How to run a pre-submission check for an immigration file

The meeting before an immigration file is submitted is where mistakes are caught. Go through the official checklist item by item with the client, check that names, dates and addresses match across every document, confirm translations and copies meet the requirements, and agree who submits what and by when. End with a clear list of anything still missing and the date of the next step, so nothing depends on memory in the days before the deadline.

Schedule this meeting with enough time before the deadline or the appointment with the authorities to fix what you find: a missing certificate, a translation to redo, a bank statement that needs updating. A check held the day before submission only confirms problems that can no longer be solved.

Applications can be delayed by small inconsistencies: a name spelled differently on two certificates, a date of birth in another format, an address that changed between documents. Read them side by side and note every difference. Some need an explanation letter; others need a corrected document. Better to find them now than in a letter from the authorities.

Check which documents need a translation and what kind is accepted, and that each translation matches the latest version of the original. A translation of an old certificate does not cover a new one.

When the application is made online, check the account details, the answers already entered and the scanned files before anything is sent: file size, readability, the right page in the right place. Agree who holds the login, and make sure the client can access the account to follow the progress and download any letters.

Agree in writing who submits the file and how, who books any appointment with the authorities, who pays which fees, and who keeps copies of what. If the client submits themselves, give them a clear order for the file and a list of what to take with them on the day.

When several family members apply at once, check each person's file separately and the links between them: certificates proving relationships, consistent addresses, matching dates of travel. One missing document for a child can hold up the whole family.

Waiting for a decision is stressful. Explain what the usual steps are for that application, what the client can and can't do while the file is under review, and how you'll contact them if something comes in. A clear plan reduces anxious calls and helps the client make decisions about work, travel or housing in the meantime.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. Create a "Pre-submission file check" service with slots long enough to go through every document, and a shorter "Follow-up meeting" service. Clients you already advise can book a free slot themselves and write their deadline and the type of application in the optional note, which you read in your new-booking email; or you book them in yourself from your calendar at the end of the previous meeting. They receive a confirmation with a calendar file.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. If you need to move a meeting, reschedule it from your bookings list and tell the client yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.