# Keep immigration and asylum documents private on iPhone

> Keep working copies of immigration papers in Vault9 on your iPhone, and plan the backup before you need it. Originals stay with your lawyer. Not legal advice.

Source: https://vault9app.com/scenarios/immigration-asylum-documents-iphone/

Originals belong with your lawyer or the agency that issued them. On your iPhone, keep a working copy that is private and backed up. A phone is easy to lose, so set up the backup first. This article is not legal advice.

## Ask a lawyer before you delete anything

Ask a qualified lawyer or an accredited representative three things: what you must keep, what you must show, and what you must never delete or change. Do not delete or edit a document you may need to produce.

If you are in the US and need legal help, the USCIS page "Find Legal Services" lists where to look. It links to American Bar Association and Department of Justice lists. It also says that a notary public in the US is not an attorney and cannot represent you in legal matters.

## Plan for the day you lose the phone

Your vault opens with your pattern or passphrase and a Secret Key, or with Face ID if you turn it on. The Secret Key stays on your phone only, not in backups. It is also on your Emergency Kit, a one-page sheet that the app makes.

Three things to set up now:

- **The kit.** Keep it on paper in a very safe place or in a password manager. Another device with a different iCloud account also works. Do not carry it in the same bag as your phone.
- **The iCloud backup.** It is saved in your own iCloud storage and never contains the Secret Key. It is the only copy of the vault outside the phone, so keep it working.
- **The kit test.** Open Settings, Emergency Kit, **Test my Emergency Kit** to check that your kit still matches.

The outcomes are simple. Lose the phone but keep the kit, and you open the vault on a new phone from the iCloud backup. Lose both, and you cannot open the iCloud backup on another phone. If the vault never reached the iCloud backup, a lost phone means the files are gone. [What can go wrong](https://vault9app.com/what-can-go-wrong/) has the full list.

## Move your working copies in

You can sort items into albums, for example one album for each person in the family.

1. Put each paper in the Photos app as a photo or screenshot, or keep a PDF in the Files app.
2. In Vault9, import it from Photos or from Files.
3. Open the item and check that it is clear.
4. Delete the original in Photos yourself. Vault9 never does this for you.
5. Open **Recently Deleted** in Photos and delete the item there too. Photos keeps deleted items for 30 days.

Check Messages and Mail for the same files.

## What Vault9 does not do

Vault9 does not protect an open vault on an unlocked phone. A person who makes you unlock it can open it. It has no decoy vault, no hidden vault and no fake unlock. A wrong pattern shows an error.

Files that you import keep their metadata, such as location. Vault9 does not remove it. If you travel, ask your lawyer what to expect about phone checks. We cannot change those rules.

Your phone passcode should not be the only lock on these papers. Vault9 keeps working copies encrypted behind a pattern or passphrase of their own, with no account and no Vault9 servers. [Vault9 on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6830759639?pt=129716075&ct=immigration-asylum-documents-iphone-md)

## Sources

- [USCIS: Find Legal Services](https://www.uscis.gov/scams-fraud-and-misconduct/avoid-scams/find-legal-services) (checked 2026-11-06)
- [Apple Support: Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad](https://support.apple.com/en-us/104967) (checked 2026-11-06)