Collecting passports and identity documents from immigration clients
To collect passports, birth certificates and other identity documents from immigration clients, including clients who are not comfortable with technology, send each client a ShieldFive document request: one link that opens in the phone's browser, shows a slot for each document you need, and takes a photo or PDF without the client creating an account. Each file is encrypted on the client's phone before upload, so ShieldFive stores only ciphertext and never holds your keys.
Specs
Updated .
| Client needs an account? | No. No account, no sign-in, no app, no plugin. The client needs the link and the PIN. |
|---|---|
| Works on a phone? | Yes. Any current browser on a phone, tablet or computer. |
| What the client does | Opens the link, types the PIN, taps the slot for each document, picks a photo or file, and sends. |
| PIN | Required, at least 4 characters, chosen by you and given separately from the link. |
| Max file size | 5 GB per file. |
| Files per request | 25 by default, adjustable from 1 to 100. |
| File types | Any type: phone photos, scans, PDFs. |
| Checklist | Up to 100 requested items. Form I-130 and Form I-485 templates, transcribed from USCIS's own initial-evidence checklists, are built in. |
| Link expiry | Up to 7 days on the free plan. 7, 30 or 90 days, or no expiry, on Firm seats and during the 14-day trial; 30 days by default. |
| Reminders to the client | On Firm seats and during the trial, if you add the client's email: at most 2, after about 3 and 7 days, while required items are missing. One click stops them. |
| Reminders to you | An email when files arrive, and a reminder to follow up if nothing has arrived after about 3 and 7 days. Every plan. |
| Plans | 14-day trial with everything unlocked, no card. Then free with 1 open request at a time, or a Firm seat at €29 per month (€290 per year). Clients never pay and do not use a seat. |
| Encryption | Client-side, in the client's browser, to your firm's public keys. File names and the checklist are encrypted too. ShieldFive never holds the keys. |
Steps
- Unlock your vault, open Requests and choose Request documents.
Start from the Form I-130 or Form I-485 template, or list the documents yourself, one per line: "Passport, photo page", "Birth certificate", "Certified English translation of birth certificate". Delete what does not apply to this family. End a line with "(optional)" to mark it optional.
Set a short PIN the client can type easily, and an expiry long enough for them to find every document. Add the client's email if you want ShieldFive to remind them.
Select Create secure link. Send the link by email or text message, and give the PIN another way, such as on the phone or in a meeting.
On their phone, the client opens the link, types the PIN, taps the slot for each document and picks a photo or file. If they only have some documents today, they send those and use the same link again later.
When you are emailed that something arrived, open Requests and use Download & decrypt. Revoke the link once you have everything; received files stay in your vault.
Tips for clients who are not comfortable with technology
Send the link in a channel the client already uses. Some chat apps cut off everything after the
#in a link; if the client sees "This link is incomplete", send the full link again.Use one line per document, in plain words. The client sees one upload slot per line, marked required or optional.
Tell the client to keep the page open until every file shows "Sent".
If the client types the PIN wrong too many times, the link locks. You can clear it with Reset PIN attempts without changing the PIN.
Limits
ShieldFive does not send the link for you. Part of the decryption key is in the
#fragment of the link and never reaches our servers. The client-reminder email cannot contain the link for the same reason.Clients choose files, not folders.
Nothing identifies the uploader automatically. If you need to be certain who sent a document, confirm it with the client through a channel you already trust.
It collects documents. It does not translate, check or file them, and it is not case-management software.
The upload page is code ShieldFive serves, so the client trusts that code at the moment of upload, as with every browser-based encryption product.
Full details of every limit are in Requesting documents from a client. For what the ABA's rules say about client documents, see How immigration lawyers can collect client documents securely. The checklists are also readable as pages: Form I-130 and Form I-485.