I'm building Fillvisa - a free and open-source alternative to Docketwise, specifically for solo immigration practices, document preparers, and paralegals.
What does it do? Helps you fill out USCIS immigration forms and DS-160 without dealing with complicated government PDFs. All forms are available for free.
Who is it for? Solo immigration attorneys, paralegals, document preparers, and DIY applicants. I also recommend it to new attorneys and paralegals who just want to practice filling out USCIS forms :)
What does it cost? Free! There is a paid version with additional features, but you can access all forms for free.
I'm the founder and developer. I started building it because most immigration software is expensive and geared toward larger firms, while solo practitioners and document preparers often need something simpler and more affordable.
I built a prototype and shared it travel/immigration subreddit. Note, my product is 100% free, no-login and (most importantly), solves a pain problem in a niche.
There's a paid version (https://plus.fillvisa.com/) for Immigration professionals. Tbh, I don't directly market it that much.
I also decided to open-source Fillvisa (https://github.com/athos2113/fillvisa-os) . Can't say it has directly helped in acquiring users, but, it defintely helped buid trust, brand credibility.
So,
my actual product is B2B or B2P (Prosumers).
I decided to build a ungated free B2C solution
And, also an open-source version
US Immigration still relies on outdated XFA PDFs - you can't fill them on your browser. Most immigrants end up printing the form and fill it manually.
So, I converted the PDF forms into smart web forms. They are replica of the official USCIS forms and follow conditonal logic. In the output, you get the official USCIS pdf form filled.
I was stuck unable to fill out a PDF I-864 for immigration because the required fields were non-editable. And opening the PDF in a PDF editor or Photoshop would require a password that was not available. So I had to create a PDF-to-JPG-to-PDF pipeline:
Interesting. I downloaded some PDFs for the adjustment of status forms recently and most of them were editable but only partially - the conditional fields couldn't be edited it seemed.
> You can use AI computer control to do this stuff now, right?
Speaking as someone who had to do a lot of immigration work to move to Japan, I can think of no work I would want to have a close eye on than immigration paperwork. One error is all it takes for a clerical rejection or similar. I had a professional lawyer working on mine and still cross checked every detail, and found errors!
Primarily by sharing the web version (fillvisa.com) on subreddit and FB groups. People complain about the USCIS PDF regurlarly, so, I just pitch them the website
My solo SaaS just hit $400k ARR after about 15 months, and I've sold 99% of the customers via a sales call. So it can be done, but I have to say, it's pretty grueling. And my sales calls are basically a dream come true: ~50% of them have the customer giving me their card for a trial in less than 10 mins. Another 10-20% sign up within the following few weeks.
Despite the success, I'm trying to pivot to self-serve now, because I'm definitely the biggest growth bottleneck, and I honestly dread every single call.
All that said, I think there's another HUGE reason to do sales calls: you learn a ton. I've talked with hundreds of customers and potential customers over the last year, and I've learned so much about their businesses and the niche, I think it would have been really difficult for me to do this with self-serve from the start.
The State Department's CEAC portal times out constantly. Session expires, you lose progress. Every tool that solves this charges some money, or bundles you into an attorney service.
So I built a free interface to fill your DS-160 comfortably at your own pace - then a one-click bookmarklet autofills the CEAC portal for you. No account. No data leaving your browser. 100% free.
~10M+ nonimmigrant visa applicants file this form every year.
What does it do? Helps you fill out USCIS immigration forms and DS-160 without dealing with complicated government PDFs. All forms are available for free.
Who is it for? Solo immigration attorneys, paralegals, document preparers, and DIY applicants. I also recommend it to new attorneys and paralegals who just want to practice filling out USCIS forms :)
What does it cost? Free! There is a paid version with additional features, but you can access all forms for free.
I'm the founder and developer. I started building it because most immigration software is expensive and geared toward larger firms, while solo practitioners and document preparers often need something simpler and more affordable.
Check it out: https://fillvisa.com/
Github: https://github.com/athos2113/fillvisa-os
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