Collecting documents from clients who don't read English well

Answers are general operational information only — not legal, tax, regulatory, clinical, privacy, immigration, or professional advice. Requirements vary by matter, client, and regulator.

Frequently asked questions

Can a client who doesn't speak English complete a hivi-x checklist?

Yes, with some setup. The portal's buttons, statuses and labels can appear in eight languages based on the client's browser or account setting. The item names and instructions you write are shown as typed, so write the critical ones in both English and the client's language.

How do I handle documents newcomers don't have?

Use conditional items. Ask a question first, such as Do you have Canadian credit history? or Are you starting a new job in Canada?, and show only the items that fit the answer, for example a guarantor or a job offer letter instead of pay stubs.

What about documents in another language?

Ask for the original and, where needed, a certified translation as separate items. On guest-link uploads, direct account uploads and in the account assistant, a photo of a document in another language is flagged as probably needing a certified translation.

More Features guides

• Online client forms: questions, uploads and signatures in one checklisthivi-x checklists work as online client forms. Ask questions, collect documents and get e-signatures through one secure link, with conditional items and no client account.
• Conditional checklist items: show only what applies to each clienthivi-x checklist items can show only when an earlier answer matches, so a self-employed client and a salaried one get different document lists from the same template.
• Do you still need a separate form builder with hivi-x?When a hivi-x client checklist replaces a general-purpose form builder for client intake, and when you should keep both.
• Automatic document checks for guest and account uploadsGuest links and signed-in checklist uploads show document-quality warnings without blocking the upload. Photos use self-hosted AI; PDFs receive limited checks.
• Automatic reminders: hivi-x chases missing documents for youhivi-x emails clients automatically about the documents they still owe, names each missing item, and stops when the checklist is done. E-signature requests get their own reminders.
• Electronic signatures: built in, and inside your client checklistshivi-x includes e-signature for routine documents, both as standalone signature requests and as an E-signature item inside a client checklist, with email-code signer verification, a hash-locked PDF and a certificate of completion.
• Less retyping: where hivi-x fills in client data for youFour ways hivi-x saves you from typing client details again. Capture them from other websites, let clients' my-id.ca profiles fill your forms, fill any PDF from a client record or a data file, and read fields from a client's uploaded pay stub, T4, NOA, bank statement or passport.
• Fill any PDF form with a client's detailsIn the hivi-x AI chat, attach a fillable PDF and pick a client. hivi-x fills it from the client record and the client's completed forms, flags uncertain fields and saves the result to the client's files.
• Move client details from another system into hivi-x without retypinghivi-x has no direct CRM integrations, but the Chrome extension can capture a client's details while you fill a form on another website, then add or merge them into hivi-x after your review.
• Clients with a my-id.ca profile fill your forms fasterWhen a client keeps their details in a free my-id.ca profile, forms you send from hivi-x open already filled in, and the client's photo of an ID can feed that profile.
• Find any client, document or file in secondshivi-x search finds clients by name, email or phone, plus documents, files and templates, from the header on any page or from the Clients list.
• Ask hivi-x about your clients in plain languageThe hivi-x AI chat finds clients, summarizes a client's checklist progress, lists inactive clients and unfinished forms, fills PDFs, and keeps notes and calendar events, all on self-hosted AI.
• Checklist due dates and overdue trackingSet a due date when you share a client checklist. The client sees it, you see an Overdue badge when it passes, and the automatic reminders are timed around it.
• Calendar and reminders for business usersThe hivi-x calendar holds showings, meetings, deadlines and tasks, syncs both ways with Google Calendar, emails you reminders before events, and adds client birthdays automatically.
• How hivi-x tracks deadlines: what's automatic and what you setA one-page answer to "does hivi-x track application deadlines?", covering what happens automatically, what you set yourself, and what isn't available yet.
• A client portal in eight languagesClients complete hivi-x checklists in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Chinese, Hindi or Bengali. Here is how the language is chosen, what is translated, and what stays as you wrote it.
• hivi-x in French for Canadian businesseshivi-x works in French end to end, from the client portal and document checks to the AI chat and the French business documentation.
• Review client documents item by item: approve or send backIn hivi-x every client submission is reviewed per checklist item. Approve it, or send it back with a reason the client sees on that exact item.
• Client checklist status and progress: where each file standsEach client checklist in hivi-x shows its overall status, progress, due date and every item's review state, so you can see what's missing, what's waiting for you and what's done.
