A startup that won TechCrunch Disrupt's Policy + Protection category is using AI to democratize immigration law. JustiGuide has built an AI assistant called Dolores that's trained on over 40,000 court cases to help immigrants navigate the notoriously complex US immigration system - and it's already serving 47,000 users across 12 languages.
The US immigration system just got its first serious AI makeover, and it's coming from someone who knows the struggle firsthand. JustiGuide, founded by Nigerian immigrant Bisi Obateru, is wielding artificial intelligence to cut through the red tape that costs immigrants thousands and keeps lawyers busy with paperwork instead of advocacy.
The platform centers around an AI assistant named Dolores - what Obateru calls 'a continuous refining domain-specific AI that understands US immigration.' Dolores isn't just another chatbot. She's been trained on over 40,000 immigration court cases sourced from the Free Law Project, a nonprofit that provides free access to legal materials. The result is an AI that can translate complex immigration law into 12 languages and guide users through visa options they might never have known existed.
'I think the more we make the technology accessible, people will be empowered to try and fill their own forms and understand what their options are and that they will be able to use lawyers for just the review process,' Obateru told TechCrunch after winning best pitch in the Policy + Protection category at this year's Disrupt conference.
Obateru's personal journey from international student to H1-B visa holder to permanent resident gave him intimate knowledge of the system's pain points. After finishing his studies in the US, he navigated the same bureaucratic maze that trips up hundreds of thousands of immigrants annually. That experience became his blueprint for building something better.
The startup's approach is refreshingly direct. Instead of replacing lawyers, JustiGuide positions itself as the intelligent first step that makes legal consultation more efficient. The platform includes three core components: an AI legal research assistant, a matching system that pairs immigrants with appropriate attorneys, and document compilation tools that handle the paralegal work that typically inflates legal bills.
JustiGuide's customer base spans the immigration ecosystem. Startup founders use it to navigate hiring international talent, H1-B holders explore alternative visa paths, international students research entrepreneurship options, and law firms streamline their practices. But Obateru has bigger ambitions - he envisions government institutions eventually licensing the technology to improve their own processes.
