Key points at a glance
- Immigration clients search on mobile, in several languages and under deadline pressure. Within seconds the website has to show what you do, which languages you advise in and how to reach you right away.
- State languages honestly: only languages in which lawyers advise themselves, interpreting mentioned separately, legal terms such as “Aufenthaltstitel” (residence permit) kept in German and explained.
- WhatsApp is the preferred channel of many clients. Allow it only deliberately: notice of the risks, consent, no private phone, documents via a secure route (in Germany § 2(2) BORA, in Austria § 9 RAO and the GDPR).
- Deadlines belong on the home page: time limits for appeals and lawsuits in asylum and immigration law are sometimes much shorter than usual.
- Business immigration (Red-White-Red Card, EU Blue Card, accelerated skilled worker procedure) needs its own page for employers, with process, flat fees and English.
This post is general information, not legal or tax advice for your individual case. Laws, professional guidelines and chamber fees change: check the details with your chamber, the relevant authority or your professional association before you make a decision.
What makes an immigration law website different
A website for immigration law has three audiences. The first are private individuals who apply for or extend a residence permit, want to bring their family over, want to naturalise or have received a negative decision. The second are people in asylum proceedings, often without money and with very short deadlines. The third are companies that want to hire skilled workers from non-EU countries. All three have different questions, different languages and different expectations about price.
On top of that come features that hardly any other area of law has: many visitors read German only with effort, do not know the legal system and trust recommendations from their community more than authorities. They prefer writing on WhatsApp to email, send photos of decisions and passports and ask about the price first. And while searching they come across providers who advertise “visa guaranteed” without being allowed to give legal advice. The usual content of a lawyer's website remains the foundation. This post adds what matters on top of that in immigration law.
Which pages an immigration law website needs
| Page | Content | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Home page | The area of law in one sentence, languages, deadline notice, phone and contact channels clearly visible | People searching under time pressure decide within seconds |
| Residence and extension | Residence permits, extension, change of purpose, permanent residence; in Austria under the NAG, in Germany under the AufenthG | Most frequent search: “aufenthaltstitel anwalt”, “aufenthaltstitel verlängern anwalt” |
| Family reunification | Requirements, documents, role of the embassy, typical duration | Emotionally important, many follow-up questions |
| Asylum and appeals | Process, deadlines, role of BFA and BVwG (AT) or BAMF and administrative court (DE), free legal advice | Speed decides here |
| Citizenship and naturalisation | Requirements, documents, common obstacles | A predictable mandate, good for an initial consultation |
| For companies | Red-White-Red Card, EU Blue Card, skilled worker procedure, flat fees, in German and English | Higher fees, recurring mandates |
| Fees | Initial consultation, flat fees, hourly rate, free alternatives | Price is the first question, “kostenlos” (free) the most frequent addition on Google |
| Team and languages | Who advises in which language, photo, admission, focus areas | The person's language often decides the mandate |
| Contact | Phone, form, messenger rules, secure upload, directions | Lowers the threshold without putting confidentiality at risk |
Only create pages for areas you actually handle. If you don't do asylum law, say so on the home page and refer to the free legal advice. That saves you calls and saves people looking for help time. How to build individual areas of law as pages is covered in the guide to practice areas on a firm website.
Languages: which ones, how many and how honestly
In immigration law, language is often the reason clients choose you in particular. Searches such as “anwalt arabisch wien” (Arabic-speaking lawyer Vienna) or “anwalt türkisch” show this. Depending on the city, the most requested languages are English, Turkish, Arabic, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, Russian, Ukrainian as well as Farsi and Dari. How to plan, implement and maintain language versions in general is explained in the guide to the multilingual law firm website. For immigration law, a few points come on top:
- Only languages in which you advise yourself. An Arabic page while an interpreter translates in the meeting is misleading. Say it openly: “Advice in German, English and Turkish. For Arabic and Farsi we arrange an interpreter.”
- Keep legal terms in German and explain them. “Aufenthaltstitel”, “Niederlassungsbewilligung”, “Rot-Weiß-Rot-Karte”, “Duldung” or “Fiktionsbescheinigung” appear exactly like that in every decision. Clients have to recognise them.
- Translation quality over quantity. A wrongly translated deadline or a mixed-up permit causes real harm in immigration law. Better three cleanly translated pages than thirty machine-generated ones.
- Arabic, Farsi and Dari run from right to left. The website must be able to mirror the layout, otherwise forms and lists look broken.
- Offer Russian and Ukrainian separately if you address both groups. Many Ukrainians speak Russian but prefer to be addressed in Ukrainian.
- Plain language in German too. Short sentences, few compound nouns, examples. That helps everyone who reads German as a second language, and search engines.
