In an Immigration or Immigration With Removal case, you will see an Immigration tab up top. Within this tab, you can keep track of client information as well as organize immigration-specific packets, which are a number of distinct groupings of forms submitted together to the court (e.g. U Visa).
If you are making a fresh case via Cases -> New Case, you can scroll down to the Filing Packets section while entering case details and choose the packet you want under Select a Filing Packet.
Creating a New/Additional Packet
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Inside a case, click the Immigration tab.
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In the Filing area, click the Add Additional Filing Packet button.
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From the options in the Select a Filing Packet list, choose which packet you would like to create.
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In the given checklist of forms, the required ones will already be checked and cannot be removed, as the court mandates that they be included in the packet. Click the optional ones you wish to add now (if any) or add them later, as those aren’t considered strictly necessary by the court.
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Click Add Packet to create the packet.
Creating a packet will not create an activity in the case Activity page. However, creating a form through the Add Form button within a packet will create an activity in the same way as if you did so through Forms and Templates. For more details on creating and filling out forms, please see Forms - Creating Forms.
Managing Packets
Once you have created a packet, you will see it listed in the Immigration tab under Packets. Here, you can add new forms to your packets as well as manage existing forms, but with greater convenience than doing so through Forms & Templates.
To add a new form, click Add Form. From the packet-specific options given, select the one you would like and click Add.
Next to the names of existing forms, you will see three buttons:
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The red button is Create a merged form. Clicking it will open up another panel in which you can fill out and save the form without having to navigate to Forms & Templates. After you have created a form, this button will change to a white Edit form button, allowing you to edit your form from here.
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The blue button is Edit filing status. Clicking it will show you options for setting the form’s filing status (e.g. Pending), which will then be reflected next to the form name in this section. If the form has been filed, you can also set the filing date, response date (if any), and form receipt number.
MerusCase automatically creates a link from your form receipt number right to the USCIS tracking info for the form, making the process of checking and updating statuses swift.
- The green button is Remove form. Clicking it will remove the form from the packet if the form is optional. Required forms cannot be removed from a packet.
Note
To prevent accidental deletion of your packets or essential packet contents, all packets and any required forms within them cannot be deleted. Optional forms can be deleted.Outdated Packets or Form Requirements
If you notice that a packet’s requirements are out of date or that a form has a revision more recent than the one in our system, please feel free to contact MerusCase Support.