Immigration self-help information service
People navigating immigration drown in scattered, outdated information, and attorney hours are expensive enough that many burn them on questions a database could answer: what’s my Express Entry score, which countries could I actually get into, what does the whole process cost.
This business sells organized information: personalized research packs a customer takes into their attorney meeting or their own self-filed application. It is emphatically not legal advice, and the line between the two is the first thing you learn.
The job
A customer gives you their profile: nationality, age, education, work history, language scores, destination interest. You run the relevant checks (points calculators, pathway rankings, category eligibility, visa requirements, full cost breakdowns) and assemble a clean, sourced research pack. What you never do is recommend which pathway they should choose or how to present their case; that’s practicing immigration law.
Your customers fall into two groups: self-filers in points-based systems (Canada, Australia, UK) where the process is designed for individuals, and attorney-represented applicants who want to arrive at the paid consultation already informed.
Who it suits
Immigrants who’ve been through a process themselves are the natural operators here; they know the confusion firsthand and typically serve their own community first, in its own language.
Startup cost and tools
| What | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Engine calls per client | ~$0.60–$1.20 | Points check ($0.10), category check ($0.25), pathway map ($0.20), costs ($0.10), and comparisons as needed |
| Payment + intake page | $0–$45/mo | Standard stack |
Engine prices are the live public catalog prices, the same sheet agents pay. No subscription is required to use them.
The licensing question
This is the most tightly regulated blueprint in the Field Guide, and the rules protect your customers from real predators. In the US, giving immigration advice for compensation is the practice of law: only attorneys and DOJ-accredited representatives may do it, and "notario" operations get prosecuted. Canada restricts paid advice to lawyers and licensed consultants (RCIC); the UK requires IAA (formerly OISC) registration for immigration advice. Selling general information and personalized data lookups is legal in these places; selecting forms for someone, advising strategy, or completing applications for a fee is not, unless you’re credentialed.
Run it clean: written disclaimer on everything ("information service, not legal advice, not a law firm"), no case strategy, and a referral list of licensed practitioners you hand out freely. If you love this field, the credentialed route (RCIC in Canada, IAA in the UK, DOJ accreditation via a nonprofit in the US) turns this side business into a profession.
How the engine does the heavy lifting
The engine covers points calculators for the major skilled-worker systems, pathway rankings by nationality and destination, live category-based selection data, and full cost breakdowns.
/api/points$0.10Skilled-worker points calculator — Canada Express Entry CRS, Australia SkillSelect, UK PBS, Germany Chancenkarte, Austria Red-White-Red Card/api/category-check$0.25Express Entry 2026 category checker — eligibility across all 10 categories + observed cutoffs/api/pathway$0.20Permanent residency roadmap — every pathway ranked for nationality + destination/api/cost$0.10Complete immigration cost breakdown — government fees + attorney + hidden costs/api/compare$0.15Side-by-side immigration comparison across multiple destination countriesYour first customer in 30 days
- Write your disclaimer and your "what I don’t do" list before anything else, and put both on every page and every deliverable.
- Build one sample research pack for a fictional profile and show it to a licensed practitioner. Ask them where the advice line is; most will tell you gladly, and some will become your referral partners.
- Serve your own community first, in its own language, where trust already exists.
- Price the pack flat. Keep it modest; volume and referrals matter more than margin here.
Hand this to your assistant
This blueprint has a machine-readable page with the current endpoints, prices, and setup steps. Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT, or any assistant that can fetch a URL:
Machine page: https://pulse.theaslangroupllc.com/fieldguide/immigration-self-help-kits.json
Start this one
The engines are pay-per-call, no subscription. Agents pay per call over x402 (USDC on Base or Solana). If you're a human, get a starter key: it takes about a minute, includes a $0.25 trial balance, and tops up by card (Stripe) or USDC. No crypto wallet required. Prefer email? Write to info@theaslangroupllc.com with the subject "Starter key: immigration-self-help-kits" and we'll provision one by hand, usually the same day.
The Field Guide book, with all 75 blueprints expanded, is in progress. The hub is free either way.