Former Microsoft AI Lead Raises $5M for Her Startup Casium to Automate Immigration Law Amid Enforcement Crackdown

Former Microsoft machine-learning scientist turns personal visa struggles into AI platform promising faster turnarounds amid new federal crackdown on H-1B employers.

Seattle startup Casium has raised $5 million in seed funding to use artificial intelligence to streamline work visa applications, entering a market suddenly upended by aggressive new enforcement policies that have put immigration compliance under heightened scrutiny, Geekwire reported.

The round was led by Maverick Ventures with participation from the AI2 Incubator, GTMfund, Success Venture Partners, and Jake Heller, co-founder of Casetext, now part of Thomson Reuters. The investment comes as employers navigate new enforcement pressures and rising compliance costs in the H-1B visa program.

Casium founder and CEO Priyanka Kulkarni, a Seattle-based machine learning scientist and former Microsoft engineer, spent nine years on a visa before deciding to build a faster, technology-driven solution, according to Business Today. Her platform combines licensed immigration attorneys with AI workflows that autonomously gather information, prepare documents, and learn from attorney feedback in real time.

According to the company, Casium’s technology can cut document preparation time from several months to around ten business days while reducing errors that could delay approvals. Casium says it has already guided hundreds of candidates through visa assessments and filings for employers ranging from early-stage startups to Series F companies, though the company did not provide detailed metrics on approval rates or case volumes.

New Enforcement Landscape

Casium’s launch coincides with two major federal actions that have reshaped the immigration compliance environment. The U.S. Department of Labor announced Project Firewall in September 2025, an enforcement initiative designed to ensure strict employer compliance with the H-1B visa program, per Holland & Knight. For the first time, the Secretary of Labor will have authority to personally certify investigations where reasonable cause exists to believe an employer is non-compliant.

On the same day, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation requiring a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas, states Boundless. According to USCIS guidance, the fee applies to new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, 2025, including the 2026 lottery, according to USCIS. The proclamation does not apply to previously issued H-1B visas, petitions submitted before the effective date, or renewals, though implementation details regarding extensions and transfers remain under review.

Employers found in violation of H-1B requirements face consequences including back wage liability, civil money penalties, and debarment from future access to the H-1B program. The DOL will coordinate with the Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to identify violations.

More than 442,000 workers compete annually for just 85,000 H-1B visa slots. The combination of heightened enforcement scrutiny and new fee structures has created what some immigration attorneys describe as increased pressure for documentation accuracy and compliance certainty.

Legal challenges to the $100,000 fee are expected, and questions remain about how agencies will implement various aspects of both the fee requirement and Project Firewall enforcement priorities.

From Frustration to Founder

Kulkarni joined Microsoft straight out of college and worked on AI strategy for products like Office while on an H-1B visa, as reported by Business Today. Her experience navigating the system while helping Microsoft recruit international talent for AI roles revealed inefficiencies that she believed traditional law firms weren’t equipped to solve.

Casium, which spun out of AI2 Incubator in April 2024, offers initial assessments for free and charges a flat fee for filings based on visa type and case complexity, according to Business Insider. The company is developing a subscription model to give employers ongoing support rather than transactional processing.

The platform uses what Casium calls an “Outcome-as-a-Service” model, where clients pay for defined outcomes rather than hourly billing. The system unifies strategy, filing, and compliance management into one platform, eliminating the need for multiple providers or manual workflows.

One client, Surbhi Rathore, Vice President of AI Product and Strategy at Invoca, said Casium had a complete filing ready within 10 days of sharing necessary information, which allowed an acquisition process to close on time, per Casium.

Crowded and Competitive Field

Casium enters an increasingly active market of AI-powered immigration tech startups. Miami-based CaseBlink reportedly raised funding to provide attorneys with AI automation that organizes evidence, performs research, and drafts customized legal briefs. Another competitor, Parley, focuses on helping immigration lawyers draft and submit applications faster, as reported by WebProNews.

Casium differentiates by targeting corporate HR teams directly, bypassing intermediaries to make visa management more accessible for smaller startups that can’t afford high-end legal services. The company maintains that its attorneys exercise independent judgment while AI handles routine documentation tasks.

The influx of venture capital into immigration AI reflects growing demand for compliance technology. With Project Firewall promising more audits and the new fee structure affecting employer calculations, companies are seeking technology that can deliver both compliance support and process efficiency.

Questions Around AI in Immigration

The rise of AI in immigration law has prompted concerns among advocacy groups and legal experts. Critics argue that incorporating AI into immigration procedures could potentially violate privacy rights and civil liberties and even introduce bias against minority groups, according to DocketWise. These concerns center on automated decision-making and the handling of sensitive personal data.

Some immigration lawyers have been cautious about using AI in their practices because the technology can produce inaccurate information. Relying on AI without review and source verification can result in inaccurate legal briefs and potentially constitute malpractice.

Casium’s model addresses this by keeping licensed attorneys in the loop. The AI handles document preparation and data gathering, but attorneys review strategy and make final decisions. This hybrid approach aims to capture efficiency gains while maintaining professional judgment and compliance with unauthorized practice of law restrictions.

Strategic Timing

Ryan Isono, Managing Director at Maverick Ventures, said Kulkarni deployed state-of-the-art natural language research for large enterprises and millions of users worldwide at Microsoft, while simultaneously navigating the complexities of the immigration process firsthand, per the press release at Business Wire. He called her well-positioned to reimagine employment immigration with an AI-native platform.

The funding will support Casium’s mission to transform immigration from a reactive bottleneck into a proactive workforce planning tool. With 71 percent of employers reporting difficulty finding qualified workers and 1.8 percent of all U.S. job postings now requiring AI-related skills, access to global talent remains a competitive priority for many companies.

More than two-thirds of AI researchers in the United States were born abroad, underscoring how innovation-focused companies rely on effective immigration systems.

As Project Firewall enforcement develops and employers adjust to new fee structures, technology-driven approaches like Casium’s may gain traction among companies seeking to navigate business immigration amid evolving compliance requirements.

For more information about Casium’s platform and services, visit casium.com.

References:

• Casium Raises $5M to Help Employers Hire Global Talent Faster — Business Wire, October 19, 2025.
• AI2 Incubator Spinout Casium Raises $5M to Simplify Work Visa Filings — GeekWire, October 21, 2025.
• ‘Exhausting, Confusing and Career-Limiting’: Ex-Microsoft Engineer Builds AI Platform to Help Workers and Employers Navigate U.S. Visa System — Business Today (India), October 21, 2025.
• AI Startup Casium Uses AI to Simplify U.S. Work Visa Filings — WebProNews, October 2025.
• How AI Is Impacting Immigration Lawyers and Cases — Docketwise Blog, 2025.
• DOL Launches Project Firewall: New H-1B Enforcement Initiative — Holland & Knight LLP, September 2025.
• Trump Administration to Propose New $100,000 Fee for H-1B Visa Applications — Boundless Immigration Blog, September 2025.
• H-1B Visa Program FAQ — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 2025.
• Casium Official Website — Casium Inc., Accessed October 2025.