WhatsApp, messengers and confidentiality
Many immigration clients use WhatsApp as their main way of communicating, often also with family in their home country. They expect to reach the firm the same way and send photos of passports, decisions and medical letters without being asked. For you as a lawyer this is delicate: asylum and residence files often contain special categories of personal data under Art. 9 GDPR, for example on health, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. And professional secrecy applies in a chat too.
In Germany, § 2(2) BORA expressly states: a communication channel that carries risks for confidentiality is in any case permitted if the client agrees. Consent is assumed if the client proposes or starts this channel and continues it after you have pointed out the risks, at least in general terms. Austria has no comparably explicit rule; what counts is the duty of confidentiality under § 9 RAO and the GDPR. In both countries the data protection side remains: the WhatsApp app on the work phone can match the address book with Meta, and chats easily end up in private backups.
| Channel | Well suited for | Not suited for |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | First contact, urgent deadlines, appointments | Sending documents |
| WhatsApp or another messenger | Appointments, reminders, short organisational questions, if clients agree after a notice | Decisions, passports, medical documents, legal advice on the substance |
| Contact form | Enquiry with name, language, area of law, deadline and request for a call back | Describing the flight story or criminal offences |
| Secure upload or client portal | Decisions, ID documents, contracts, employer declarations | Nothing, as long as its use is clearly explained to clients |
| Companies, correspondence after consent, invoices | Sensitive documents without encryption |
Using messengers deliberately
- A separate business number on a work phone, never the private phone
- Explain on the contact page in plain language what the messenger is for and what it is not for
- Send a short standard notice about the risks in the first chat and document the reply
- Offer a secure upload link for documents and ask clients to delete photos from the chat afterwards
- Transfer important content from the chat to the electronic file instead of leaving it on the phone
- Name the messenger and the upload in the privacy policy
A wording example for the contact page: “You can also reach us on WhatsApp, for appointments and short questions. Please do not send decisions and ID documents via WhatsApp, but through our secure upload. That keeps your data protected.” More on forms, availability and confidentiality is in the post The contact page of a law firm.
Deadlines: the most important notice on the home page
In immigration and asylum law, a deadline often decides everything. Many clients don't know that a time limit starts running when a decision is served, or only come when it has almost expired. A clear notice on the home page and on every area-of-law page is therefore not marketing but part of the advice.
| Austria | Germany | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | NAG (residence), FPG (aliens police), AsylG 2005, BFA-VG | AufenthG, AsylG, Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz (Skilled Immigration Act, amendments to the AufenthG) |
| Competent bodies | Settlement authority (in Vienna MA 35), BFA, Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) | Ausländerbehörde (immigration office), BAMF, administrative court |
| Usual time limit against decisions | Appeal (Beschwerde) usually four weeks (VwGVG) | Objection or action usually one month |
| Shorter time limits | Against certain BFA decisions sometimes only two weeks or ten days (§ 16 BFA-VG) | Asylum action usually two weeks, in certain cases one week (§ 74 AsylG) |
Deadline notice at the top of the home page
“You have received a decision? Call us straight away. Against some decisions you only have a few days.” In all languages of your website.
Ask for the date of service
A field in the contact form: “When did you receive the letter?”. That way you see urgent cases first.
Promise a call back the same day
Only if you can keep it. Otherwise give a phone number with fixed hours instead.
Arrange cover during absence
Holidays or illness must not cost a deadline. The out-of-office reply names a deputy and a number for urgent deadlines, in your clients' languages.
Out-of-office reply with a deadline notice
The free out-of-office generator creates a bilingual reply with your deputy and a notice for urgent deadlines, ready to paste into your email program.
Explaining fees honestly: free help, legal aid and flat fees
In Austria, the most frequent Google addition is “fremdenrecht anwalt wien kostenlos” (immigration lawyer Vienna free). There is a reason: many people seeking help have little money, and free services really do exist. Don't hide them. If you explain honestly when free help fits and when a law firm does, you gain trust and get the enquiries that suit you.
For everything else: name prices as concretely as possible. An initial consultation with a fixed price and fixed duration, flat fees for predictable procedures such as extension, family reunification or the Red-White-Red Card, an hourly rate for everything else. Say what is not included: official fees, translations, certifications. If you offer instalments, say so. How to present initial consultations and fees in line with professional rules is in the guide to the website for lawyers.
Trust against “visa agencies” and fake reviews
In immigration law you compete not only with colleagues but with agencies, intermediaries and individuals who promise “visa guaranteed”, demand large advance payments and in an emergency are not allowed to appear before an authority or court. In Austria, comprehensive professional representation of parties is reserved to lawyers (§ 8 RAO); in Germany the Legal Services Act (RDG) determines who may give legal advice. Your website has to show these differences without disparaging other providers. Professional rules and unfair competition law (UWG) prohibit that.
How to get it right
- Name your admission and bar association and link the lawyer directory so anyone can check your admission
- Promise a written fee agreement and an invoice for every payment
- Say honestly what nobody can guarantee: “The authority decides on your application. We make sure it is complete and well reasoned.”
