MM Secure Client Portal – Forms, Status updates, notification to clients (5/6)
In our previous posts we have enabled a clients’ Secure Client Portal, sent a Web Questionnaire, requested documents using the Progress Item Tabs, imported the information into your MM database from the Web Questionnaire, requested and received documents from your client via the Secure Client Portal.
Now that you have your client’s information in your MM, you can commence the preparation of any additional or supporting forms required as part of the visa application, including Form 80 or Form 956 for example.
If the Department only accepts form applications for a certain visa subclass, what is the benefit of storing the information in MM?
As the Department of Home Affairs uses the various forms to cross-reference the eligibility criteria, there has never been a more important time to streamline your data collection process to prepare the various forms for your clients. you will be able to use the same information to draft any other forms to support the application. In the instance where the Department will only accept paper forms (Child applications or some Bridging visas), it is still beneficial to collect this information in a questionnaire, import the information in MM. It will enable you to draft forms and/or the visa application on the IMMI account (via the eLodge function) using the one source, reducing the chance of clerical errors, streamlining the drafting process, and providing your clients with consistently high-quality drafted forms and applications.
Filling out forms using MM
MM assists your drafting process by an automated merging of your client’s information into a wide range of Department forms.
1. When you are in your client’s file, click the Forms button on the top taskbar.
2. Select Form 80 from the Dropdown list.
3. Select the person who you would like to generate the form.
You can select any of the applicants as the main person for your form. Say, for example, your client has a 20-year-old dependent child and you need to prepare Form 80 with them specifically, you can change the name in the drop-won list in section 2 to identify the 20-year old dependent child as the ‘selected person’. All the information stored in MM for the selected person will be imported into the form.
If it is your first time using the Forms function, you will be prompted to download the latest form. You will need to ensure that your Legend log-in details are correctly saved in your user settings. For more information on this, please
You can also specify if you would like the answers to be imported into the form as either upper case or as stored in the database.
Once you are happy with your selections, press Merge Form.
The form will then pop up into Adobe Reader and the information should be imported into the form.
4. You have the opportunity to review the information and make updates to the form as required, save and then send it to your client for review.
Any changes that you make to the form can be saved. The form is automatically saved in the Documents tab, in the Forms folder.
Sending a partially completed form to your client via the MM Secure Client Portal
1. When you have finished the review of the form, click the Documents tab in the client’s file.
2. Right-click on the form you want to send to your client and select Upload to Portal.
3. Provide further instructions to your client about what you need them to do with the partially completed form, how they can return it to you once they have finalized the form, and click Send Message
Communicating the visa status in the MM Secure Client Portal
1. If you want to communicate with your client via the secure portal, using a saved letter, you can select the Letter button on the top toolbar.
2. Select the relevant letter and press Merge in the bottom right-hand corner.
3. In the Documents tab, click on Letters Out in the left-hand column, select the letter you have just created, right-click and select Upload to Portal.
Provide a Status update for your client in the MM Secure Client Portal
You can use the Secure Client Portal to keep your clients updated on the progress of their visa application to try to minimalize any interruptions to your workflow.
For example's sake, you had identified the following milestones in your process flow, you can add them to the Portal so that your client can see the progression of the process
- Confirmation of Instructions Letter Sent
- Payment of Deposit
- Requested Documents required
- Receive Documents required
- Lodged Application
- Decision
- In the Progress tab, once the relevant Progress Item template has been selected and the required activities are listed, click on the Portal button.
2. Select the activities that you would like your client to see in the portal and click Add to Portal.
The selected activities will then appear in the Uploaded to Portal column on the right.
Once your client is in their Secure Client Portal, they will see the status in real-time, so when each activity has been finished or ticked off in the Progress tab, they will see a green tick beside the activity.
Secure Client Portal Preferences
You can modify your Portal preferences to suit your process flow. Some of the options you can consider include
- The frequency of documents downloads
- If you would like your clients to be able to message you via the Secure Client Portal
- Specify who you would like the associated responsible person to be for the matter
- The duration that the documents remain on the Portal server
- Communication relating to your portal
For more information on how to modify any of the options listed above, please refer to the MM Portal Preferences entry.
In the next post
In the next post, we will show you how to view your client’s portal history, create your bespoke Progress Items List, and how you can use the Snapshot feature to manage your workflow.