# Linking a dossier

> Finding a dossier in eLys, comparing it to the case, linking and unlinking, and how documents and rechecks work afterwards.

Once your firm is connected, every case has an **eLys** section.
Before a dossier is linked, it offers search; afterwards, it shows the
dossier itself.

## Finding a dossier

eLys accepts three ways of searching, and the section exposes exactly those
three:

- **National registry number**, an exact match and the most reliable way to
  find the right record. If the case already has a national number, it is
  used automatically and this tab opens first.
- **Dossier number**, if you already know it.
- **Last name, NIS code of the municipality and date of death**, together.
  The name and date are filled in from the case, and a first name is
  optional. eLys matches these exactly, so a small spelling difference or a
  wrong date can mean no result even when the dossier exists.

(Screenshot: The eLys block on a case that is not linked yet, searching by national number, with one matching dossier found.)

Results show the dossier number, its status, whether it has already been
claimed, and whether it has pending actions.

## Comparing before you link

Opening a result shows the deceased's name, date of death, the dossier's
current owner and its national registry number, alongside anything the case
file already has. This is the moment to notice a mismatch, a different
spelling of the name or a date of death that does not agree with the case,
before the two are tied together.

(Screenshot: A search result opened in the eLys block: the deceased's name, Open and Not claimed, the date of death and national number, the documents eLys holds, and Link to this case.)

## Linking and unlinking

**Linking** records which eLys dossier belongs to this case: click **Link to
this case**. Once linked, the national registry number used to find it is
saved on the case for next time, and the case's document import starts.

The agent can also search and link a dossier on its own, but only when it
clearly matches the case. If there are several candidates, or the name or
date of death differs, it asks your team instead and links nothing.

**Unlinking** removes that association. You find **Unlink** under **More
actions** (the three dots), next to **Search a different dossier**. It does not touch anything in eLys
itself, the dossier is untouched, only the case no longer points to it. Use
this if a dossier was linked to the wrong case.

(Screenshot: The More actions menu on a linked dossier, with Search a different dossier and Unlink.)

## Document import

Once a dossier is linked, Lethra imports the documents eLys already holds for
it into the case file automatically, so they sit with everything else you
have gathered for the family. Each document is imported once: a document
already saved for the case is not imported again, and the section shows how
many of the dossier's documents are already saved versus still missing.

You can also trigger the import for whatever is still missing at any time
with **Save missing**, and download a document directly from the dossier
without saving it to the case first. A document Athumi has archived is marked
**Archived** and can no longer be downloaded or imported.

(Screenshot: The Documents section of a linked dossier: 0 of 2 in case file, Save missing, and each document with Save to case and download.)

## How rechecks happen

The eLys section does not poll continuously in the background. It rechecks a
linked dossier when something prompts it to: you reopen or refresh the
section, or the agent comes back to the case during one of its own scheduled
check-ins, the same way it follows up on anything else it is waiting on.
Between those moments, what you see is the last state Lethra fetched, so use
the refresh action if you need the current picture right away.

## Next

Claiming the dossier: [The inlichtingenfiche and socio-economic
data](/docs/elys/inlichtingenfiche-and-socio-economic/).

Source: https://lethra.ai/docs/elys/linking-a-dossier/