The US 'Gold Card' on paper: what the official I-140G form and instructions say

What Form I-140G is

USCIS Form I-140G is the Immigrant Petition for the Gold Card Program (edition date 09/11/26; page last reviewed/updated 10/09/2026 as shown on the USCIS form page accessed 21 October 2026). USCIS states that the form is used to petition for an immigrant visa under the Gold Card programme established by Executive Order 14351.

According to the same page, Form I-140G may be filed only through a USCIS online account (not by mail), and only after the applicant registers on trumpcard.gov and receives confirmation that the submission was accepted. USCIS says it will notify the applicant when it is time to file Form I-140G online.

Filing fee and later gift (government figures)

The USCIS form page states that the filing fee for Form I-140G is US$15,000 for each person included in the petition (principal beneficiary and any spouse or children included, as applicable). The Form I-140G instructions (edition 09/11/26) repeat that fee and state that it is submitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce and is not refunded regardless of the action taken on the petition.

The same instructions require the petition to establish that the filer has sufficient funds to make a later unrestricted gift in U.S. currency to the U.S. Department of Commerce, and that all funds used for the gift have been lawfully obtained. In the instructions’ gift-amount items, a self-petitioner’s principal-beneficiary gift is stated as US$1,000,000, and a corporate petitioner’s gift on behalf of the principal beneficiary is stated as US$2,000,000 (with further per-person gift lines for certain accompanying family members). Wire instructions for the gift are described as coming later in the process, after other steps. Re-check the official form page and instructions before relying on any figure.

Classification and the Visa Bulletin

The instructions say the Gold Card programme provides eligibility for two employment-based immigrant visa classifications: first preference (alien with extraordinary ability) and second preference (alien of exceptional ability seeking a national-interest (NIW) classification). They state that the wait for an immigrant visa may differ between those classifications and tell readers to refer to the U.S. Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for availability. The instructions also say that once the petition is approved and a visa number is available in the applicable classification, immigrant visa processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad is required before admission as a lawful permanent resident.

What this does not mean

This article is a plain reading of government form text. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice. It does not predict timelines, approval outcomes or Visa Bulletin movement for any nationality, and it does not endorse marketing language from any site.