Another year, another wave of immigration tech shaking up the industry. AI-driven case prep? Check. Real-time case tracking? Faster and smarter than ever. Game-changing partnerships, major funding rounds, and USCIS finally stepping into the digital age? It’s all happening.

Whether you’re an immigration attorney, tech founder, or just keeping tabs on the industry, there’s a lot to unpack. So, let’s break it all down.

Here’s your 2024 immigration tech update—what’s new, what to watch, and what’s next.

Mobile Pathways launches Pathfinder, a real-time case tracking for removal defense attorneys

If you're an immigration attorney handling removal defense cases, you know how frustrating it is to dig through case files, manually track court dates, and scramble for updates. In 2024, Mobile Pathways introduced Pathfinder. Pathfinder by Mobile Pathways eliminates the guesswork with one-click access to key case details. Instead of wasting hours searching for updates, attorneys get real-time alerts the moment something changes—so you can act fast in high-stakes cases.

Developed over two years, Pathfinder is a secure, analytics-driven platform built for asylum, deportation, and removal defense cases. It automates case tracking, simplifies compliance, and ensures attorneys have critical insights at their fingertips. As part of Mobile Pathways' mission to make immigration justice more accessible, Pathfinder empowers legal professionals and immigrants alike. Follow Bartlomiej Skorupa on LinkedIn for more updates about it.

Lawfully Pro: real-time case tracking built for immigration pros

If you’re an immigration attorney, in-house counsel, or part of any legal team, you know the pain of tracking USCIS cases, missing updates, and scrambling for the latest Request for Evidence (RFE) or interview notice. Lawfully is here to change that. Co-founded by Joon Ahn, Lawfully started as a smarter way for immigrants to track their cases—way better than USCIS updates—and has quickly become a go-to. But they didn’t stop there. With Lawfully Pro, they’re now improving case tracking for immigration professionals, offering real-time USCIS and National Visa Center (NVC) updates, automated client notifications, and API integrations. And with industry veteran Matt Gale leading the charge, Lawfully Pro is scaling fast.

Launched in 2024, Lawfully Pro gives attorneys and legal teams a centralized, data-driven platform to manage cases. It aggregates data from multiple government sources, giving you a full case view, not just the last update. Meanwhile, for immigrants, the original Lawfully app remains a must-have tool—built by immigrants, for immigrants—with mock interviews, legal consultations, and financial resources to support their journey.

Access 61 - AI-powered asylum filings without the sky-high legal fees

If you’ve worked in asylum law, you know the reality: millions of asylum seekers can’t afford legal representation, and without it, they risk missed deadlines or weak filings. Full-scope legal services? Often more expensive than an asylum seeker's annual rent. That’s exactly why Jared Jaskot, a humanitarian immigration attorney, and Lory Rosenberg, a former immigration judge, founded Access 61—an AI-powered service that’s making asylum case preparation affordable, efficient, and accessible at a fraction of the cost of traditional representation.

Here’s how Access 61 is changing the game: Instead of forcing asylum seekers to navigate the process alone, their AI-enabled platform helps them quickly file I-589 applications—securing work permits faster and ensuring cases are built on solid evidence before it deteriorates. This limited-scope model isn’t just cutting costs—it’s increasing success rates by ensuring more cases get filed on time. After testing the model at Jaskot Law, it was clear: this approach works.

Want the inside scoop on how Access 61 is revolutionizing asylum case prep? I sat down with Jared Jaskot and Lory Rosenberg on the GMI Rocket podcast to talk about their bold vision, the tech behind it, and why they’re on a mission to file 100,000 I-589 applications.

ImmiTranslate launches Catalyst, an AI-powered certified translations tool

If you’ve ever dealt with certified translations for immigration or legal docs, you know the struggle—slow turnaround times, manual formatting headaches, and sky-high costs. Well, that’s about to change. Catalyst by ImmiTranslate is an AI-powered tool that delivers human-level translation accuracy in seconds, cutting translation time by 97% while keeping precision intact.

Launched in 2024, Catalyst generates certified translation drafts for human review, using advanced optical character recognition (OCR) technology to ensure every document element is faithfully translated. Supporting 100+ languages, Catalyst makes certified translations faster, smarter, and more accessible. And the best part? It prioritizes privacy by training on synthetic data, not real client documents.

