IN THIS GUIDE · Build the official budget person by person
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Identify the actual principal framework
Hypothetical example: an employer quotes a package for an employee and accompanying spouse. Determine whether the proposal uses the individual or corporate principal framework and identify every eligible person. Do not substitute a preferred amount or assume a household label defines the official terms.
Keep processing and gift stages distinct
Use the current official instructions. The gift to the U.S. government follows successful vetting and official instructions; the processing fee is a separate obligation. EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability remain relevant. Paying a fee should not be described as a completed gift or residence grant.
Separate family amounts and corporate conditions
Each eligible accompanying spouse or unmarried child under 21 has separate official financial requirements. Where corporate terms apply, maintenance and transfer-related provisions also matter and are subject to conditions. A company’s internal budget does not create automatic employee-substitution rights.
Avoid an investment-return comparison
The government gift is not EB-5 commercial capital with a promised return. Identify the actual payer, obligation and process stage without portraying payment as guaranteed immigration success. Work permission and the household’s ability to relocate depend on the relevant individual process and records.
Follow the official payment sequence and individual amounts
The September 7, 2026 official terms describe a nonrefundable US$15,000 processing fee per person, followed by vetting and a gift to the U.S. government after successful vetting and official instructions. The principal gift is US$1,000,000 individually or US$2,000,000 per corporate-sponsored employee. Each eligible joining spouse or unmarried child under 21 adds US$15,000 and a US$1,000,000 gift, including corporate cases. Corporate terms also describe 1% annual maintenance and a 5% transfer charge with a new background check, subject to actual governing conditions, not an automatic reuse right. EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability remain separate requirements.
Separate corporate programme amounts from employment spending
After vetting and when instructed, the gift to the United States is US$1 million for an individual applicant or US$2 million for a corporate sponsor. The official program page sets out how applications and payments are made; verify it on the day of payment, because terms, amounts and procedures should be re-verified before any money moves. Successful applicants receive lawful permanent resident status as EB-1 or EB-2 visa holders, subject to eligibility, admissibility and visa availability, rather than citizenship. A first review should separate the programme communication from private sales language and make a checklist of the applicant's classification evidence, identity records, payment instructions, and any family facts. Executive Order 14351 directs the agencies to treat the Gold Card gift as evidence of eligibility under the specified EB-1 or EB-2 basis, so the program should not be described as requiring an additional, independent conventional career showing. An official instruction, payment, vetting outcome, immigrant classification decision, visa availability, and travel document are not interchangeable milestones. Gold Card is not a conventional visa: it operates through the stated employment-based framework, subject to the applicable eligibility and government decisions. Describing the arrangement as the government granting money, or as the applicant buying an asset, leads to decisions being made on a false basis, which is why the official programme material should be read directly rather than summarized by a counterparty.
Confirm current official terms
A request to wire funds to a private escrow account, a consultant's corporate account or an intermediary abroad does not match a program in which the gift is made to the U.S. government. The program's published terms have changed as it has been implemented, so the operative requirement is procedural as well as legal: obtain the current official terms, record the date and the source, and confirm them again immediately before any payment is made. No private adviser, broker, or business opportunity can convert a payment discussion into a conventional visa application.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.