty of robust finance and billing solutions out there, but here are a few that are particularly popular with immigration law firms: LawPay, Quickbooks and INSZoom’s billing module.

5. Internal communication

If you’re a true solo practitioner, you probably won’t need an internal communications tool. But if you hire a freelancer, part-time paralegal or take a full-time staff member or partner, especially if you work remotely, you’ll need a way to communicate. And yes, with a team that size you can get away with a text message and email, but if you can get organized from the start, why not start off on the right foot? Here are some of the most popular internal communication tools: Slack, Microsoft Teams and Workplace from Facebook.

6. Video conferencing

Video conferencing has become more and more commonplace, even before the coronavirus forced most of the world to work from home. It enables business continuity from anywhere in the world, can easily accommodate clients who aren’t geographically close to you, and otherwise adds flexibility to your practice, even if you want to have a brick and mortar location. Plus, aside from client communication, you can chat with team members as the firm grows, set up video networking calls as you grow your firm, or even start a podcast or create other content right on your computer. Some of the best-known video conferencing apps to consider are MSTeams from Microsoft Office365,  Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, Skype, GoToMeeting, BlueJeans, and WebEx.

7. Calendar automation

Scheduling calls is exciting when you first get started, but as your firm grows, it can take just as much time scheduling calls (deciding a mutually open time slot, sending the email invite, resending it when it goes to the wrong address, etc.). Luckily there are now calendar automation tools that sync right to your calendar and allow your client or prospective clients to simply pick a time that works for them without all the back and forth. The best and most popular option on the market today is Calendly.

8. Email marketing

Email marketing is a great way to keep in touch with existing clients, keep others in your network updated on your firm and progress, and find new clients. With an email marketing platform you can set up newsletters, periodic reminders, email campaigns and more, and leverage pre-built templates and other suggestions to craft the best possible emails that have a high open-rate. Some of the best email marketing platforms include Constant Contact, MailChimp and Campaign Monitor.

9. Password management

Running a small business, especially in 2020 and beyond, means you will likely need to use multiple web-based products and solutions. And of course, each of these products requires its own set of credentials, that is, a username and password. However, one of the worst things you can do is use the same password across all or even several services as this can severely compromise your security. On the flip side, though, that means managing lots of different passwords, right? Well yes, but luckily there are tools out there that can help you do that in a safe and secure way. A few examples of password management tools include LassPass, DashLane, and OneLogin.

10. Case Management

Finally, when your entire law firm is set up and you’re ready to take on cases, it’s crucial to have a robust case management platform that’s specifically built to manage immigration cases, that has the most up-to-date immigration forms and processes, and that is constantly working to make the practice of immigration law easier, more secure and ultimately more successful for both the lawyer and their end client. And that’s exactly what INSZoom brings to the table. From visa-specific forms and useful templates to a robust foreign national portal and robotic process automation, INSZoom’s innovative software gives you the edge that you need to provide the highest level of service to your immigration clients.

Immigration law firms capture and store an enormous amount of data. Different types of data, stored in different places and captured in different ways – client communications stored in emails, foreign national and corporate documents in folders on local drives, a case management cloud or a third-party service like Dropbox or Box.com, hard copy government notices and other types of folders in office cabinets and more.

Under normal circumstances, having all this information spread across multiple locations isn’t that big of a deal. Let’s say a beneficiary’s H-1B was approved – you scan their approval notice and save the scanned image into your local “G” drive, update that beneficiary’s case in your case management platform of choice, send an update to the beneficiary via email or text, and call it a day.

But today, circumstances are far from normal.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to freeze the US economy and has forced nearly everyone to work from home, law firms have scrambled to put systems in place that are allowing them to continue to operate. The reality is, though, that one of the most effective systems is already being used by most law firms, though not to its full extent – immigration case management.

Because now that law firms are settling into a fully-remote work environment, organizing and centralizing your data in a case management platform is the easiest way to move forward. Here are the top ways you can leverage your case management platform as your central remote office.

Use your case management cloud for document storage.

Lawyer firms are in the document business. This used to be much more evident back in the day when every document was paper-based and they were all stored in filing cabinets, on desks or in the case of high volumes, storage units. Today, while the document count may have gone up, many of them are digital and therefore stored in the digital versions of filing cabinets (computer folders), desks (your computer desktop), or third-party storage units (cloud-based storage).

In other words, while firms have much less paper clutter these days, there’s probably as much, if not more digital clutter.

