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KIRKLAND · GOLD CARD FIELD GUIDE

A consultant's PDF quotes terms the official site does not — which version do I keep?

Sources checked:

THE DIRECT ANSWER

Preserve both documents with dates and identify which claims differ. Use the official program instructions and governing materials to verify current benefits; a consultant’s summary cannot make an unreleased benefit available. Keeping the summary may still help document what you were told and obtain an explanation of the discrepancy. Ask the consultant in writing for the source of each differing claim. A written reply either produces the official text, which settles the matter, or produces nothing, which settles it in a different way.

Build one evidence file you can defend

Put the dated official pages, your payment confirmation, the USCIS instructions you were given, and the documents supporting your I-140G in a single set, each labelled with where it came from. When a figure changes, keep both versions rather than overwriting. If a consultant's document is the only place a benefit appears, ask them to point to the official text supporting it, and leave the claim marked unverified if no official support is provided.

Handle the contradiction carefully rather than dismissively, since a summary can be out of date instead of wrong, and a superseded document that was accurate when written still tells you something useful about timing. Record the date each version was published or received beside the claim itself. Where a claim cannot be sourced at all, keep it in the file marked unsourced rather than deleting it, because what you were told, and when, may matter later to someone other than you.