I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker: Current Edition Date & How to Verify in 2026

What the I-140 Does — and Why Getting the Edition Wrong Derails Everything

Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, is the document that moves a foreign worker from temporary status toward a U.S. green card. It is filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to classify the worker under one of the employment-based (EB) preference categories. Without an approved I-140, no I-485 Adjustment of Status or immigrant visa interview can happen. The petition is the single gate into the employment green card line.

Check your I-140 for the errors that get applications rejected →Free issue count in about a minute; the full report, with the fix for each issue, is $39. A scanned PDF longer than 3 pages skips the free count and goes straight to the paid report.

Once it is approved, the I-140 also gives you a priority date — your official place in line for a Green Card — and that date is what the Visa Bulletin uses to decide when you can move forward to the next step, like filing Form I-485. Losing that date because USCIS rejected your petition on a technicality you could have avoided is one of the most painful and preventable outcomes in employment-based immigration.

For detailed policy requirements at each EB classification, USCIS directs filers to Volume 6, Parts E and F of the USCIS Policy Manual. To seek an employment-based immigrant classification on behalf of a beneficiary, the petitioner must properly file Form I-140 with the appropriate fee with the appropriate USCIS location. "Properly" is doing a lot of work in that sentence — and the sections below break down exactly what it means.

Scenario Walkthrough: Priya and TechCorp File an EB-2 Petition

This is a labeled hypothetical scenario for illustration only. Names, facts, and details are fictional.

Priya is a software architect employed on an H-1B visa by TechCorp, a mid-size company with 80 employees. Her employer wants to sponsor her for a green card under EB-2 (advanced degree professional). HR uses a PDF of Form I-140 that was saved to a shared drive 14 months ago. Here's what the rules say at each step of their filing.

Step 1 — Check the edition date before anything else. When completing and printing the form to mail it, filers must make sure the form edition date and page numbers are visible at the bottom of all pages and that all pages are from the same form edition. If any pages are missing or from a different form edition, USCIS may reject the form. TechCorp's saved PDF shows edition date 04/01/2024 — an older version. USCIS rejects petitions filed on outdated editions. The right move is to download the form directly from the USCIS website the week you file, not a copy saved months earlier. TechCorp needs to start over with the 06/07/24 edition.

Step 2 — Calculate the fee correctly, including the Asylum Program Fee. Since publishing both a new edition of the form and a new fee rule in April 2024, USCIS has had to reject an unusually high number of Form I-140 petitions at intake because of incorrect fees and missing information. TechCorp has 80 employees — above the 25-employee small-employer threshold. Filers must include the full $600 Asylum Program Fee unless they qualify for a reduced amount of $300 or $0; failing to include the correct Asylum Program Fee may result in rejection of the filing. Filers must provide separate payments for the $715 filing fee and the Asylum Program Fee, using the same type of payment (either check/money order or Form G-1450 for credit card). Packages filed with more than one type of payment may be rejected.

Step 3 — Complete Part 1 questions 5 and 6 without leaving them blank. Questions 5 and 6 in Part 1 tell USCIS whether the petitioner qualifies for a reduced fee and cannot be left blank. If correct payment is not provided or if those questions are unanswered, USCIS may reject the form.

Step 4 — Select exactly one visa preference category in Part 2. USCIS will reject the form if Part 2 is left blank or if more than one category is selected. TechCorp selects EB-2 advanced degree (E-21) — one box, one category.

Step 5 — Sign with a valid ink signature. Under the DHS interim final rule amending 8 CFR 103.2(a)(7), effective July 10, 2026, an invalid signature on a paper-filed benefit request can be denied — not merely rejected. USCIS keeps the filing fee and gives no opportunity to cure. An I-140 with premium processing is one of the filings where a signature defect now means the fee is spent with nothing to show for it. Only a handwritten ink signature, or a scan/photocopy/fax of one, is valid on a paper-filed form. Typed names, cursive fonts, stamps, and e-signature software output such as DocuSign are not valid. (Source: Federal Register Document 2026-09289.) USCIS instructs that the petitioner must sign the form or it will be rejected. After July 10, 2026, it can be denied outright.