But let’s be clear—Catalyst doesn’t replace human-certified translators (a signed certification is still required), but it supercharges the process for legal professionals, non-profits, and pro bono attorneys. Want the full story behind Catalyst and how it's shaking up certified translations? Tune in to the Docketwise podcast, where founder Ian Hawes breaks down the tech, the vision, and why AI-powered translations are the future.

Boundless partners with AI drafting startup Parley

Boundless is now partnering with Parley, an AI-driven platform specializing in O-1 and EB-1 drafting. The goal? Integrate tech-enabled solutions with expert legal support, making immigration faster, more scalable, and more accessible. Through co-branding, joint content, and streamlined workflows, this collaboration is helping immigration professionals work smarter, not harder.

The Boundless x Parley partnership highlights how AI is transforming immigration law. By automating complex, writing-intensive visa applications, Parley boosts efficiency while Boundless ensures legal accuracy. Boundless CEO Xiao Wang sees this as the best of both worlds: AI-driven speed, human oversight, and higher success rates. Meanwhile, Parley CEO Philip Smart points out that specialized solutions (think Parley for O-1/EB-1, LaborLess for H-1B compliance) outperform bloated, one-size-fits-all platforms. As the immigration tech landscape continues to evolve, expect more game-changing partnerships. Check out my interview with Philip and his co-founder Jackson Perry!

USCIS goes digital with new online PDF filing for work permits & fee waivers

Big news for anyone applying for work permits (Form I-765) or fee waivers (Form I-912)—USCIS has launched a new online PDF filing system, finally taking a much-needed step into the digital age. As of October 2024, applicants can upload completed PDFs directly through their USCIS online accounts, cutting out the hassle of paper submissions, mailing delays, and lost forms. The move is designed to streamline applications, reduce errors, and speed up processing by getting forms into the system instantly—no more waiting for USCIS officers to manually scan and process stacks of paperwork. For now, only certain EAD eligibility categories are included, but expansion is coming.

This update is a game-changer for immigrants in remote areas or those with limited access to postal services, making work authorization and financial relief more accessible. Plus, less mailing means fewer errors, faster approvals, and way less stress. But don’t worry—if you prefer old-school paper filing, that’s still an option.

Travel visa startup Atlys secures $20M series B

If you've ever dreaded the visa application process—long wait times, confusing forms, and unpredictable approvals—Atlys is here to fix that. Founded in 2021 by ex-Pinterest engineer Mohak Nahta, this fast-growing e-visa processing startup has just locked in $20 million in Series B funding. And they’re putting that money to work. Atlys has already processed over a million visas, cut processing times down to as little as 55 seconds, and seen 20x growth in the past year. With this fresh round of funding, they’re expanding into new markets, enhancing their AI-powered visa evaluator, and doubling down on product and engineering to make travel even easier.

Immigration tech startups to Watch in 2025

Immigration law is changing fast, and the next wave of tech startups isn’t just keeping up—they’re leading the charge. Whether it’s automating petition drafting, streamlining case management, or making high-skilled visa applications more accessible, these companies are building the tools immigration professionals and immigrants actually need. If you’re in the industry, pay attention—because these companies are shaping the future of immigration law.

Parley (for lawyers)

If you're an immigration lawyer buried in drafting, Parley is an AI-powered platform automating 80% of the petition prep process, so you can focus on strategy instead of paperwork. Founded in 2024 by Philip Smart, Ian Edwards, and Jackson Perry, Parley integrates into your workflow, handling the reading, writing, and compiling that eat up billable hours—without taking away your control. Their first product, the O-1A Writer, pulls and formats applicant evidence into a fully drafted petition—right in Microsoft Word, where you already work. H-1B, TN, EB-1, EB-2 NIW, L-1, and more are on the way.

Caseblink (for lawyers)

CaseBlink, founded in 2023 by Khalil Zlaoui, this AI-powered legal automation platform that streamlines document review, legal research, evidence organization, and drafting of O-1A, NIW, EB-1, L-1, and H-1B petitions. CaseBlink automates intelligent document intake, exhibit list prep, expert letter drafting, and final packet assembly, all while seamlessly integrating with Microsoft Word for easy editing. CaseBlink is setting the stage for the future of AI-driven immigration law.

