Immigration Law Workflow: Scaling Practice with AI & Certified Translation

Immigration translation is no longer a niche administrative task. It is a high-stakes operational layer sitting between your client’s story and the evidence a government agency will actually accept. When the language services market expands to USD 81.45 billion in 2026, it is a signal that multilingual documents are only getting more common, and expectations for speed are not going down.

At the same time, your team is competing with a new baseline for productivity. In the 2025 ABA Legal Industry Report, 39% generative AI adoption at firms with 51+ lawyers is not just a number. It is the moment your associates start asking why “email the translator and wait” is still part of your workflow.

That tension is exactly what our CTO, Oytun Tez, addressed in a recent webinar with Visalaw AI: in 2026, "translation should really... be a very very small concern for a lawyer", not a recurring bottleneck that steals hours and adds risk. Let’s get right into it!

Note: Want to see the exact workflows Oytun walked through, including how the Visalaw AI integration handles AI translation, instant certified quotes, and the evaluation flow? Watch the full webinar recording and follow along step by step to identify the fastest wins for your own practice.

Why immigration translation is a risk issue, not a vendor issue

Immigration lawyers do not translate documents because it is “nice to have.” Greg Siskind framed the stakes perfectly during the session: "We basically are a practice area that lives and dies on our documents... they are not nice to have. They are important evidence in your cases". Untranslated or poorly translated evidence can trigger RFEs, delays, and denials.

Oytun’s contribution is where this gets operational. He argues that the traditional procurement process itself is the problem. "You should not be sending emails with documents to be translated and... waiting to hear about their price... all that manual weird process that was already gone when we founded MotaWord twelve years ago" only adds to case delays.

Translation risk tends to concentrate in a few repeatable places: names, dates, seals, handwritten notes, and inconsistent terminology across a packet. Greg warned that "a single mistranslated phrase can change the meaning, the credibility, [and] the eligibility of those documents". If you want a deeper read, check out our article about the legal impact of faulty certified translations: how translation errors create legal exposure.

What “certified” actually means in practice

A certified translation is not just a file that looks official. It must be complete and accurate, capturing context that automated tools alone often miss. Greg highlighted common failure points to avoid, such as "missing context like dates, seals, annotations, handwritten notes, [and] inconsistent terminology being used across the documents".

If you are tightening up your internal checklist, start with our practical guidance on USCIS-ready details. Check out our article about USCIS certified translation tips to learn more: the USCIS details that cause delays.

The real cost is lawyer time

Every email thread and status follow-up is non-billable time. Ian from Visalaw AI noted that traditional methods carry an "administrative burden" that takes lawyers away from their practice. Oytun’s core thesis is that "translation should really... be a very very small concern for a lawyer" because "it's not even their job".

If you are thinking about translation as a process instead of a one-off task, check out our article about the translation process breakdown to learn more: how a modern translation workflow is structured.

The 2026 workflow reset Oytun wants for your firm

Oytun was blunt: "It’s two thousand twenty-six... so that traditional methods Greg explained should not really be used anymore in your day-to-day operations". His point is that structural inefficiency keeps translation artificially expensive. We built MotaWord to remove those manual steps through automated intake and delivery.

To see what that looks like in a real immigration workflow, check out our article about ordering translations from inside Visalaw AI: how the Visalaw AI integration works.

The “one platform” argument is not hype

Oytun emphasized centralization so that lawyers can "manage everything in one single platform". Integrated systems reducecontext switching. In the webinar, the team showed a dedicated Translate tab and how AI translation helps firms "figure out what documents they actually need to have certified" before spending money on professional services.

In practical terms, you upload, get an instant quote, and receive the completed translation back in the same workflow. You do not need a second vendor portal or a spreadsheet to track work.

If your team is still deciding whether you want a platform approach, check out our article about what translation platforms are: why translation platforms exist in the first place.

A 60-second translation workflow snapshot

Here is the “Oytun version” of what translation should feel like for a lawyer: "Very seamless, just one stop place. You don't even need to deal with it. Just click the button, see the price, continue, and get your document a couple of hours later".

If you want a practical set of ways to shave cost and time, check out our article about saving time and money on translations to learn more: tactics that reduce translation waste.

AI first pass plus human review: the hybrid model that scales safely

Oytun’s key technical point was that "we don't need to waste time with word-by-word translation from scratch" when AI can provide a strong draft. The smarter model is using AI for the "first pass" and then putting "professional translators on it to proofread and edit".

This is about risk control. AI is fast, but certification workflows require human accountability. If you want to sanity-check where AI fits, check out our article about AI in modern localization: how we think about AI plus humans in production.

Use AI translation to decide what you actually need

Josh Waddell highlighted that firms often have large packets, but AI triage helps you understand "what's relevant to my case" before paying for certification. This prevents wasting "the client's money on getting documents translated" that never make it into the final filing.

