Forms

Form I-140

Also called I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers.

Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, is the USCIS immigrant petition for the employment-based first, second and third preferences, covering extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers, multinational managers and executives, advanced degree and national interest waiver cases, skilled workers, professionals and other workers. An EB-5 investor never files it.

What it decides

An EB-5 investor files Form I-526 or I-526E instead, and a priority date does not cross between the two tracks: 8 CFR 204.5(e)(1) lets an approved petition carry its date only to a later petition under section 203(b)(1), (2) or (3) of the Act, and 8 CFR 204.6(d) carries an EB-5 date only to another section 203(b)(5) petition. The dates also start differently. Under 8 CFR 204.5(d) an I-140 resting on a labor certification takes the date the Department of Labor accepted the PERM application, while an EB-5 priority date is the date USCIS properly receives the petition. A United States employer files, except that the worker, or anyone on the worker's behalf, may petition for extraordinary ability under section 203(b)(1)(A) or for a second preference case seeking the national interest waiver. Form G-1055, edition 05/29/26, sets the fee at $715 on paper and $665 online, plus an Asylum Program Fee of $600, reduced to $300 for a small employer or self-petitioner and $0 for a nonprofit. The USCIS form page itself states no dollar amount.

Governed by 8 CFR 204.5(a) for filing on Form I-140, (c) and (j)(1) for who may file, (d) for the priority date, (e)(1) and (e)(2) for retention within the first, second and third preferences, and (k)(1) for the national interest waiver self-petition; 8 CFR 204.6(d) for the EB-5 side, but USCIS notes at 6 USCIS-PM G.2 footnote 140 that this priority date preservation language came from the 2019 modernization rule vacated in Behring Regional Center LLC v. Wolf, so treat it as USCIS practice rather than settled regulation; USCIS Form I-140 page, last reviewed 24 July 2026, for the form title, edition 06/07/24, online filing and the absence of any fee figure; Form G-1055, edition 05/29/26, for every dollar figure. Note that 8 CFR 204.5(a) still calls the form Petition for Immigrant Worker, an older title USCIS no longer uses.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into form i-140 rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Priority dateA priority date is the date USCIS properly receives a complete, signed and paid Form I-526 or I-526E, and it fixes the investor's place in the visa queue for their country of chargeability and their EB-5 category.
USCIS filing feeThe amount USCIS charges to file a given EB-5 form. The fees are set by regulation, under 8 U.S.C. 1356(m) and codified at 8 CFR 106.2, but for EB-5 forms the amount USCIS will actually accept is the one in its published schedule, Form G-1055, because the regulation's EB-5 figures are stayed.
Form I-526EForm I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor, is the petition an investor files with USCIS to claim EB-5 classification under INA 203(b)(5)(E) for capital pooled in an offering for which a designated regional center has already filed Form I-956F.
EB-1C multinational managerEB-1C is the employment-based first preference subcategory for a manager or executive transferred to a United States employer from the same firm abroad or from its parent, subsidiary or affiliate, and it requires no investment, no job creation and no labor certification.
Priority date retentionPriority date retention is the carrying of an earlier petition's place in the visa queue over to a later petition, and in EB-5 it is much narrower than investors expect: an EB-2 or EB-3 date cannot be moved to EB-5, and USCIS applies it only to an amended investor petition filed after a regional center, new commercial enterprise or job-creating entity is terminated or debarred.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary