About this policy
Birg Law is an immigration law firm in Illinois. This policy explains what information we collect when you use birg.law, when you contact us through the website, and when we use the Case Status Tracker, a tool we built for our own practice, to check the status of our clients’ cases with USCIS. It also explains how we use that information, where it is kept, who can see it, how long we keep it, and the choices you have.
If you are a Birg Law client, your engagement agreement with the firm still governs our relationship. This policy adds detail about our website and our tools; it does not replace that agreement or our duties to you under the rules of professional conduct.
Information you send us through the website
When you write to us through a contact form or the intake wizard on birg.law, we receive what you type: your name, your email address or phone number (we ask for at least one so we can reply), the practice area or service you chose, your answers to the follow-up questions, and your message. We also record the page you sent it from, the time, and, when the link that brought you to the site carried them, the campaign codes in that link (for example a Google or Meta click id, or a code that tells us which of our social media accounts you came from). We use those codes only to know how people find us.
Some questions ask for a USCIS receipt number or an A-number when it helps us find your case, and the investor questions ask, in general terms, how much you plan to invest and where the money will come from; answer only what you are comfortable sharing at this stage. We do not ask for your Social Security number, passport details, or bank or card details in these forms, and we ask you not to send documents or detailed confidential facts through them. The first conversation with an attorney is the place for those. We do not collect biometric identifiers or biometric information through the website.
Your IP address is used only to limit abuse of the forms (too many submissions from one address). It is not stored with your message.
How we use what you send
We use what you send to answer you, to understand your situation before we speak, to decide whether we can help, and, if you become a client, to represent you. Even if we do not take your case, we keep what you told us confidential, as the rules of professional conduct require for prospective clients. We do not sell your information, and we do not trade it, rent it, or share it in exchange for anything of value.
By sending a form you agree to our
Terms & Conditions and to this policy, and you agree that Birg Law may contact you about your inquiry by phone, email and text message, including automated texts, at the number you give. Consent is not a condition of hiring us. Message and data rates may apply. You can stop text messages at any time by replying STOP, and you can ask us to stop contacting you by any method by telling us so.
Where your information is kept
What you send through the website goes straight to our case management system, Zoho CRM, which encrypts data in transit and at rest, and is read only by Birg Law attorneys and staff. If our case management system cannot be reached at the moment you send a form, the website keeps a copy of your submission on its own server only until it has been delivered to our system or to our staff, then deletes it. The website also keeps a short technical log (the most recent 200 entries) of submissions that did not go through as expected, so that we can follow up, and it keeps the full text of a very long message for up to 90 days when only part of it could be delivered at first.
Services on the website that collect information
Our website uses Google reCAPTCHA to protect the forms from automated abuse; Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply to it. We use Google’s analytics tag to understand how the site is used; it reports visits in aggregate and does not give us your name. We offer live chat through Zoho SalesIQ; what you type in the chat is handled the same way as a form, and the chat provider processes it for us under a written agreement. The site also shows embedded content, such as maps and videos, from other companies, which may set their own cookies. Our
Cookies Policy explains the cookies on the site and how to manage them.
The website sets three small cookies of its own, for 90 days, so that we know how you found us: one holds the campaign codes from the link you arrived on, one holds the code of the social media account you came from, and one holds the address of the first page you visited. They contain nothing about who you are.
Who sees your information
Within the firm, what you send is visible only to the attorneys and staff who handle inquiries and client files, under the same confidentiality duties that cover the rest of a client’s file. Outside the firm, we share information only with the service providers named in this policy, who process it for us under written agreements and may not use it for anything else; with USCIS, as described below for the Case Status Tracker; and where the law or a court requires it. We do not disclose your information to any other third party unless you give us your active consent first.
Children
Our website is for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13 through the website. If a child’s case is involved, a parent or guardian should contact us.
Your choices and your rights
You can ask us what information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, or ask us to stop contacting you. Send the request to
[email protected] or call 833.579.9989. We will confirm who you are before we act on a request about your information, and we will answer within 30 days. If you have an engagement with the firm, some information must be kept for the time the law and our professional obligations require; we will tell you if that applies.
The Case Status Tracker
Birg Law is an immigration law firm. The Case Status Tracker is a tool we built for our own practice. It connects our case management system to the USCIS Case Status API so that we can check the status of our clients’ pending cases using the receipt numbers already on file with us. We use it to keep our clients informed and to act quickly when a case moves.
These terms explain what the Case Status Tracker does, what data it handles, and the rules we follow. They apply to two groups of people. The first is our clients, whose case status we check. The second is Birg Law attorneys and staff, who are the only people who operate the tool. The Case Status Tracker is not offered to the public, and there is no public sign-up.
If you are a Birg Law client, your engagement agreement with the firm still governs our relationship. These terms add detail about this one tool; they do not replace that agreement or our duties to you under the rules of professional conduct.
Who may use the service
Only Birg Law attorneys and staff may operate the Case Status Tracker, and only on firm-managed systems. We check status only for cases in which Birg Law represents the applicant or petitioner, or is evaluating a matter at the request of a prospective client. We do not look up receipt numbers for anyone else, and we do not run bulk queries unrelated to our clients.
Our use of the USCIS Case Status API is also governed by the USCIS Developer Portal Terms of Use. Where those terms are stricter than this page, we follow the stricter rule.
