How We Research Our Immigration Pages, Step by Step

1. Start with the official sources for the program.
2. Confirm every key fact against those sources.
3. Use secondary sources only to find leads, never as the final word.
4. Set a status label and a Last verified date.
5. Track changes after publishing and update the page.
6. Send pages to licensed professionals for review as our expert review program grows.

Our editorial policy sets the standards behind these steps.

For each page, we first read the government sources that control the program:

We read the program page, the instructions for the form, and where needed the law or regulation itself.

We check the facts readers act on: who qualifies, what it costs, deadlines, quotas, processing times and the current status.

• Numbers. If we cannot confirm a current fee, threshold, quota or processing time from an official source, we do not print a number. We link the official page that publishes it instead. Figures that can change are dated, for example "as of September 2026".
• Conflicts. If two official sources disagree, we follow the most recent official legal text and say on the page that sources differ.
• Local differences. Some rules are applied differently by different offices, such as Mexican consulates applying income tests. When that happens, we say so and tell you to confirm with your office.

Law firm client alerts, university international student offices and established news outlets often report changes before government pages are updated. We use them to learn that something changed, then confirm it against an official announcement, notice or court record. When a new development is known only from secondary reports, we say so on the page and use careful wording.

Program pages get a status label and a one-sentence note on what is true now:

Every page shows a Last verified date: the day we last checked its key facts against its official sources.

Pages also show Expert review in progress until a licensed professional has reviewed them. That label describes our review process, not the program.

Immigration rules in all three countries changed often in 2025 and 2026. To keep up, we watch:

• Agency news pages and policy announcements (USCIS, the State Department, IRCC, ESDC, provincial programs, INM)
• New rules and notices in the Federal Register, the Canada Gazette and the DOF
• Court rulings on programs that are being challenged
• Official data feeds. For example, our Express Entry draw tracker and visa bulletin pages are built from data published by IRCC and the State Department.

When something changes, we update the Status Now pages for the USA, Canada and Mexico and publish a dated news item where useful. Then we update the program pages and the other pages that mention the change.

• Rules change fast. A page can be correct on its Last verified date and out of date the next week.
• Official pages lag. Government websites are sometimes updated after a rule takes effect.
• Offices differ. Consulates and local offices can apply the same rule differently.
• We cannot see your file. General information cannot account for your history, such as a past refusal, overstay or criminal record.
• Tools give estimates. Our calculators follow published rules, but only the government makes the decision.
• Checking reduces errors but cannot remove them. Drafts are AI-assisted and checked against official sources, and readers help us catch what we miss.

Before you pay a fee or file anything, confirm on the official source linked on the page. For complex situations, talk to a licensed professional. Our guide on how to verify a lawyer or consultant shows how to check a license.

If you spot an error or a rule that has changed, email contact@northamericans.com with the subject line Correction. Include the page link and, if you can, a link to the official source.