AI-guided legal documentation to secure your status before the June deadline
Undocumented migrants in South Africa face door-to-door vigilante threats and forced expulsion by June's end, unfairly scapegoated for local poverty and unemployment.
PermitPath uses South African immigration law knowledge to create personalized checklists, auto-fill forms, and generate supporting affidavits for undocumented migrants. Users scan documents, answer simple questions, and receive step-by-step guidance toward asylum, visitor visas, or Section 22 permits.
Undocumented migrants and foreign nationals living in South African communities
Offline-first RAG legal engine trained specifically on DHA policies and recent court precedents, combined with paralegal matching within migrant communities.
empowering
Simple signup with phone number and country of origin
Dynamic checklist based on user situation (Zimbabwean, Nigerian, etc.)
Scan and organize passports, affidavits, and proof of residence
Answers simple questions to generate completed DHA forms
Creates notarized-style supporting letters in multiple languages
Connect with verified community paralegals for review
Work on applications without internet connection
Notifications when DHA policies change
Visual timeline with reminders for submissions
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| phone_hash | text | No |
| nationality | text | No |
| current_status | text | Yes |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| user_id | uuid | No |
| permit_type | text | No |
| status | text | No |
| completion_percent | int | No |
| updated_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| application_id | uuid | No |
| document_type | text | No |
| storage_url | text | Yes |
| extracted_text | text | Yes |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| chunk_text | text | No |
| embedding | vector | No |
| source_law | text | No |
/api/checklistGenerate personalized document checklist
/api/generate-affidavitCreate custom supporting affidavit using RAG
/api/match-paralegalFind nearby verified paralegals
/api/scan-documentProcess uploaded document with OCR
1 application at a time
None
None
| Month | Users | Conversion | MRR | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 380 | 11% | $1,210 | $14,520 |
| Month 6 | 4,100 | 19% | $23,300 | $279,600 |
AI that knows South African immigration law helps you prepare every document correctly. No more guesswork.
Collaborate with the Legal Resources Centre and university law clinics in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Offer free Pathfinder access to their current clients in exchange for feedback. Present at monthly migrant legal clinics run by the Somali Association and Nigerian Union.
Strong traditional legal insurance
Not built for undocumented migrants or mobile-first, no AI document generation
Hyper-specific to immigration regularization with offline AI
Proprietary vector database of South African immigration case law and DHA policy changes that improves with every user interaction and paralegal correction.
The June 2025 expulsion threat has created massive demand for rapid documentation. Recent court rulings have expanded pathways that most migrants don't know about, and GPT-4 class models are now cheap enough for a solo founder to build a specialized RAG system.
Unauthorized practice of law claims
Position as information tool only. All final documents reviewed by qualified paralegals. Clear disclaimers everywhere.
Hallucinations in legal advice
Strict RAG with source citation on every output. Human review layer before final documents.
Success: 95% alignment with lawyer recommendations
Success: 65% complete at least one document package
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