AI prompts for immigration lawyers work best when each one names the form, the filing category and the documents the AI may use. A prompt that says "write an RFE response" returns a generic essay. A prompt that supplies the notice, the record, and the output format returns a draft your team can check line by line.
This guide starts with what a prompt is and builds toward advanced work. It gives you 16 copy-ready prompts, from client emails to RFE responses, and covers how to protect client information and review AI drafts before anything reaches a filing.
Key Takeaways
- A strong immigration prompt names the matter, the facts, the sources, the output, and the flags.
- Mask client identifiers before pasting, and confirm what your tools do with the information you enter.
- Paste the current rule text into the prompt so the AI works from the source text.
- A person opens every citation, date, and form edition before a draft becomes a filing.
- Approved prompts belong in a shared library with an owner and a review date.
What Makes a Good AI Prompt for Immigration Work
An AI prompt is the written instruction you give an AI tool, such as a request to summarize notes or draft a letter. The tool responds to what you supply, so clearer instructions produce drafts that need fewer corrections.
In an immigration practice, a prompt can ask for an intake memo, a document checklist or an outline of an RFE response. The result is a first draft. An attorney reviews it, supplies the legal judgment and decides what goes into a filing.
The Five Inputs
Every prompt in this guide is built from the same five inputs. Add all five and a request that would return a generic answer returns a draft your team can check.
Name the Matter
Tell the AI the form or petition type, the category, the stage and the forum. "Form I-140, EB-2 national interest waiver, drafting stage, USCIS" gives the AI a frame. "An immigration case" does not.
The forum matters because an RFE at USCIS and a motion in immigration court follow different rules and deadlines. The AI cannot tell which applies unless you say.
Supply Only the Facts the Task Needs
Include the facts that drive the task and leave out the rest. For a document checklist, marital history and prior filings matter. The client's home address does not.
Every extra fact is one more piece of client information in a third-party tool, and it gives the AI more room to wander. Replace identifiers with placeholders before you paste, as the next section explains.
List the Sources the AI May Use
Name the documents the AI may rely on, such as the notice, the filing or pasted regulation text, and tell it to use nothing else. Without that instruction, the AI fills gaps from memory and can cite a rule that has changed or does not exist.
Rules and agency guidance change over time. Copy the current text from the USCIS Policy Manual or the regulation into the prompt, and tell the AI to rely on that text only.
Describe the Output
State the format, the sections, the length and the reading level you want back. "A table with four columns," "under 200 words" and "8th-grade reading level" are all usable instructions.
A fixed format makes review faster. When every issue lands in the same row layout, you can compare each row to the record.
Ask for Flags
Tell the AI to mark assumptions, missing evidence and anything an attorney must confirm, using a tag such as [ASSUMPTION] or [CONFIRM]. A flag turns a silent guess into a visible item the reviewer finds in seconds.
The prompts later in this guide use these tags. Search a draft for them before you read anything else.
Weak and Strong Prompts Compared
A weak prompt reads "Write an RFE response." The AI has to guess the form, the issues, the evidence and the format. A stronger prompt supplies them:
Read the RFE and the filing summary below. For each issue the notice raises, list the evidence already in the record, the evidence still needed, and a suggested exhibit. Mark any assumption as [ASSUMPTION]. Do not cite authority I have not pasted.
Every prompt in this guide uses [brackets] for the details you replace.
Protecting Client Information in Your Prompts
Before you paste anything into an AI tool, replace client identifiers with placeholders. This takes under a minute, and the useful facts stay in the prompt. Put the real details back in your own document after the draft comes back.
Masking supports your duty under ABA Model Rule 1.6 to protect client information. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) goes further for self-learning tools. As the opinion describes it, lawyers generally need the client's informed consent before entering confidential information into such a tool. Boilerplate in an engagement letter is not enough.
The responsible attorney decides which tools the firm approves for client work. Choose a tool with firm-level security controls and confirm how it stores and uses your inputs. US Immigration AI describes its approach on its data security and compliance page.
The Prompt Library, From Simple Tasks to Advanced Analysis
With the five inputs and the masking habit in place, you are ready to use the prompts. They start with simple drafting tasks and build toward legal analysis and RFE responses. Each one comes with a short note on what to check in the output.
Client Update Prompts
Client updates are the simplest place to start. They turn a case status into a plain-language message, and a set reading level and length keep the message short.
