On December 18, 2025, as the United States prepares for upcoming World Cup and Olympics events in 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new policy guidance to address the Department of Labor’s (DOL) adoption of the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system and its effect on certain immigrant visa petitions filed on behalf of professional athletes.
The guidance:
- Provides an overview of the FLAG system and describes the new labor certification-related documentation that must be submitted with the Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers);
- Explains that labor certifications for professional athletes that were filed using the FLAG system no longer contain the minimum job requirements for the offered position; and
- Clarifies that if an immigrant petition for a professional athlete contains a labor certification obtained through the FLAG system, USCIS may issue a request for evidence to obtain the minimum job requirements if that information is not contained in the supporting documentation submitted with the Form I-140.
