Case Summary Section | Form and Document List | Messaging (Chat) Window | Case Notes | Editing a Case Note | Case Status and Status History
The Case page is a collaboration portal between the Agent, Processor, Supervisor, Migrant and/or Sponsoring Company involved in the Case. It provides:
- Form and Document list which lists every document which the Client needs to provide and provides How-To guides for those documents. As the Client uploads documents, you can review those documents and Approve or Reject them individually so all parties can see at any time what is still outstanding on the Case.
- Messaging (Chat) window which allows you to communicate with Clients and eliminates the need to manage emails relating to the Case.
- Case Notes which let Agents and Processors keep track of events relevant to the Case.
- Case Status and Status History so that everyone can see the progress of the Case
Case Summary Section
The Case summary section tracks the current Case Status and who is involved in the Application.
Converting Prospect Cases
If you have a Prospect Case in the system for a prospective Client and you have decided which visa subclass they are going to apply for, you can convert the Prospect Case to the appropriate visa subclass. To do this, select the Visa Subclass from the “Convert To:” dropdown list. When you click GO three things happen:
- The Migrant status is converted from Prospect to a Client
- The document list in the case changes to the list for the selected Visa Subclass – so you will need to make Not Applicable any documents which are not required for that Case.
- The Sponsoring Company status will be converted from Prospect to Client if they are not already a Client.
This option disappears once the Case has been converted. Remember to re-set the Deadline field at this point to act as a reminder of when the application needs to be lodged.
NOTE: once the Migrant status is changed from Prospect to Client they can no longer access the Prospect Questionnaire – they see the Case file in much the same way you do and you can now use the Chat Window to communicate with them.
Deadline
You can set a Deadline on any Case and it appears on your home page, giving you a clear indication of which cases are most urgent. If used properly the Deadline function can be key to efficient Case management. There is also some logic which will auto-select a Deadline – for instance if the Current Visa Expiry is set in the Migrant Profile when the Case is Created the Deadline will be set 1 week before the Current Visa Expiry. It is always advisable to check the Deadline manually as situations can change during the life of the Application.
Case Status
You can set the Case Status here – see the Case Status and History Section for more details.
Links
The Migrant, Sponsoring Company and Nomination App No are links to the related parties so you can navigate back and forth more conveniently.
Setting the Nomination Application Number
When a Visa and Nomination are lodged together it is convenient to be able to jump straight from the nomination to visa case and vice versa. Setting the Nomination App Number from the Visa case allows you to do this. The Nomination Case needs to already exist for this function to work.
DIBP Information
For some applications it is relevant to know who the DIBP case officer is and which office is dealing with the application.
Process Stage
This is a convenient way of letting your Clients know what is currently happening on the Application. Used correctly this can prevent a lot of phone calls.
Remove
This button will remove the case permanently from the system. It is only available to the Managing Agent or an Agent with the appropriate permissions.
Alerts
This lets you set and manage Alerts on the Case. An Alert is a formal message you send to a Client which notifies them that a specific action is required. The Actions are:
Payment This is used to notify a Client that a payment is required
Upload Document When a document is urgently required this will notify the Client.
Visa Expires If the Clients Visa is about to expire this will notify them.
The Alert can have a message associated with it to tell the Client specifically what you require and a Due Date. When you send this alert, the Migrant is notified by email, but it also shows up on your Alerts page. The Alerts page gives you a simple way to track all Alerts across all your Cases so you don’t miss critical deadlines.
Payments
Not implemented at this time
Form and Document List
Customising the List
The Form and Document List is the heart of the Case and is visible to all parties to the Case including the Migrant or Sponsoring Company Representative. You should customize this list to the specific requirements of the Migrant or Sponsoring Company by selecting Not Applicable (NA) for any forms or documents not required. This hides that form or document from the Client so they see only the information they need to provide. You can NA documents in two ways, you can:
- modify the document status individually, or
- check the boxes on the left of each of the documents you want to hide and then click Mark NA
the Show/Hide button allows you to see or hide documents which are Not Applicable so you can modify the list later if required.