RFE Update in Plain Language
Write a client email at an 8th-grade reading level explaining that USCIS issued a Request for Evidence. Cover what it means, what we will do next, which documents we need from the client, and the deadline of [date]. Keep it under 200 words. Do not predict the outcome.
What to check: confirm the deadline and the document list before sending.
Document Request With a Translation for Review
Draft an email asking the client for these documents: [list]. Use a friendly, direct tone and a clear due date of [date]. Then provide a [Spanish] version of the same email.
What to check: a fluent staff member or qualified translator reviews the translation before it goes out.
Client Intake and Case Screening
Intake prompts move from messages to structured work on a new matter. They turn consult notes into a memo and a list of open questions. Mask the notes and name the matter type first.
To send intake answers straight into a case file from a chat window, see how AI Intake works.
Intake Memo From Consult Notes
You are assisting an immigration attorney. Draft an internal intake memo from the consult notes below. Matter type: [family-based petition / employment-based petition / asylum / naturalization]. Use only the notes. Sections: parties and relationship, immigration history, possible eligibility issues, documents mentioned, and open questions for the attorney. Mark anything inferred as [INFERRED]. Notes: [paste masked notes]
What to check: compare every date and status entry to the client's documents.
Missing Information List
Read the intake notes below for a [Form I-130 / Form I-485 / Form N-400] matter. List the facts and documents we still need before we quote a fee. Group the list by who must supply each item: client, petitioner, employer, or third party. Do not guess any answers. Notes: [paste masked notes]
What to check: confirm each requested item against the current form instructions.
Issues for Attorney Review
Read the client questionnaire below. List every statement an attorney should review for possible eligibility or inadmissibility issues. Quote the client's wording and explain in one sentence why it needs review. Do not decide whether the issue applies. Questionnaire: [paste masked answers]
What to check: the AI flags statements, and you decide what each one means for the case.
Evidence Checklists and Exhibit Indexes
Once a matter is open, checklist and index prompts organize the evidence. Attach the form edition to each checklist so staff can tie it to the instructions in use.
Clients often send documents late and in scattered formats. An immigration client portal keeps requests and uploads in one place, so your checklist matches what has arrived.
Document Checklist by Filing
Create a document checklist for a [Form I-130 / Form I-485 / Form N-400] filing. Client facts: [status, marital history, prior filings]. Group items by evidence type. Mark each item as required, conditional (state the trigger), or optional. End with: "Attorney to verify against current form instructions, edition [date]."
What to check: compare the list to the instructions for the edition you are filing.
Exhibit Index From a Document List
Create an exhibit index from the document list below. Number exhibits in the order listed. Give each exhibit a one-line description and the page count if provided. List any document that has no matching exhibit and any exhibit with no source document. Documents: [paste list]
What to check: confirm page counts and exhibit order against the assembled file.
Support Letters and Recommender Questions
Support letters come next, because they require drafting from the record. The first prompt below produces a letter draft. The second prepares questions for a recommender, since recommender letters belong in the recommender's own words.
When the facts already sit in your case file, drafting inside a platform that reads that file removes the copy-and-paste step. AI Legal Document Drafting works this way.
Employer Support Letter First Draft
Draft a first-pass support letter for a [Form I-129 H-1B / L-1] petition. Use only the company facts, job description, and beneficiary facts below. Structure: company background, position and duties, beneficiary qualifications, and request. Keep sentences under 25 words. Put [CONFIRM] beside any fact not stated below. Facts: [paste masked facts]
What to check: match every figure, title, and date to the source documents.
Recommender Interview Questions
Write 10 questions to ask a recommender for a [O-1A / EB-1A / NIW] petition. The questions should draw out their relationship to the beneficiary, specific contributions they have seen, and why the work matters in the field. Do not draft the letter. Field: [field]. Role of recommender: [role]
What to check: edit the questions to fit the recommender, then let them write the letter themselves.
Visa Category and Eligibility Analysis
Category analysis asks the AI to compare evidence against legal criteria, so the source text matters most here. Paste the criteria yourself, and tell the AI to use only that text. The table shows where each set of criteria sits.
Evidence Map for O-1A or EB-1A
Compare the evidence below against the criteria for [O-1A / EB-1A]. The criteria text is pasted below, so use only that text. Build a table with four columns: criterion, evidence on file, strength (strong, moderate, thin), and what is missing. Flag any criterion supported by a single item. Criteria: [paste regulation text]. Evidence: [paste masked evidence list]
What to check: the strength ratings sort the evidence, and you decide what meets each criterion.
