Navigating the U.S. immigration process can be overwhelming, confusing, and costly for many immigrants. The startup JustiGuide says its AI-driven platform can make things easier.
Their mission is to assist immigrants in the U.S.—and eventually in other countries—by helping them understand immigration laws, determine which visas they might qualify for, and connect with immigration lawyers, all while reducing costs and speeding up the process.
“The more accessible we make this technology, the more people will feel confident to complete their own forms, explore their options, and use attorneys mainly for final reviews,” JustiGuide’s founder Bisi Obateru shared with TechCrunch.
Obateru, originally from Nigeria, recounted his own experience navigating the U.S. immigration system after completing his education there. He later secured an H1-B visa, which is popular among tech professionals, and eventually obtained a green card for permanent residency.
His journey motivated him to create JustiGuide to support other immigrants. “People can use their native language to communicate and gain clarity about their immigration path,” he explained.
This year, the company was awarded best pitch in the Policy + Protection category at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference.
Obateru said JustiGuide’s users include startup founders seeking to hire international talent, H1-B holders exploring alternatives, international students interested in entrepreneurship, as well as attorneys and law firms. He also envisions that government agencies might one day license the technology.
The platform features an AI assistant for legal research, a matching system for lawyers and immigrants, and tools to accelerate form completion. Lawyers are provided with services that help them gather documents and automate tasks typically handled by paralegals, according to Obateru.
Obateru noted that the platform, which now serves 47,000 users, is powered by an AI named Dolores—a specialized, continually improving system focused on U.S. immigration. Dolores can also translate content into 12 different languages.
Dolores was trained using more than 40,000 court cases, which JustiGuide obtained from the Free Law Project, a nonprofit offering open access to legal resources, Obateru said. The company is also working toward becoming a registered law firm so it can directly connect users with its own immigration attorneys.
Initially, JustiGuide programmed Dolores to search for immigrants needing assistance by scanning subreddits, Facebook groups, Instagram, and LinkedIn posts using keywords, then reaching out to offer guidance, Obateru said.
To safeguard user privacy, JustiGuide keeps its platform encrypted and hosted on-premises, only sharing information with lawyers when a user initiates contact. Some user data is also anonymized, according to Obateru.
