A passport photo on a personal phone
The client sends a photo of their passport on WhatsApp, to the caseworker's own number, at nine in the evening. The next morning the caseworker saves it to their laptop, renames it, uploads it to the case file, and hopes they remembered to do the same for the payslip that came through last week. Some things get filed. Some sit in the chat.
When the caseworker is off sick, nobody else can see the conversation. When they leave the firm, the chat history leaves with them, along with copies of clients' identity documents on a personal phone.
Why banning WhatsApp does not work
Many immigration clients use WhatsApp for everything. It is how they talk to family abroad, and it is what they are comfortable with. Firms that insist on email lose responsiveness, and clients send things on WhatsApp anyway, because the caseworker gave them their number once.
The real problem is not the channel. It is that the channel is attached to a person rather than to the firm, and nothing connects it to the case file. Every document depends on a manual save-and-upload step done by a busy person between other tasks.
There is also a boundary problem. Caseworkers with clients on their personal WhatsApp get messages at weekends and on holiday, and many feel they have to answer. That is tiring, and it sets expectations the firm cannot keep up across the whole team.
What the current setup risks
| Issue | Effect |
|---|---|
| Documents on personal phones | Sensitive identity data outside the firm's control |
| Manual saving and filing | Documents missing from the case file |
| Conversation tied to one person | Colleagues cannot pick up the thread |
| Staff leave | Message history and documents walk out with them |
| No record on the matter | What the client was told is not on the file |
There is also a data protection question in holding clients' passports and financial documents on personal devices, which is one to settle with whoever handles data protection at your firm.
How we connect WhatsApp to your case files
- Your firm gets a WhatsApp Business number, or several for different teams, connected through the official WhatsApp Business Platform rather than a personal app.
- Messages appear in a shared inbox that your caseworkers use on desktop and mobile, with each conversation assigned to a caseworker and visible to their team.
- Each chat is matched to the client matter by phone number, and unmatched numbers go to a person to link.
- Attachments are saved straight to the matter in your case management system or document store, named consistently with the date and a document type the caseworker can adjust.
- Poor photos can be flagged back to the client with a request for a clearer copy, using a message template your firm approves.
- The conversation history is stored on the case record, so what was said and sent stays with the firm.
We set up retention and access rules with you, so documents are kept and deleted according to your own policy rather than whatever a phone happens to do.
The chat stays, the risk goes
Clients carry on messaging the way they like. Caseworkers answer from a shared inbox instead of their personal phone. Documents arrive in the right file without anyone saving them by hand. When a caseworker is out, a colleague can see the conversation and carry on.
And when someone leaves, their clients' messages and documents stay exactly where they were.
Caseworkers also get their evenings back. The firm number can show opening hours and an automatic reply outside them, so clients know when to expect an answer and staff are not answering from their sofa.
Recognise this in your team?
- Clients have caseworkers' personal numbers
- Documents are saved from WhatsApp to the file by hand
- Colleagues cannot see client chats when someone is off
- Client ID documents are on staff phones
- Chat history left with a caseworker who moved on