Direct answer
Docketwise, CampLegal, and eimmigration each describe both automatic U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) case-status updates and Visa Bulletin tracking. LollyLaw documents priority-date tracking that follows the Visa Bulletin charts, and Mitratech's INSZoom documents a USCIS status check that a user runs with one click. The products differ in how often a receipt is checked, who hears about a change, and which plan carries the feature.
What each product checks and what staff enter
| What the software does | Providers that document it | Staff input the vendor documents |
|---|---|---|
| Checks USCIS receipt numbers on a schedule | Docketwise Pro, once a week; Docketwise Advanced, once a day | Each receipt number is added on the matter's Case Tracking tab |
| Monitors receipts and sends a notice when USCIS acts | eimmigration, through its USCIS & Visa Bulletin Tracker; CampLegal, across every receipt notice in the account | CampLegal reads the receipt details from an uploaded photo of the notice |
| Retrieves a status when a user asks | INSZoom, with its Check Status link; Docketwise, with an Update button on any receipt | INSZoom needs the receipt number saved on the case |
| Compares priority dates with the monthly Visa Bulletin | Docketwise, LollyLaw, CampLegal, and eimmigration | Docketwise asks for a priority date and preference category; LollyLaw also asks for filing method and country of chargeability |
Docketwise's receipt tracking article sets the schedule by plan: Basic runs no automatic checks, Pro checks each receipt once a week with updates on Saturdays, and Advanced checks once a day. When a check finds a change, Docketwise sends an email and an in-app notification to the people assigned to that matter, and a staff member who isn't an assignee doesn't get that notice. Staff can also press an Update button on a receipt, and they can share a receipt's tracking with the client through the portal.
A firm whose clients call the morning after USCIS posts an update should weigh the interval between checks when it picks a plan.
INSZoom's May 2024 release added a Check Status link that pulls the status from the USCIS site using the receipt number already saved on the case. A user clicks it from the case profile, and the screen returns the status or a message that the receipt number is invalid or the status is unavailable. Mitratech lists the feature for the Standard, Professional, and Enterprise editions on a United States subscription. It suits staff who check a case when they open the file, such as before a client call.
CampLegal's receipt tracking page says the software watches every receipt in the account without requiring a staff member to run each check. A case that goes 30 days without USCIS activity produces an alert for the firm and for the client. Clients are also texted in their own language when a case moves forward, and each receipt carries the current processing time for its form and service center.
eimmigration's case management page describes notifications in real time whenever USCIS acts on a case. The same page describes monitoring of processing times and the Visa Bulletin, with a notice once a petition is eligible for processing. Its Case Status Lookup view gives a count of active cases, the USCIS status of each one, and the petitions that are eligible. Status tracking belongs to the case side of the product, which is the side AnswerStack's answer on forms software and case management software as separate jobs sets apart from form filling.
On eimmigration's pricing page, Case Status Lookup is one of the 48 standard features in every plan, and the USCIS & Visa Bulletin Tracker is one of 17 premium features. The page describes the tracker as following processing times and Visa Bulletin information and sending real-time notifications on case changes. Starter includes one premium feature of the firm's choice, Essentials includes four, and Complete includes all of them. A Starter or Essentials account can add another premium feature for $15 per feature, per user, per month.
So a firm on Starter that wants automatic notices spends its one premium choice on the tracker or adds it at the $15 rate. Price the plan that includes the feature before comparing per-user rates; WhatIsBest's comparison of immigration law software for US law firms sets eimmigration's and Docketwise's entry prices beside the plan that carries each one's status feature.
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) revises the Visa Bulletin each month, and USCIS's page on visa availability and priority dates says a visa is available when an applicant's priority date is earlier than the cutoff date shown for the preference category and country of chargeability. USCIS then designates which of the two charts, Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing, adjustment applicants use that month.
Docketwise's priority date article asks for a priority date and a preference category on the matter. It updates the cutoff dates just before each month begins and shows two results for the matter: status for filing and status for final action. Staff get in-app notifications, and a monthly email digest lists the matters that became current and the matters that retrogressed. A Matters by Preference Category report, described in a Docketwise post on Visa Bulletin tracking, groups the cases whose priority dates are current.
LollyLaw's priority date tracking announcement describes a tracker for each matter that takes the application type, the filing method (adjustment or consular), the preference classification, the country of chargeability, and the priority date. LollyLaw syncs those dates with the Visa Bulletin charts and alerts staff to changes. Its built-in reports include Eligible to File, Retrogression Report, and Upcoming Eligibility.
CampLegal says it notifies the firm automatically once a client's priority date is current in the Visa Bulletin, so staff can start on the remaining steps. On eimmigration, the same premium tracker that sends status notices carries the Visa Bulletin monitoring.
Suppose a firm has 300 pending receipts and most of its green card work is in the family preference categories. If the attorneys want status changes to reach them without anyone running a check, the candidates are Docketwise Advanced with its daily schedule, CampLegal, and eimmigration with the tracker. Docketwise Pro fits a firm that reviews statuses once a week, and INSZoom's one-click check fits staff who look when they open a file.
Docketwise's notices follow the matter's assignees, so a firm that reassigns paralegals has to update its matters. CampLegal texts the client as well as alerting the team, so the attorney should expect the client to know about a change and be ready for the call.
Docketwise's monthly digest and LollyLaw's Eligible to File report each hand staff a list of the matters that became current. That list is what a paralegal works from when a new chart takes effect, so compare the reports as closely as you compare the alerts.