- In Germany use “Fachanwalt für Migrationsrecht” (specialist lawyer for migration law) only once the bar has awarded it (§ 14p FAO); in Austria state focus areas factually as practice areas
- Collect genuine reviews, answer them factually and never disclose details of a mandate
Better avoid
- “Visa guaranteed”, “100 % success” or “faster than the authority”
- Warning against or running down competing agencies or colleagues by name
- Bought or swapped reviews, not even “to balance out” other people's fake reviews
- Photos of passports, residence cards or clients as proof of success, not even redacted
- Titles such as “Fachanwalt” in Austria or “specialist” without a demonstrable focus
A short, factual FAQ page “How do I recognise reputable legal advice?” helps people looking for help without attacking anyone: is the person admitted as a lawyer? Is there a written agreement and are there invoices? Is a result guaranteed? AI assistants like to pick up answers like these as well. If you find fake reviews on your own Google profile, report them to Google and reply factually instead of hitting back.
Business immigration: winning employers as clients
The most predictable and best-paid field in immigration law is skilled immigration. Construction, care, hospitality, IT and industry in Austria and Germany are looking for staff from non-EU countries. The procedures are formally demanding, HR departments have little time, and a mistake costs months. For this, companies don't search for “fremdenrecht anwalt” but for “rot weiß rot karte anwalt”, “blaue karte anwalt” or “fachkräfteeinwanderung anwalt”, often in English.
| Austria | Germany | |
|---|---|---|
| Key permits | Red-White-Red Card (§ 41 NAG) for very highly qualified workers, skilled workers in shortage occupations, other key workers, graduates, regular workers, self-employed key workers and start-up founders; EU Blue Card (§ 42 NAG) | EU Blue Card (§ 18g AufenthG), residence permit for skilled workers (§§ 18a, 18b AufenthG), Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte) |
| Role of the employer | Employer declaration; the application can also be filed by the employer in Austria with the settlement authority; the AMS (public employment service) checks the labour market requirements | Accelerated skilled worker procedure (§ 81a AufenthG): the employer files the application with a power of attorney at the Ausländerbehörde |
| What you can offer | Checking the criteria, application, communication with the authority and AMS, extension and Red-White-Red Card plus, family reunification | Agreement with the Ausländerbehörde, recognition of qualifications, visa procedure, family reunification, later settlement permit |
The “For companies” page
- A separate page in German and English, not just a paragraph on the home page
- Process in steps: initial meeting, review, application, authority, entry, extension, with realistic time spans instead of promises
- Flat fees per procedure and terms for several employees, net with a note on VAT
- Name a fixed contact person and short response times
- Name industries you know, without listing companies as references without their consent
- A checklist of documents to download, so HR comes to the initial meeting prepared
You reach HR managers and managing directors less through Google than through their network. Short posts on changes to the Red-White-Red Card or the skilled worker procedure on LinkedIn for law firms, talks at the Chamber of Commerce, IHK or industry associations and referrals from tax advisers and payroll providers often bring more than any ad. The website is then the place where these contacts check whether you really know the procedure.
Common mistakes on immigration law websites
- Only German and only legal jargon: the website speaks to the authority, not to the people looking for help.
- Languages nobody on the team speaks: the disappointment in the first meeting costs more than the language version brought in.
- No deadline notice: clients come too late because nobody told them the clock is running.
- WhatsApp number without rules: passports and medical letters end up in a chat on a phone without a backup concept.
- No prices: anyone who searches for “free” and finds no prices calls the next provider, often an agency.
- Guarantees and success rates: “visa guaranteed” is misleading and puts you on a level with dubious providers.
- Employers are not addressed: skilled immigration is missing or hidden in a subordinate clause.
- Photos of documents and clients: risky even with consent, because the people concerned remain recognisable.
How to become visible in search with this website is described in the posts SEO for lawyers and Your Google Business Profile. Where advertising law for lawyers draws the line is covered in Advertising for lawyers in Austria and in Germany.
An immigration law website in your languages
Our law firm websites come with language versions on their own addresses, right-to-left layout for Arabic and Farsi, a contact page with clear messenger rules and a page for companies. Request a free preview.
A no-obligation preview of how your firm website could look with us.
Sources
- RIS – Settlement and Residence Act (NAG)
- RIS – BFA Procedures Act, § 16 (time limits for appeals)
- RIS – Austrian Lawyers' Act (RAO)
- migration.gv.at – Permanent immigration and Red-White-Red Card
- gesetze-im-internet.de – Residence Act, § 81a (accelerated skilled worker procedure)
- gesetze-im-internet.de – Asylgesetz, § 74 (time limit for actions)
- BRAK – Rules of Professional Practice (BORA), as of 01.12.2025
- BRAK – Specialist Lawyers' Regulations (FAO), as of 01.10.2026
- EUR-Lex – General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in particular Art. 9
