TUKKI’S CHOICE OF BUSINESS MODELS TO IMPROVE THE US IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCE.

Should we replace immigration lawyers or catalyze their knowledge?

Contributor

Ramiro Roballos

Reading time

3 mins read

Date published

Aug 9, 2024

I'm still convinced that execution is more important than strategy. However, some strategic decisions can make or break your business.

One key decision is choosing the industry you want to enter. Many years ago at Kellogg, I read a statistic that stuck with me: 50% of a business's success depends on the industry you choose.

The next crucial decision is your business plan and positioning. Even though our team at Tukki chose to work in immigration, we could have gone in different directions, like selling software to lawyers or automating the immigration process to replace lawyers. Each option would lead to very different business models, clients, company types, required skills, and economic implications.

I’m asked a lot why we chose to work with lawyers instead of running other business model options. I’ll answer that in this article.

Why not sell to lawyers?

To make a significant impact in the industry, we need to address the biggest pain points, which do not lie with the lawyers, but with the immigrants.

After interviewing dozens of lawyers and immigrants, it became clear that immigrants face the most challenges: inefficient processes, lack of visibility, slow responses, stress, and uncertainty. While lawyers could benefit from better technology, we believed we could make a bigger impact by working directly with immigrants.

Additionally, we think that the pain points that immigrants currently experienced can't be solved by software alone. It requires a combination of software and operations. Great lawyers are part of the operations piece, but bringing in business best practices from other industries makes a huge difference for the immigration experience and ease of process for lawyers.

Why not replace lawyers?

Involving immigration lawyers from the start is essential to providing the best service to immigrants — we’ve learned this from personal experience. Immigration law is complex and rarely clear-cut. You need the expertise and judgment of an experienced lawyer. While many steps in the process can be automated, there are moments where a lawyer's input is crucial, such as:

  • The initial strategy meeting to shape the case
  • To address legal questions that arise during the process
  • The final review and legal arguments

Additionally, obtaining a visa or a green card is a life-changing event; immigrants want a team they can rely on, someone to chat with and answer their questions. Our vision of the best immigration experience is the opposite of a self-service, impersonal experience with an AI. We believe in providing a warm, supportive environment with real human interaction.

Why not simply be lawyers?

People often ask, "If you still have lawyers on your team, why should I work with Tukki instead of going directly to a lawyer?"

We combine the best of both worlds: expert knowledge from lawyers and a highly efficient, customer-focused process enabled by our technology.

Neither can deliver the best experience to immigrants alone; you need both.

I admit, this approach didn't come without its challenges! It’s far more complicated to acquire customers, service them, get great lawyers, manage operations end-to-end, and build a great product than just focus on one section of the journey. Scaling is also much easier when you're building a B2B SaaS solution compared to managing operations. That's why, since day one, Tukki has obsessively focused on streamlining operations with technology to become exponentially more efficient and scalable than the status quo.

If you want to truly reinvent an industry, you need to go all in, and that's what we signed up for.

To tap into that expert knowledge from lawyers and efficient, customer-focused process enabled by our technology, start with our Visa Match tool, and find out what your best options for US immigration are.

WE CAN HELP

Need more clarity?

Find quick answers to frequent visa questions from our legal experts

Is there a filing fee for Form G-28?

No. Form G-28 has no filing fee.

USCIS accepts it at no cost.

Your immigration attorney may charge their own professional fees for representing you, but the form itself is free to submit alongside your visa application, petition, or appeal.

What happens if my OPT EAD expires before the STEM extension is approved?

If you filed your STEM OPT I-765 on time, meaning before your current OPT EAD expired, your work authorization is automatically extended for up to 180 days while USCIS reviews the case. You can keep working during that window even though your physical EAD card shows an expired date.

The protection depends entirely on having filed on time, so build in margin and file as early as the 90-day window allows.

How does filing the I-140 affect my place in the green card line?

Filing Form I-140 establishes your priority date, which is your spot in the queue for permanent residence. Because every country currently faces an EB-2 backlog, an earlier priority date means more time accruing while you wait, which is a core reason candidates from India and China often file as soon as they have a valid basis.

Check the current Visa Bulletin for cut-off dates.

Can I apply for a green card while on a student visa (F-1)?

Yes, but it depends on your situation. Some students transition to a work visa (like O-1 or H-1B) and later to a green card.

Others may qualify directly for categories like EB-1 or marriage-based green cards.

Keep in mind that the F-1 visa does not allow “dual intent,” so timing and strategy are very important.

Can I change jobs on an L-1A after my I-140 is approved?

Not based on the I-140 alone. Your L-1A status is tied to your sponsoring employer.

However, if you've filed I-485 and it has been pending for 180 days or more, AC21 portability allows you to switch to a new employer in the same or a similar occupational classification without affecting your green card application.

Other blogs for every step of your visa journey

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