And just like in the physical world, it’s important to properly organize, and most importantly centralize all your documentation. Law firms that use cloud services were and are certainly ahead of the curve in many respects, but if those same firms are also using a case management platform, most of whom are, it still means information must be tracked, retrieved and often transferred between multiple systems, causing delays or mistakes.

So the first major work-from-home best practice is to organize and more importantly centralize as much of your law firm data as possible. You’re likely already doing most of your casework in a case management system – did you know that most case management platforms provide cloud storage too? INSZoom, for example, provides cloud storage for all its users, enabling them to store everything from corporate petitioner documents and information to beneficiary and dependent photographs, files, dates and biometric data.

This means that when you’re working from home, which is the current MO (modus operandi) of nearly all law firms across the US due to COVID-19, you can work on one system and avoid trying to find, pull and transfer documentation and information from disparate sources like emails, Dropox/Box.com or shared folder in a network.

Move correspondence away from email and toward your client portal.

Another best practice for newly remote law firms is to correspond with your client through your case management’s client portal, whether with a corporate contact or an individual. Yes, email is still one of the most popular methods of communication, and in many cases, there’s also attorney-client discussion via text or phone. But as much as possible, communicate through your case management client portal Here’s why.

First and foremost, much like document storage, this allows you to keep all correspondence in one place, which is extremely helpful during busy, hectic periods of time. Law firms that have never or rarely had remote employees are not scrambling to get their remote infrastructure set up, all the while continuing to work with their clients who are probably more anxious and have more questions than ever before.

This makes it challenging to keep up and there’s a lot of time lost trying to juggle between communication channels. By communicating largely or solely through your client portal, you have the entire conversation history in one place so you can spend less time piecing together client discussions and more time providing value.

Second, and in some ways, more importantly, client portals are simply safer. Against the backdrop of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), email and other unsecured forms of communication are some of the most common forms of digital communication actually expose immigration professionals, and their clients, to potential data security breaches. Now that law firm employees are all working remotely, at least for the time being, it’s harder than before to ensure that internet connections are secure, that devices are sufficiently locked, etc., which means that potential breaches are theoretically more likely. Using a client portal for communication, therefore, can help alleviate these problems without worrying about how and where your employees are working remotely. INSZoom, for example, takes GDPR and CCPA very seriously, and one of the ways is through the Foreign National portal.

So it’s clear that organizing law firm documents and data as well as client correspondence is important for newly remote law firms that are still working to set up their “WFH” infrastructures.

But there’s one more thing that law firms can do to really streamline their practice and focus on getting used to the “new normal,” and that is automating high-volume administrative tasks with the help of a bot.

Streamline your newly organized data tasks with the help of a “bot” as you get used to working remotely.

Bots are becoming more popular than ever. Nearly every website has a simple self-help chatbot somewhere on the screen to help guide you through the website, and more sophisticated bots exist that can actually provide some level of substantial help like to fight a parking ticket.

Well bots are a reality in the immigration world too, because INSZoom has rolled out the immigration industry’s first process automation bot, Zoomi

Zoomi is an intelligent process automation bot for immigration teams. As a virtual assistant, Zoomi can take care of tedious administrative processes that are often done by overworked paralegals or legal assistants, such as updating a case after getting a receipt notice in the mail. This might sound trivial at first, but when you think about it, receiving, scanning, and entering hard copy receipt notice info into your case management platform takes a lot of time, especially during H-1B cap season. But it’s important work that needs to be done and done right.

But with Zoomi, you can have it done for you with guaranteed accuracy with a bot that knows your case management platform – well, that is if you’re using INSZoom. That means if you’re still in the process of getting your firm set up for remote work, especially if you have a large team, you can focus on educating your team on all the new teleconference systems, laptops and tablets and other WFH solutions to ensure a smooth transition while Zoomi does important but time-consuming case work on the side.

In the end, organize and automate!

During these uncertain times, as law firms are uprooted and forced to go fully remote, there’s a silver lining – an opportunity, however, forced, to streamline your firm’s processes. Yes, this isn’t the ideal situation, but on the other hand, remote work not only provides employee flexibility and is where work is heading anyway, but it’s also a sort of emergency measure for future emergencies, disasters and other scenarios we don’t like thinking about but nevertheless should plan for.

So if you’re in the middle of getting your firm set up for a fully remote practice, remember that by organizing and centralizing, you can cut out a lot of unnecessary admin work, automate it when possible and redirect time and effort to the new reality of today. Once you’re set-up, you’ll be ready for anything.

And if you have questions about how to best leverage INSZoom, especially during these challenging times, please reach out to your rep or via the company website.

Stay safe, and remember to wash your hands!