Step 6 — Include the signed labor certification, if required. USCIS must receive any Form I-140 based on an approved labor certification before the 180-day validity period has elapsed, and will reject a petition that contains an expired labor certification. Priya's employer filed PERM and received certification 90 days ago, so TechCorp is well within the window. They attach the Final Determination.

Where to Find the Edition Date and How to Verify It

The edition date appears in the bottom-left corner of every page of the form, formatted as MM/DD/YY. The current edition reads 06/07/24. The easiest verification method: go to uscis.gov/i-140 and download the PDF directly. The USCIS form page is updated whenever USCIS publishes a new edition, and USCIS's own instructions tell filers to visit www.uscis.gov to ensure they are using the latest version of the petition.

Don't rely on copies from immigration prep services, law firm portals, or shared drives — the edition on those copies may lag the current one. The safest practice is to download a fresh copy within 7 days of your intended filing date and compare the edition date at the bottom against what USCIS shows on the form's landing page.

Documented Rejection Triggers for Form I-140 (Original Signal)

The table below consolidates the rejection triggers documented directly in USCIS instructions, the USCIS I-140 landing page, and USCIS's own public alert on I-140 intake errors. These are not edge cases — USCIS itself noted an unusually high number of Form I-140 petitions rejected at intake after the April 2024 form and fee update.

The New Signature Rule: What Changed After July 10, 2026

This is the most consequential change to I-140 filing mechanics in years, and it's easy to miss. Starting July 10, 2026, a signature mistake can cost you your entire case and your filing fee. Under a new DHS interim final rule, USCIS adjudicators now have explicit authority to deny — not just reject and return — any application or petition with an invalid signature, retain the fee, and give no opportunity to cure.

For paper-filed I-140 petitions, the only valid signature is a handwritten ink signature, or a scan, photocopy, or fax of one. Typed names, cursive-font keyboard characters, rubber stamps, and the output of e-signature platforms like DocuSign are not valid. Electronic signatures are valid only when captured through a USCIS online account during online filing. (Source: Federal Register Document 2026-09289, amending 8 CFR 103.2(a)(7).)

Note that Forms N-600 and N-600K are the only two forms exempted from outright denial for a signature defect — they remain reject-only. Form I-140 carries no such exemption. Filers can only file online if submitting a standalone Form I-140 without any other form (except Form G-28 if filing with an attorney or accredited representative). If submitting Form I-140 together with Form I-907 to request premium processing, the filer must file by mail — making a valid wet-ink signature mandatory for the overwhelming majority of premium-processing petitions.

Processing Times and What Happens After Approval

As of July 2026, Form I-140 processing times range from about 2.5 to 28.5 months, depending on the filing category. Petitions based on an approved PERM labor certification move fastest, while self-petitioned and executive categories take the longest.

Through premium processing, USCIS allows Form I-140 petitioners to receive a decision in 45 business days for EB-1C Multinational Executives and EB-2 NIW cases, or 15 business days for EB-1A, PERM EB-2, and all other I-140 categories. Keep in mind that premium processing guarantees an initial action within that window — an RFE counts as an action and does not entitle the filer to a refund.

The priority date is used in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State's Visa Bulletin to determine when a visa is available and the beneficiary can apply for adjustment of status or for an immigrant visa abroad. An approved I-140 does not itself grant permanent residence or employment authorization — it establishes eligibility and locks in the priority date, which can be critical for workers in oversubscribed countries like India and China where backlogs span years or decades.

About FormGuard: We help immigrants and sponsors check USCIS forms for filing errors before submission. We publish guides on USCIS forms, edition dates, RFEs, and processing times, updated as USCIS policy changes.