Read the general immigrant investor briefing overview
Investors in the Canton of Hatley should separate actual programme requirements from favourable project language and private service promises. The decision that a promise cannot make for the investor is whether the enterprise will genuinely employ ten qualifying workers within the required period. If the honest hiring plan reaches eight, the EB-5 route is not viable however attractive the project literature, and a Gold Card gift does not solve that shortfall because it is not an investment at all.
Read the notice and service contract as different documents
For a project announcement, identify the actual notice, its named subject and the issue decided. Then list the investor’s own steps still outstanding, such as source-of-funds evidence or the residence process. For a refund promise, read whose fee is covered, the triggering event and any exclusions. A provider may promise a remedy under its own contract without changing an official decision or payment obligation. These two reviews answer different questions and should not be collapsed into a claim that the investment is approved or financially guaranteed.
Establish the individual EB-5 case
A project decision is not automatically the investor’s approval. Capital generally is US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustment from January 1, 2027. Lawful source/path, at-risk capital, ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and management or policy-formulation participation remain required.
Separate Gold Card payments from private refunds
Gold Card processing is US$15,000 nonrefundable per person. 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; each eligible included spouse or unmarried child under 21 adds US$1 million and processing, subject to any applicable CSPA analysis. Corporate maintenance and transfer conditions are additional. The program uses existing EB-1 or EB-2 classifications, is not EB-5, and still requires admissibility and visa availability. Re-verify current official terms before any money moves.
Use actual residence milestones
Approval of a petition alone does not confer residence or employment authorization. EB-5 grants two-year conditional permanent residence, with Form I-829 generally filed during the 90 days before the second anniversary; filing alone neither removes the conditions nor guarantees repayment. A Gold Card gift is neither EB-5 investment capital nor equity. Neither an announcement nor a refund clause guarantees approval, timing or citizenship.
Count the jobs the way the petition will be judged
Hypothetical example: a maple-products processor from the Canton of Hatley plans to open a packing and distribution plant in New Hampshire and asks whether a direct EB-5 investment or an individual Gold Card gift fits. For the EB-5 side, the deciding document is the staffing plan. Only full-time positions, generally 35 hours a week, held by qualifying U.S. workers count: citizens, permanent residents and other immigrants authorized to work. The owner, his spouse and children are excluded, and so are seasonal packers on temporary nonimmigrant status. Two part-time drivers do not combine into one job unless the position itself is a shared full-time post. His draft shows a plant manager, four line staff, two drivers and himself, which is seven eligible positions, not ten. He must either expand the plan credibly or stop treating EB-5 as the route. On the Gold Card side, the gift buys no equity in the plant and creates no jobs requirement, but it leaves him needing separate EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility that a food-processing owner may not have.
What each route does with the money if the case fails
EB-5 capital must remain invested and at risk in the new commercial enterprise; the enterprise may eventually return it under the investment documents, but no agency guarantees repayment, and a denial does not itself unwind the business. The Gold Card processing charge is nonrefundable, and the later contribution is a gift to the United States that the government deposits in the Treasury. Re-verify the current official program terms immediately before transferring either the processing fee or the gift, and assume no refund beyond those terms. The investor should decide which loss can be absorbed before choosing and should never let a promoter describe either payment as reversible.
What else is on your mind?
Does an EB-5 immigration review tell me whether an investment is good?Is the Gold Card another name for EB-5?Should I assume one Gold Card payment covers my family?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.