Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Identify the selected arrangement
The principal gift is US$1 million for the individual arrangement or US$2 million corporately, after vetting when instructed, with US$15,000 nonrefundable processing per person. Confirm the actual case and official instructions before deriving programme treatment from who paid a private service invoice. Keep payment proof separate from eligibility proof. The official instruction, receipt, and identity of the donor settle the gift record; the underlying EB-1 or EB-2 evidence still settles whether an immigrant visa or adjustment can be granted consistent with law. A company that covers preparation costs has not thereby made the government gift, and a corporate arrangement needs its own documented authority and beneficiary treatment. Do not call a private deposit a Gold Card payment before the official process accepts it.
Keep family and eligibility conditions intact
Each eligible included spouse or child adds US$1 million and US$15,000 processing, including corporate cases. Corporate 1% annual and 5% transfer provisions have additional conditions. EB-1/EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability remain necessary. Gifts are not EB-5 capital or equity, and reimbursement does not guarantee approval, timing or citizenship. Eligible children generally must be unmarried and under 21; assess any applicable CSPA protection on the individual case facts. Sequence the family assessment after the principal route is identified. Confirm the relationship evidence, each child’s age and marital status, any possible CSPA analysis, admissibility, and visa availability rather than treating a payment amount as the whole case. The payment neither creates EB-5 jobs nor buys an ownership interest, and it does not remove the need for the agency to apply the governing immigrant rules. Keep proof of every decision in the file before relying on a proposed travel or employment date. Hypothetical example: a Canadian classical-music conductor has a U.S. orchestra offer and is considering an individual Gold Card request after a company offers to reimburse her preparation costs. The first decision is not whether the orchestra can pay a consultant. It is whether her career record can support EB-1 extraordinary-ability evidence or an appropriate EB-2 theory, and whether an immigrant visa is available. The government-gift record must show the applicant’s own prescribed payment to the U.S. government for the individual arrangement; the orchestra’s private reimbursement agreement is separate. Her teenage child’s inclusion also turns on relationship, age, marital status, and any applicable CSPA analysis. She should not call the gift an investment, assume it purchases a conventional visa, or plan an employment start date before the underlying immigration conditions are met.
Follow the official payment sequence and individual amounts
The official description ties the outcome to permanent residence through an existing employment-based category as determined by the authorities. Beyond the first payment: a 1% annual maintenance charge, and 5% where the transfer mechanism is used; these are not ordinary initial fees. The official site describes additional visa-related fees and required medical-examination payment instructions from the State Department. Follow verified official instructions rather than sending a gross estimated sale value. Where vetting is successful, the applicant then makes a gift of one million United States dollars to the U.S. government, or two million where a corporate sponsor is making the gift in respect of an employee. Under the published framework, payment is made by the individual applicant directly to the U.S. government after the stated vetting sequence; a business, relative or adviser cannot become the applicant merely by supplying funds.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.