Design a client experience that keeps migration matters moving

Make progress visible to the client

A client experiences the work through requests, explanations, waiting, and updates. Your internal task may be “send document request”; their task is to understand what you need, find it, submit it, and establish whether it was accepted.

Design the service around that difference. For each stage, define the client’s question, the information you provide, the next action, and the evidence that the action is complete. Assign an owner and a backup owner, including in a small team where several roles belong to one person.

Map the whole journey

This map is an operating aid. It should sit alongside the practice’s professional intake, engagement, and matter-management controls.

Separate document receipt from professional review

Use distinct statuses such as requested, received, needs clarification, and reviewed. Record who changed the status and what action remains. Uploading a file should not automatically mark it as assessed or ready for use.

A document request should identify the item, explain the purpose where helpful, specify the approved submission method, give the relevant response date, and explain what to do if the item is unavailable. Do not assume a client understands a document label your team uses every day.

For a fictional acknowledgement:

We received your upload. It is awaiting review, so this acknowledgement does not confirm that the document is sufficient. If we need clarification, we will contact you through the agreed channel. Your matter summary shows the next planned update and who to contact about a change in circumstances.

The wording works only if the review queue has an owner. Track how long received documents wait for review, as well as how long clients take to submit them.

Define update triggers and a service rhythm

Use two kinds of communication. Event updates respond to something that changes the matter. Scheduled check-ins explain the current position during waiting periods. One should not replace the other.

Section 39 of the Code requires written lodgement advice, a copy of the relevant application, submission or representation, and prompt advice of material developments. A monthly reminder is not a substitute for those event-based duties.

For the practice’s additional service rhythm, specify who checks for updates, when the client can expect contact, what channel is used, and what happens during staff absence. Make only promises the practice can maintain. Distinguish your own response times from decisions and processing times controlled by government.

A useful update answers four questions: what happened, what it means for the work currently in scope, whether the client needs to act, and when they should next expect to hear from you. If there is no new development, say that accurately and explain the next review point.

Record decisions where the next person can find them

Keep the client-facing message and the relevant internal action connected to the matter record. A critical instruction should not exist only in one staff member’s inbox or messaging app.

Section 55 requires contemporaneous written records of oral communications with clients about immigration assistance, including instructions and advice. Build the recording step into calls and consultations rather than relying on end-of-week recollection.

At a handover, record the current position, outstanding information, relevant dates, unresolved questions, next action, and responsible person. Ask the receiving person to confirm the handover. Sending an email without establishing who has accepted responsibility leaves a gap.

Test the service with an exception

Walk through a case where a client cannot use the upload link, does not understand the requested item, needs language support, or reports a new deadline. Check that your standard process has an accessible alternative and a route to the responsible RMA.

Ask a colleague unfamiliar with the workflow to follow one preparation note without verbal assistance. Record every missing instruction. This is more useful than asking only whether the note “looks clear”.

Review three measures: repeated clarification requests, documents waiting for review, and updates overdue against the practice’s own commitments. Pair those measures with client feedback about what was difficult. Lower contact volume is not an improvement if clients have simply stopped asking questions.