If you want examples of “smart reduction,” check out our article about summary translations for USCIS: how summary translation can cut cost without losing compliance.

Human review is still the safety layer for certified filings

Greg Siskind gave the hybrid model his "stamp of approval," noting that "having a human in the loop like MotaWord is doing with their AI and human combination translations... is really sort of the perfect way to approach this". Professional linguists catch subtle issues like:

• Transliterations that do not match prior filings.
• Calendar and date system conversions.
• Stamps, seals, and handwritten content.
• Legal term equivalency.

If you want a straightforward comparison of document types, check out our article about sworn vs certified translations: certified vs sworn vs general, explained.

Quality at scale is a systems problem

A lot of translation “quality problems” are actually workflow problems. The hybrid model works best when you "manage your glossary terminologies" to ensure names and terms are translated consistently every time.

If you are working on terminology consistency, check out our article about glossary management: how glossaries reduce repeat errors.

Pricing, speed, and auditability: what “translation ops” should look like

Oytun explained the strategy behind our pricing engine: it "always tries to give you as much discount as possible". He shared a benchmark: "per page price in most languages will not exceed twenty-four dollars even though it has maybe huge content". This automation allows MotaWord to "give this cost decrease back to our customers".

A visual comparison: traditional vs integrated vs hybrid

For a market reality check, the Nimdzi 100 projects the language services industry growing to USD 75.7 billion in 2025. If your workflow is manual, costs will compound. Check out our article about translation memory to learn more: how translation memory saves budget over time.

Auditability and client trust

Josh Waddell shared that Visalaw AI users utilized "three hundred and thirty million characters in AI translation in the last year". Traceability helps your internal team avoid accidental double-ordering or working from outdated files.

Power user controls: glossary, style guides, translation memory, and API

Oytun explained that while most lawyers stay in the case platform, "motor dashboard gives you a lot of language operations" for those who want deeper control. This includes "glossary and terminology management, style guides, and account-level reporting".

If you want a practical overview of the language ops toolkit, check out our article about translation vs localization: translation vs localization in real workflows.

Glossaries and style guides reduce repeat friction

Consistency is a credibility signal. Oytun noted you can set rules so "we always translate [the] law firm name in a very specific way" across all documents. Style guides ensure "human proofreading and post-editing phases" follow USCIS-specific rules.

Translation memory is an operational advantage

"Translation memory is a huge database of translations for your account," Oytun explained. "Whenever [the] system sees the duplicate content or similar content it tries to squeeze some discount for you".

API and integration options for scale

Oytun highlighted that MotaWord has "the language industry's biggest API". Anything done in the dashboard can be integrated into intake workflows or client portals.

Academic evaluations and an implementation playbook (plus FAQ)

Oytun described evaluation services as having the "same problem translations had... everything manual". MotaWord now offers "standard academic evaluations, expert opinion letters... grade conversions, [and] GPA conversions" through the same automated workflow.

We deliver standard evaluations for "$65" with "delivery almost next day".

Why evaluations need human expertise plus fast workflows

Oytun emphasized that "evaluation cases can be complex... it needs a good expertise and analysis of the case". Speed is combined with "thirty second response time" for human support.

The implementation playbook Oytun implicitly recommends

Oytun’s closing advice was a workflow reset. Here is a practical playbook:

1) Centralize work. "Lawyers should be centralizing into platforms" to avoid email-based bottlenecks. 2) Define what must be certified. Use AI triage to figure out "what's relevant to my case" first. 3) Standardize preferences once. Manage glossaries so "you don't need to deal with it" repeatedly. 4) Measure success. Josh Waddell suggests firms "determine what measures of success... your firm" needs for AI adoption. 5) Avoid vendor lock-in. "Keep using those old vendors" if you prefer, but migrate if they are "not catching up with AI".

If you want a starting point, check out our article about tools immigration lawyers use: a modern immigration tool stack.

FAQ

Do we need certified translation for every non-English document?

Not always. Greg suggests using AI "mainly for a first pass" to decide what truly needs certification to save the "client's money".

How fast can we realistically get certified translations back?

"You'll get notified once the translation is completed," typically within 24 hours. Oytun notes integration allows you to "get your document a couple hours later" in some cases.

What about summary translations for large PDF files?

Oytun explained that for 100-page files where only the gist is needed, "we do what's called summary translation... translated into two pages very cheaply".

What about academic evaluations for immigration filings?

Evaluations for H-1B or L-1 cases are available starting at "$65". Check out our academic evaluation page to learn more.

Your next step: translate a “small concern” this quarter

If you take one idea from Oytun, make it this: "translation should really... be a very very small concern for a lawyer". Pick one case, run AI triage, and measure the turnaround time. As Josh Waddell says: "If you're a visa law user and you haven't tried certified translation, try certified translation".

Ready to modernize? Start by seeing how integrated ordering works: learn how to place certified translation orders from within Visalaw AI.