• PDF checklist report: a printable summary of a client fileGenerate a PDF report of any client checklist in hivi-x, covering each item's status and answer, signature records with a verification link, your photos and your summary.
• Duplicate document detection: catch the same file sent twiceNew guest-link and signed-in checklist uploads are checked for exact duplicates among that client’s recent uploads. A warning never rejects an upload.
• Stop receiving the same document twiceHow to set up hivi-x checklists so clients send each document once, using precise items, counts in the item name, duplicate and count warnings, and reuse of files clients already saved.
• Reuse client information, with the client in controlhivi-x lets information a client already gave, to you or to their own my-id.ca profile, flow into the next request. The client decides what to share each time.
• Repeat clients: one client, many filesIn hivi-x a client can have several cases (a lease this year, a purchase next year), each with its own checklists, documents and timeline, under one client record.
• Checklist templates and the template libraryBuild a document checklist once in hivi-x and reuse it for every client, or start from the curated template library and edit a copy.
• Standardize your document process across client filesHow to use hivi-x templates, required items, conditional items, due dates, reminders and review reasons so every client file follows the same standard.
• Industry starter checklists: send a real checklist on day oneNew hivi-x business accounts start with a ready-made checklist for their industry (real estate, mortgage, immigration or legal), which you can send immediately and edit to fit.
• Client activity timeline: who did what, and whenEvery hivi-x client page has a timeline recording shared checklists, client submissions, approvals, items sent back, signatures, document changes and co-agent access.
• Audit trail and record keepinghivi-x logs access to client data server-side and keeps those records for seven years. E-signatures carry their own event trail and certificate, and clients keep a sharing history.
• Know when a client submits: notifications for businesseshivi-x emails you each time a client uploads a file or completes a checklist item, and records it on the client's timeline. What you're told, and what you aren't yet.
• What your clients are notified aboutEvery email and in-app notice a client receives from hivi-x, from being added as a client to guest links, codes, reminders and signature requests, and what they aren't told.
• Chat with your clients inside hivi-xReal-time messaging between a business and its clients who have a my-id.ca account, opened from the client's page, with attachments, typing and unread indicators.
• Team workspaces and rolesInvite colleagues into one hivi-x workspace that shares your clients, checklists, templates and signature requests. Seats cost the plan price per person; owner, admin and staff roles decide who can do what.
• Assign clients to team membersShow who handles each client, filter the client list by person, and optionally limit staff to the clients assigned to them, with their checklists, uploads and signature requests.
• Teammate or co-agent: which to useA teammate is someone at your firm who takes a paid seat and works in your workspace. A co-agent is a partner at another firm who joins one client for free and sees only what you share.
• Team activity log and CSV exportThe owner and admins of a hivi-x workspace can see who did what, including sign-ins and client uploads, filter it by date and person, and export it as CSV.
• Webhooks: send hivi-x events to your other systemshivi-x sends a signed HTTPS request to your endpoint when a client is added, a checklist item is submitted or reviewed, a checklist is completed, fields are confirmed or a signature request is finished.
• Connect hivi-x to Zapier, Make or n8nUse hivi-x webhooks as the trigger in Zapier, Make or n8n: add a new client to your CRM, post to Slack when a checklist is complete, or copy confirmed income figures to a spreadsheet.
• hivi-x for Zapier: triggers, actions and setupConnect hivi-x to Zapier: send a checklist when a CRM deal moves, add clients from web forms, and post to Slack when a checklist is complete. Every business plan.
• hivi-x API reference (v1)The hivi-x public API used by the Zapier app: OAuth 2.0, scopes, clients, checklists, REST hooks, errors and rate limits.
• Verify webhook signaturesCheck the Hivi-Signature header on every hivi-x webhook: an HMAC-SHA256 of the timestamp and raw body, made with the endpoint's signing secret. Examples in Node.js and Python.
• Expiry and renewal alerts for client documentshivi-x tracks when the passports, permits, licences and policies your clients sent expire, emails you 90, 30 and 7 days ahead, and asks the client for a renewed copy in one click.
• Ask a client for a renewed documentWhen a client's passport, permit or policy is about to expire, send them a secure link to upload the renewed one in one click, with a due date and automatic reminders.
• Import and export clients as CSVBring an existing client list into hivi-x from a CSV file, and export your clients or the document fields you confirmed. Checked row by row; nobody is emailed.
• Read fields from a client's pay stub, T4, NOA or passportAsk hivi-x to read a client's uploaded pay stub, T4, notice of assessment, bank statement summary or passport into fields. You check and confirm every value against the document.