Alma (for individuals)

If you’ve ever been burned by bad immigration advice, you’re not alone—just ask Aizada Marat. A Harvard-educated attorney and founder of Alma, she lived the nightmare firsthand—stuck without work for over a year thanks to misguided legal guidance. Instead of just moving on, she decided to fix the system. Founded in 2023, Alma is an AI-powered immigration tech startup that bills itself as streamlining visa processes for individuals by automating document processing, organizing cases digitally, and cutting out tedious legal tasks. With $5.1M in funding, Alma continues to grow.

JustiGuide (for individuals)

Founded by Nigerian immigrant Bisi Obateru, JustiGuide is tackling the inefficiencies of the U.S. immigration system with AI-driven automation, multilingual support, and legal research tools. Designed to streamline complex immigration cases, JustiGuide says it cuts errors, speeds up application processing by 70%, and increases attorney case capacity by 50%—all while ensuring compliance and accuracy. The platform also connects immigrants with pro bono legal services, hoping to make expert representation more accessible to underserved communities.

Plymouth (for Individuals)

Plymouth, founded in 2022 by Lisa Wehden, is helping founders, researchers, and engineers take control of their immigration journey—without employer sponsorship. Specializing in O-1 visas and employment-based green cards, Plymouth offers a structured, transparent approach for STEM professionals, AI engineers, and startup founders looking for a real alternative to the restrictive H-1B system. Plymouth provides personalized consultations and direct access to top immigration lawyers—so applicants can build the strongest possible case for U.S. residency.

LaborLess update: where we are 7 years later, and some product updates.

When we first launched LaborLess, many in the industry dismissed the idea. “LCA compliance is only a feature. It'll never be a company,” they’d say—a sentiment that was hard to hear, especially as we were just getting started and were very sensitive to feedback from fellow immigration lawyers. But we kept going.

As of the end of 2024, nearly 70,000 LCAs have been posted electronically through LaborLess, with as many corresponding digital PAFs, over 1,300 petitioners on the platform, and we’ve supported more than 800 users across the platform. And with a super fast onboarding (24-48 hours), we’ve helped law firms get started in a snap to support a new client or take care of H-1B cap cases.

We’ve also made major improvements to the LaborLess platform in 2024.

We rolled out a better user management experience, allowing firms and HR teams to more easily assign roles and manage permissions.

We introduced a beneficiary LCA receipt feature that enables petitioners and law firms to send the LCA directly to the beneficiary for receipt confirmation—a critical step in compliance that we’ve now made seamless.

Most excitingly, we finalized our API and have already started rolling it out with our enterprise clients.

We’re excited to expand these integrations across more immigration firms and in-house teams as we continue to build the future of H-1B compliance.

And if you're reading this an are interested in learning more about H-1B compliance for this year's cap season or beyond, please reach out to us!

Immigration tech predictions for 2025

I'm seeing a trend in 2025 toward continued adoption of AI in immigration law firms, as it's becoming harder and harder to avoid. This means the AI-based drafting startups that have been quite small and fighting to showcase what they can do will get a serious uptick in interest and clients. I also think that existing platforms will start working on, releasing, or even partnering with—or buying—AI tools at an increasing rate.

I'm also seeing more consumer-focused immigration tech products popping up, particularly those focused on high-skilled visas and startups. These platforms aim to enable individuals or startups to file their own visas through an immigration law "tech" company rather than a traditional law firm (though there are almost always immigration lawyers somewhere on the back end). This isn’t a brand-new trend, but it’s resurfacing with more companies getting funding to do it, and it seems poised to grow in 2025.

Lastly, I see more immigration-adjacent tech companies entering the space. Whether it's platforms that help automate travel visas (which typically don’t require immigration lawyers) or global PEO platforms like Deel that are starting to offer ancillary immigration services, there are simply more tech companies using words like "immigration" or "visa" out there than ever before.

I purposely didn’t discuss the potential impact of the Trump administration in this article because anything at this point would be pure speculation—and the last thing I want to do is have anyone freak out. Let’s see how 2025 plays out. I think that will give us a better roadmap of how the administration will impact immigration, and in turn, how technology will respond.

Here’s to a productive and inspiring 2025! 🍻