Visa expiry reminders for sponsor licence clients

Employer clients with sponsored workers have expiry dates to watch and often notice too late. If you have about 10 expiries a month to remind clients about and finding the date and writing each reminder takes 6 minutes, that's 60 minutes a month.

Every expiry is recorded first in your case management or compliance diary, with a fee earner checking the date against the visa or letter. As a secondary prompt, a calendar event is created using an agreed reference rather than the worker's name. A trigger has one offset, so the firm creates two Zaps from the same calendar, one set to 90 days before and one to 30 days before. Each is a two-step Zap that sends a templated email from your Gmail to the client's HR contact saying a date is approaching and asking them to contact you. A solicitor approves the template in advance, and a fee earner confirms each reminder was sent. The email gives no advice.

An immigration firm in Manchester looks after 15 employer clients with about 80 sponsored workers between them, around 10 of whom have an expiry in a given month. The firm records every date in its case management diary first and adds a calendar event as a backup. It sets reminders 90 and 30 days before expiry, so each worker gets two emails, and a fee earner confirms each was sent.

The value isn't monetary: a second prompt for clients about visa expiry, not time saved. About 40 minutes a month saved (4 minutes x 10 reminders) is worth around £23 if staff time is worth £35 an hour, but that is not the point. Assumes you already have Gmail or Google Workspace. Two reminders per worker means two Zaps and about 20 emails a month, which is 20 Zapier tasks within the free plan's 100; check the free plan's limit on the number of Zaps.

1. 1Record every expiry first in your case management or compliance diary; this Zap is a secondary prompt to the client.
2. 2Check your terms of engagement cover reminders, agree with each client who receives them, and have a solicitor approve the email template.
3. 3Create a shared Google Calendar and add each expiry as an event using a reference code, not a name.
4. 4In Zapier, create two Zaps from the same calendar, one triggered 90 days before each event and one 30 days before; check each trigger's offset setting, and the free plan's limit on the number of Zaps.
5. 5Add one action to each Zap: send the approved templated email from your Gmail to the contact held for that client.
6. 6Test with a dummy event and a colleague's address, then have a fee earner confirm each real reminder was sent.

• Zaps can fail silently. Check weekly that every upcoming expiry has a calendar event and that the reminders due went out; the diary, not the Zap, is the record.
• If the date is wrong the reminder is wrong. A fee earner must check each expiry against the visa or letter before the event is created.
• Zapier's Free plan allows only two-step Zaps and 100 tasks a month, so each reminder email counts. Adding more steps needs Pro: $19.99 (about £15) a month billed annually, or $29.99 (about £22) monthly.
• A reminder email suggests the firm is watching. Make sure your engagement letter says what you do and do not monitor, and keep personal details out of calendar titles.