The best immigration software for remote teams using cloud document storage

eimmigration is our pick for a remote immigration team whose client documents sit in Google Drive, Box or SharePoint. Its Cloud Storage Connector names those three along with OneDrive and Dropbox, and its integrations page describes staff bringing files from a drive into a client profile or case. Docketwise names Dropbox and OneDrive, and CampLegal works with the files in a Microsoft 365 account.

Why the existing drive matters to a remote team

Suppose five people working from home keep a Google Drive folder for every client, holding scanned passports, prior approval notices and evidence the client emailed in. The case system holds the forms and deadlines, so each day someone has to get a file from the first place into the second. If the two aren't connected, a paralegal in that firm downloads the scan to a laptop and then uploads it to the case. A connection between the case system and the firm's drive is meant to replace that step, so the first thing to compare is which drives each platform reaches.

eimmigration: five named file stores

eimmigration's integrations page describes four of the connections. Box files can be opened and added to a client profile or case from inside eimmigration. Dropbox and Google Drive files upload straight from the account to a profile or case. OneDrive files are pulled into eimmigration. The pricing page lists SharePoint as a fifth store in the Cloud Storage Connector.

For the five-person firm, the Google Drive connection is the one a paralegal would use to add a birth certificate scan from the client's Drive folder to the case. Firms on Microsoft 365 get a second route. Microsoft Office Online, a standard feature in every plan, lets staff reach their Office 365 mail, calendar and files from the same system.

The Cloud Storage Connector is one of 17 premium features. Starter includes one premium feature of the firm's choice, Essentials includes four and Complete includes all of them. A Starter or Essentials account can add another for $15 per feature, per user, per month.

Starter allows 10 GB per user, extra space costs $6 per GB per month for the account, and Essentials and Complete are unlimited. A firm that plans to bring years of Drive folders into its case records should measure the archive first, using the arithmetic in the hidden costs to ask about when buying immigration software.

In a demo, attach a file from the drive, then edit the original and reopen the case to see which version it holds. With that result in hand, the team can decide which copy staff edit and write the rule down, so everyone working remotely follows the same one.

Docketwise: Dropbox and OneDrive, with unlimited storage

Docketwise's product overview lists Dropbox and OneDrive as its documents and storage integrations. Its pricing page includes unlimited cloud storage on the Basic plan, so files kept in Docketwise don't count against a storage allowance. Storage by plan for Docketwise, eimmigration and Mitratech's INSZoom is set side by side in the best immigration law software for US law firms.

CampLegal: Microsoft 365 files

CampLegal's integrations page centers on Microsoft. Its Office 365 integration brings the Microsoft inbox, calendar and files alongside the caseload. A separate Word add-in lets staff edit a case document in Word and have the changes save back to the case in CampLegal. Both CampLegal plans include unlimited document storage, according to its pricing page.

Matching the platform to the drive

eimmigration is the platform here that names Google Drive, Box and SharePoint, which is the reason it is the pick for firms on those stores. For a Dropbox or OneDrive firm, eimmigration and Docketwise both name the drive, so the decision rests on the rest of each product and on the file test above. A Microsoft-centered firm should run that test on CampLegal's Office 365 integration as well.