What data we collect and why
The Case Status Tracker handles a narrow set of data. From your file with us, it uses your USCIS receipt number, the thirteen-character identifier printed on your USCIS receipt notice. It sends that number to USCIS and receives back the current case status title and description that USCIS publishes for it. This is the same text anyone with the receipt number can read on the USCIS Case Status Online page. We store the status text, the receipt number it belongs to, the date we last checked, and a short code we use to notice when the status changes. When a status changes, we add a dated note to your file.
We do not collect anything else through this tool. It does not gather your name, address, date of birth, A-number, Social Security number, financial information, location data, device information, or anything from your phone or computer. The information it stores lives only in your client record in our case management system, alongside the rest of your file. The tool has no website, no app for clients, and no account for you to create.
Receipt numbers are personal information
We collect USCIS receipt numbers from our clients and treat them as personally identifiable information (PII). A receipt number identifies a specific person’s case with USCIS, so we protect it the same way we protect the rest of your file. We collect it when you give us your receipt notice or when USCIS issues one on a case we filed for you, and we keep it on your client record.
We use your receipt number for one purpose: to query USCIS for the current status of your case. The Case Status Tracker sends the receipt number to the USCIS Case Status API over an encrypted connection, receives the status, and records it on your file. It sends nothing else about you to USCIS, and it does not send your receipt number anywhere other than USCIS.
Receipt numbers and case statuses are stored in our case management system, Zoho CRM, which encrypts data in transit and at rest. Access requires an individual, password-protected login, is limited to the attorneys and staff who work on client files, and is removed when someone leaves the firm. The credentials we use to reach USCIS are held by the firm, never by individuals, and the firm laptops that run the tool are password protected and encrypted. We do not disclose receipt numbers to any third party without your consent, except to USCIS as described here or where the law requires it, and we review access to the system periodically. If we ever learn of unauthorized access to or disclosure of your receipt number, we will notify you as described under Security and breach notification below.
How we use your data and who sees it
We use case status information for one purpose: representing you. It helps us keep you informed, meet deadlines, and respond when USCIS acts on your case. We do not sell your data, and we do not trade it, rent it, or share it in exchange for anything of value.
The only outside party that receives data from this tool is USCIS, which receives your receipt number so it can answer our request. We do not disclose your case status to any other third party unless you give us your active consent first, or the law or a court requires it. If we ever engage a vendor to help run this tool, that vendor will be bound in writing to these same rules before it sees any data. Within the firm, your case status is visible only to the attorneys and staff who work on client files, under the same confidentiality duties that cover the rest of your file.
How long we keep data and how to delete it
Case status information stays in your file while your matter is open and for the retention period we apply to closed files, and is then removed with the rest of the record. We stop checking a case automatically once the matter is closed in our system, so we do not keep querying USCIS about cases we no longer handle.
You can ask us at any time to stop checking your case, to delete the stored status, or to close your client record. Send the request to
[email protected] or to your attorney, or call 833.579.9989. We will complete the deletion within 30 days of your request and confirm it to you in writing. The only exception is information we are required to keep by law, by court order, or by our professional obligations as your attorneys; we will tell you if that applies. If your matter has been inactive for more than two years and you have not contacted us, we treat the record as dormant: we stop any automatic checks and handle the record under our closed-file retention schedule.
Information you sent through the website and that did not lead to an engagement is kept in our case management system for the time we need to answer you and to keep a record of the inquiry, and is then handled under the same retention schedule. You can ask us to delete it sooner, as described above.
Security and breach notification
The credentials we use to reach USCIS are held by the firm, not by individual employees, and are stored only in the systems that make the calls. Access to our case management system requires an individual login, and the laptops that run the tool are password protected and encrypted. We review who has access when staff join or leave.
If we learn that your case status information was seen by someone who should not have seen it, we will notify you without undue delay, tell you what happened and what information was involved, and explain what we are doing about it. We will also notify any authority the law requires us to notify. The same applies to any other personal information we hold about you.
If the firm changes hands or closes
If Birg Law is sold, merges with another firm, or changes ownership, we will notify you before your information is transferred, and the new owner will be bound by these terms or by terms at least as protective. If the firm closes, your file, including any case status information, will be returned to you or handled as the rules of professional conduct require for closed client files, and the Case Status Tracker’s USCIS access will be shut off.
California residents
Birg Law is an Illinois law firm and does not expect to meet the thresholds that make the California Consumer Privacy Act apply to it. If the CCPA does apply to you, you have the right to know what personal information we hold about you, to ask us to delete it, to correct it, and not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. We do not sell or share personal information as the CCPA defines those terms. To make a request, use the contact details below; we will verify that you are the person the information is about before we act on it.
Changes to these terms
We may update this page when the tool changes, when USCIS changes its requirements, or when the law changes. When we make a material change, we will tell the clients whose cases we check, in plain language, what changed and why, and we will ask for your active consent before the change applies to you. Minor changes, such as fixing a typo or updating an address, take effect when posted. The date at the top of this page is the date of the current version.
The same applies to the website sections of this policy: a material change is announced on this page in plain language, with what changed and why, before it takes effect.
Contact us
Questions about this policy, or requests about your data, can be sent to
[email protected] or made by phone at 833.579.9989. You can also write to either office.
Birg Law, One Northfield Plaza, Suite 502, Northfield, IL 60093
Birg Law, 641 W. Lake Street, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60661
This policy is governed by the laws of the State of Illinois. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.