Templates and Instructions
Form Templates are fillable copies of the current DIBP forms. iVisa keeps these up to date for you, however you should check before lodgement that the version of the form is still current.
NOTE: Legend is the source of these forms. While we provide the fillable versions of the forms in the system, you must still comply with Legend’s copyright requirements, which are that any party who is not covered by a current Legend license agreement may not fill in these forms on-screen. Filling out of the forms on screen by a non-licensed recipient is strictly prohibited.
Document Instructions are How-To guides written in plain English to help Migrants and Sponsoring companies understand DIBP and Skills Assessing Body requirements for the various documents they need to provide. These guides can save a lot of phone calls from your clients
Setting Document Status
All the parties involved in a Case see the document Statuses. The document Status lets you keep track of which documents you have reviewed and lets your clients see what has been done on their Case. The Statuses are:
Received documents are set to this status automatically when they are uploaded
Reviewed This status can be set by the Agent or the Processor and locks the document so it cant be overwritten.
Rejected This status can be set by the Agent or the Processor and is used to let the client know that the document is not acceptable for migration purposes – normally you would Message the client the reason why.
Approved Only the Agent can set or un-set this status. It locks the document so it cant be overwritten
Information This status can be set by the Agent or the Processor and is used to prevent upload of a document – it is used when an Instruction or form is provided for information purposes only – for instance the Life in Australia document.
NA Only the Agent can set or un-set this status. It hides the form or document from Clients
Before a document is received, its status is Required. After it has been uploaded, the Status automatically changes to Received. At this point the Agent or the Processor can open and review the document. You can then Approve, Reject or set the document to Reviewing. This lets the client know whether the document has been accepted as being suitable for migration purposes. Once all the required documents are at Approved you and your clients know you are ready to lodge the application.
Upload and Retrieve
The Upload button allows you and your Clients to upload a form or document into a Case. When uploaded, the Status of the document automatically changes to Received.
You can view any document by clicking Retrieve button next to it. This opens a viewer so you can quickly check the form or document without having to download it to your computer. If you do want to download it, simply click the Green arrow in the viewer.
Multi-Document Retrieve
You can also retrieve multiple documents at once by using the RETRIEVE button at the top of the Form and Document list. This is very handy when retrieving Documents for upload to IMMI Account.
To select which documents to retrieve, use the checkboxes on the left of each form and document. If you want most documents then use Select All and simply unselect the ones you don’t need.
HINT: Most times you don’t need the Emails for the case, so scroll down to the Email section and hit Deselect to unselect all the Case emails.
DIBP Documents
This section provides a comprehensive list of the documents you may receive from DIBP during and at the conclusion of the application process. It is provided for the use of the Agent and Processor to ensure that all relevant documents are captured into the Case in order to comply with your obligations under the MARA Code of Conduct. Clients can see the documents in this section so make sure to make them Approved to prevent accidental over-writing.
Additional Documents
In many Cases there are documents provided for which there are no pre-configured places. The Additional Documents section allows you and your Clients to upload these documents into the Case. Once uploaded you can set their Status just like any other document.
Agent Only
Documents uploaded into Agent Only are not seen by your Clients. This area can be used for storing drafts and other similar documents.
NOTE: Clients are not notified when you upload to this section regardless of their notification settings.
Messaging (Chat) Window
One of the biggest issues in Case management is tracking and storing all the related emails.
The iVisa system eliminates the vast majority of this problem by using the Messaging Window to communicate with your Clients. Using the Messaging Window keeps all communications in one place.
When you send a message, the Client can see it in their Chat Window in the Case, but also receive an email with the contents of the message so that they know to log in to reply to you. (they can’t reply to the email)
Similarly if they message you in the Case, you will receive a notification email. (unless you turn off your notifications)
Checking Messages – All Cases
When you need to check all your new messages from all your Clients, simply go to the Alerts page and look at the Client Actions section – all your messages from all clients are shown here. You can view a message by hovering over the View label for that Message or click on View jump straight to the Case to deal with it. Once you have dealt with a message, select it and click DONE – this will file it in Client History and leave only unread messages in the Client Actions section.
