Future-proofing the immigration program for all

The problem

Our client was faced with a feeling of unease regarding the immigration practices of other, newly established companies within their parent group, and had concerns that the current practices were not sustainable. Questions were arising internally as to who had responsibility over their immigration processes and decisions, and what would happen should an issue of non-compliance occur - would this have a negative impact for the whole group?

How we helped

Our five month project can be broken down as follows:

1. Current State Assessment: interviewed various stakeholders from different parts of the business in an aim to understand their current immigration experiences and potential future needs.
2. Design Workshop: based on the findings from the interviews, together with the client, we agreed on design principles for a new approach, created high-level process maps and developed a roadmap for the way forward.
3. Continued Exploration: continuous discussions and iterations of materials to ensure final approach is feasible, viable and desirable.
4. Created Materials: standardised immigration service initiations, immigration process manual, communications, training and an immigration compliance RACI matrix covering key responsibilities for all people involved.

The solution

The client was left with an immigration program that allayed their original fears; one that is now robust, agile and scalable across the companies and parties involved, providing:

• Clarity between roles and responsibilities throughout the end-to-end immigration process;
• Clear guidelines to mitigate risks;
• Optimisation of practices to ensure quicker turnarounds; and
• Consistent use of tools and templates;

Challenge similarities

This project uncovered parallel challenges that we have seen with other clients, such as:

• Uncertainty with immigration practices – who is responsible for what within your program?
• Differences with risk tolerances – what are your risk guidelines?
• Unnecessary complications – are actions duplicated and processes taking longer than they should be?
• Complex and various needs – can you standardise requirements to provide consistency?