iVan to the Rescue
Immigration is a hot topic all over the world now. Having been through the process myself, I can testify that it tends to be long and confusing: you’re faced with an endless list of documents, fees, and timelines, and often in a language you don’t speak. I ended up paying good money to hire a half-decent lawyer to guide me through it all, and was left with a question: could there be an easier, cheaper way? Well, if you’re immigrating to Ukraine, you’re in luck. Let me introduce you to iVan – no, not your new neighbour, but a friendly bot to guide you through the immigration maze.
User-friendly Justice System
Launched in December, iVan has already helped a great many people, and received extremely positive feedback at an international event hosted by world-renowned organisation HiiL (The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law), whose mission it is to make justice user-friendly. In the Ukrainian system – highly bureaucratic and beset by fraud – iVan is a breakthrough. It is estimated that Ukrainian immigration law has been violated 92 000 times in the past three years; in November 2019 alone, some 700 people were deported from Kyiv and the surrounding region. Perhaps the bot will help bring these numbers down.
I tested the bot myself and found it to be a handy tool. Just like a good lawyer, iVan provided advice tailored to my needs, all within a matter of a few seconds. If you prefer human advice, it can assist with this too. Finding a good lawyer can be a challenge, but never fear – iVan was developed by a group of lawyers from the Legal Ideas law firm, who can advise you on who to hire. And who could give better advice on finding a lawyer than the lawyers themselves?
iVan’s future is more than promising: to create an even better system, partnerships with USAID, the UN, and the Ukrainian ministries of justice and foreign affairs are in the works. The bot’s creators believe that this is a crucial step towards solving Ukraine’s complicated immigration issues.
FB: iVanimmigrationbot
Telegram: iVan_Immigration_UA_bot