Case Notes
Case Notes allow you to keep track of telephone calls and other events, which need to be recorded in the Case. They are visible to the Agent, Processor and Supervisor working on the Case, but not to Migrants or Representatives.
Adding a New Case Note
To add a new Case Note, click New. This will bring up the Case Note window from here you can enter the key information for the Case Note.
Topic – is the subject of the Case Note
Author – is the person creating the Case Note and is not editable
Note Type – describes what the Case Note is about, for instance a phone call, in person meeting, filenote etc.
With – lets you record who you met, or talked with. If you choose Migrant or Company Rep, it knows who they are from the Case information. Choosing Other lets you specify a third party. It is important to enter their email address if you do this.
Start Time and Finish Time allow you to record when the event took place and how long it took. You can manually enter/edit times and dates or you can use the Start Now and Finish Now functions For instance, if you are on the phone and taking notes, you can click Start Now to set the Start Time, make your notes in the entry window while on the call and then click Finish Now to record when the call ended. Click Save to save the timestamped case note.
IMPORTANT: When you click Save, the Case note information will be emailed to the person you specified in the With field as shown in the example below. There is one exception to this – Filenotes are not emailed to anyone, they are private to the Agent, Processor and Supervisor working on the Case.
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Editing a Case Note
Existing information entered into a Case Note can’t be modified, however you can add additional information at any time. The system automatically timestamps when the additional information is added. Just click View/Edit , enter the additional information and click Save
Exporting Case Note Information
If you need a permanent record, for instance to email to someone, clicking Export All at the Case Page will allow you to download all Case notes for that case. Alternatively you can choose Export from within a Case Note to just export that particular Case Note.
Case Status and Status History
The Case Status History lets everyone involved in the Case see the Case progress over time. Case Statuses are:
Expired This status is set automatically when the Expiry date is reached
Cancelled If DIBP cancels a Visa
Suspended Used if the application becomes inactive
Withdrawn For applications which are withdrawn
Expiry This status is set at the same time as the Granted status and is used to track the expiry of a Visa
Granted DIBP grants a Visa, Nomination or SBS (or Skills Assessing Authority issues positive outcome)
Info Requested – DIBP Date that DIBP requests more information. This should be used in conjunction with the Deadline function
Lodged Decision Ready Lodgement of the Application
Lodged Incomplete Lodged, but there are outstanding documents to be submitted. This should be used in conjunction with the Deadline function
State S’Ship lodged For Subclass 190 Applications
EoI Lodged For all Skill Select Applications
RCB Lodged For Subclass 187 applications
Reviewing Client has submitted sufficient documents for lodgement and the Agent is reviewing the Case
Submission Authorised This is only settable by the Client and can be used as authority to lodge.
Preparing This is set when the Agent first starts working on the Case
Agreement Received This is typically used on a Case when an signed Agreement for Services has been received back from the Client
Deposit Request Sent Used when an initial payment has been requested from the Client
Agreement Sent Set when an Agreement for Services has been sent to the Client
Advice Sent If an Advice is sent to the Client
Qualified After an initial interview, this tracks the status of a Prospect.
Ineligible After an initial interview, this tracks the status of a Prospect.
Not Proceeding This can be used to track the status of a Prospect, or of an in-progress application where the Client decides not to proceed.
Created This status is automatically set when the Case is created in the system. This might be by a Migrant prospect filling in the online questionnaire, or when an Agent uses the Add Migrant function
You can set the Case Status in the Summary section at the top of the Case page, or alternatively you can edit Case Status dates in the Case History section below the Chat Window.
The Case Status affects what actions can be performed within a Case – for instance when a Case is set to Lodged, Lodged Incomplete, DIBP- Information Requested, Granted or Expired, the Case is locked and no further uploads of forms or documents is possible.