The best immigration software for assembling petition packets and supporting documents
Docketwise is our pick for firms that want control over how a petition packet is ordered and labeled before it goes out. Its Smart Forms help article describes an Assemble tab where staff drag forms and files into order and add a contents page with page numbers.
eimmigration is the pick for a firm that drafts its cover letters in the case system and wants assembly on the entry plan. Its pricing page lists Document Assembly Wizard and Letter Merge among the standard features of every plan.
What to weigh when the packet is the finished product
A petition packet, as a firm assembles it, holds the forms, a cover or support letter, and the supporting evidence. Form-filling software produces the forms. Assembly is the step that turns separate PDFs, scans, and letters into one file a reviewing attorney can read from front to back.
We weight control over order and labels first, so compare whether staff can set the order themselves and name each entry on the contents page. A reviewer should be able to find a degree evaluation or a marriage certificate without searching the whole file.
Evidence that starts with the client arrives as phone photos and scans. It helps when the software requests each document and files the upload on the case, since staff then start assembly with the files already in place. A cover or support letter written in the same system can join the packet the same way, without a detour through a separate word processor.
Once the packet exists, parts of it go to different people. A client signs some pages and an employer reviews others, so being able to send part of a packet is worth having. AnswerStack's answer on whether forms software is the same as case management software places packet production at the review stage of a filing, where the case record also has to show who approved it.
How the two products compare on packet assembly
| Docketwise | eimmigration | |
|---|---|---|
| What goes into the packet | Forms and files | Forms, letters, and other documents |
| Order and contents page | Drag-and-drop order; contents page with editable titles | Contents page in the assembled PDF |
| Collecting evidence | Document requests in the intake | Portal uploads; case processes assign documents by case type |
| Sharing and output | Whole packet or selected parts; one PDF | One assembled PDF; e-Signature is a standard feature |
| Plan | Ask for the plan in the quote | Document Assembly Wizard in all three plans |
Docketwise: ordering, renaming, and sharing parts of a packet
Docketwise introduced packet assembly with Smart Forms 3. Its announcement describes the change as a shift of attention from the intake to the finished product a firm submits, with forms and evidentiary documents combined in a single Smart Form.
Staff add forms and stored files on the Assemble tab and arrange them as they like. A checkbox adds a contents page at the front that lists every form and document with its page number, and each title on that page can be edited. A password-protected file can't be included in the downloaded packet.
Evidence can arrive through the same Smart Form, since the intake accepts custom questions that include document requests.
When staff share the packet, they choose a contact and uncheck the parts that person shouldn't receive, which helps when an employer and a beneficiary should each get different pages of the same packet. Ask Docketwise to name in the quote the plan that includes packet assembly.
eimmigration: letters in the same PDF as the forms and evidence
eimmigration's software overview says Document Assembly gathers forms, documents, and letters into a single PDF with a table of contents. On eimmigration's pricing page, Document Assembly Wizard, Letter Merge, Document Repository, and e-Signature all appear among the 48 standard features included with every plan.
The case management page says a custom process assigns forms, steps, documents, and questionnaires to each case type the firm handles. The client management page says clients upload documents, and review and sign them, through the client portal, and it describes customizable letter and document templates.
Suppose a firm's usual packet holds three agency forms, a cover letter, and 12 supporting documents the client supplied. A custom process can assign the forms and the document list to the case type, and the client can upload the supporting documents through the portal. With the cover letter drawn from the firm's letter templates, Document Assembly puts all 16 items into one file behind a contents page.
A firm should bring its own most common packet to the demo, an H-1B petition for instance, and ask to see it built. Ask for the cover letter to be placed ahead of the first form and then behind it, look at how each exhibit is titled on the contents page, and add one late document after the PDF has been made to see what rebuilding it involves.
Supporting documents take up storage, so the allowance belongs in the same conversation. eimmigration's Starter plan includes 10 GB per user, and Essentials and Complete include unlimited storage. WhatIsBest's comparison of immigration law software for US law firms sets those allowances beside Docketwise's and INSZoom's.
Which immigration software is best for assembling petition packets?
Docketwise is our pick for firms that put control of the packet first, because its published steps cover the ordering, the contents page, and the sharing of selected parts.
eimmigration is the pick when the cover letter is drafted in the case system and the firm is buying the entry plan. It names letters among the things Document Assembly combines, and it lists the wizard, Letter Merge, and e-Signature as standard features of every plan. A firm on the Starter plan can produce one PDF with a contents page without adding a premium feature.