Follow the current official instructions and obtain appropriate advice on the requirement and its effect. Avoid treating a general processing estimate as a guarantee.
Revisit practical commitments
Identify which employment, housing or school dates depend on a completed immigration step. Keep verified progress separate from expectations. Additional information, vetting and visa availability can affect the actual sequence, regardless of a third party’s preferred timetable.
A programme created by executive action can have its procedures adjusted, its volumes vary, and its published guidance revised, so a timeline described by a third party months ago carries little weight. A scheduled interview guarantees neither approval nor a moving date: assess housing, schooling, and business commitments through the decision and applicable admission steps. The nonrefundable processing fee comes first, vetting follows, and the US$1 million gift to the U.S. government is made only when officially instructed after that vetting — never paid early to save time, because an early transfer buys no position in the queue. What is not optional is re-verifying the official terms immediately before each irreversible step, because a recently created framework can publish clarifications that change amounts, sequence or eligibility. A receipt from a private intermediary, or an assumption that a payment alone creates residence, does not settle either the gift-payment question or the separate immigration decision.