National Interest Waiver Prong Map
Map the evidence below to the three prongs of Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016): substantial merit and national importance, well positioned to advance the endeavor, and benefit of waiving the job offer requirement. For each prong, list supporting evidence, gaps, and questions for the beneficiary. Do not add facts. Evidence: [paste masked summary]
What to check: confirm that every listed fact appears in a document the client supplied. The three-part test comes from Matter of Dhanasar.
Specialty Occupation Duty Review
Compare the job duties below to the specialty occupation criteria in 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A), pasted below. Identify which duties connect to a degree requirement and which are vague. Suggest plain-language rewrites for vague duties and mark each rewrite [CONFIRM WITH EMPLOYER]. Criteria: [paste text]. Duties: [paste job description]
What to check: the employer must confirm every rewritten duty before it appears in a filing.
RFE and NOID Response Prompts
RFE responses combine every skill above: reading a notice, mapping evidence to issues and drafting. USCIS prints the response deadline on the notice, and 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(iv) caps the response period at 12 weeks for a Request for Evidence and 30 days for a Notice of Intent to Deny. Neither period can be extended, so calendar the date from the notice yourself.
RFE Issue Breakdown
Read the RFE and the filing summary below. First, state the notice date and the response deadline exactly as printed. Then create a table with one row per issue. Columns: issue as stated, authority cited by USCIS, evidence in the record, evidence needed, and suggested exhibit. Quote the notice's wording for each issue. Do not draft arguments. RFE: [paste text]. Filing summary: [paste masked summary]
What to check: confirm the deadline against the notice itself and calendar it manually.
Response Outline
Using the issue table above, draft an outline for the response brief. Use one heading per issue, in the order the notice presents them. Under each heading, list the argument points, the supporting exhibits, and any gap I must close. Do not cite any authority I have not pasted.
What to check: the outline organizes your arguments, and you write them.
Consistency Check Against the Original Filing
Compare the draft response with the original petition below. List every conflict in dates, titles, salaries, job duties, and names. For each conflict, give the location in both documents. Do not decide which version is correct. Draft: [paste]. Original petition: [paste]
What to check: resolve every conflict with the client or employer before filing.
Checking AI Drafts Before They Reach a Filing
Every prompt above produces a draft, and each draft gets the same four-step review before it leaves the firm.
- Open every citation and find it in the primary source: the regulation, the USCIS Policy Manual or the decision itself.
- Match names, dates, titles and figures to what the client or employer supplied.
- Compare the edition date on each form with the one on the USCIS forms page.
- Have the responsible attorney review and approve the final version.
What the Rules Expect
This review also supports your duty of competence. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) says lawyers need a reasonable understanding of what AI tools can and cannot do. It also says they must verify AI output before relying on it.
For filings before the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals, see EOIR Policy Memorandum PM 25-40. Its title is "Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in EOIR Proceedings," and it took effect Aug. 8, 2025. The memo makes four points:
- It does not ban generative AI.
- It does not require disclosure of AI use.
- It states that filing fabricated or erroneous AI-generated content can violate professional conduct rules.
- It notes that individual judges may adopt their own standing orders.
Citation Inventory
A prompt can speed up the first review step by listing what needs checking.
List every legal citation, regulation, policy manual section, and form edition mentioned in the draft below. Use a table with three columns: the citation, the proposition it supports, and where to verify it. Sources include the CFR, USCIS Policy Manual, AAO or BIA decisions, and the USCIS forms page. Do not say whether any citation is correct. Draft: [paste]
What to check: the table is a to-do list, and every row still needs a person to open the source.
Building a Shared Prompt Library at Your Firm
Once your team has good prompts and a review habit, a shared library makes both repeatable. Keep it in one place, and record five fields for each prompt.
Have a supervising attorney approve each prompt before staff use it on client work. ABA Formal Opinion 512 expects supervising lawyers to set firm-wide AI policies and train staff. Then keep the library current:
- Review the whole library every quarter.
- Review a prompt sooner when USCIS publishes a new edition of its form.
- Review a prompt sooner when the Policy Manual section it relies on changes.
- Retire any prompt that produced an error during review.
Grow Your Caseload With US Immigration AI
US Immigration AI automates intake, document collection, form drafting, and case assembly for immigration law firms. Your team retypes fewer facts between tools and spends more time on legal judgment. Schedule a demo to see the workflow.
