IN THIS GUIDE · Identify which person an official evidence request concerns
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Preserve the complete request
Hypothetical example: an update asks for a civil record for one relative, but a household summary only says family documents needed. Keep the full message and identify the actual person and action. Do not substitute another relative’s evidence simply because it is available.
Retain the published sequence
Current processing is US$15,000 nonrefundable per person. Successful vetting and official instructions precede the principal gift: US$1 million individually or US$2 million for a corporate-sponsored employee. A request for evidence is not a gift instruction or completed decision.
Assess family and individual conditions
Intended eligible joining family should be identified initially. Each eligible spouse or unmarried child under 21 adds US$1 million and US$15,000. EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability remain necessary; shared funds do not make personal evidence interchangeable.
Keep corporate and private arrangements separate
Corporate sponsorship concerns employees and includes 1% annual maintenance and a 5% transfer fee with a new background check. Reuse of a prior gift for a new employee does not guarantee replacement approval. A private agreement cannot waive official evidence or turn the gift into EB-5 capital.
Follow the official payment sequence and individual amounts
The official FAQ recommends including the spouse and eligible unmarried children under 21 who intend to join as part of the initial application. Each adds a nonrefundable US$15,000 processing fee and a US$1,000,000 gift, including under corporate sponsorship. This recommendation does not establish that a later addition is automatically available, free or prohibited; follow the actual instructions for a changed household.
Re-verify the official terms immediately before any money moves
The Gold Card program is presented on its official government page as a route built around a gift to the U.S. government together with a processing fee, rather than as one of the conventional visa categories set out in the immigration statute. Successful applicants proceed through existing employment-based classifications, and the published material refers to the first and second employment-based preference categories. The program's terms, amounts and family provisions have been announced and revised through official channels, so a description that was accurate last quarter may be incomplete now. Any government program may include eligibility checks, background review, identity records, and procedural steps apart from payment. The Gold Card framework, as published, involves a payment to the U.S. government that is not invested in anything, creates no jobs and is not returned. The payment made after vetting is a gift to the United States government, not an investment: it produces no return, no equity, no job-creation credit and no interest, and it should never be described or compared as though it were an EB-5 investment. The program's terms, amounts and eligibility statements are subject to change and should be re-read on the official page immediately before any money moves, and confirmed in writing with counsel. Confirm the official instruction, payer and amount before sending money, separately from an adviser’s service charge.
Match each payment to official instructions
The official programme also describes possible State Department fees and medical-examination payments, with actual instructions depending on the applicant’s circumstances. Criminal history, prior immigration violations, misrepresentation and health-related grounds are assessed under the general rules, and an applicant with a complication in any of those areas should get that assessed before considering a program whose principal cost is a payment. Sending the instructed amount correctly, with the correct reference, through a channel the receiving process accepts, resolves a payment question and nothing more. Because public instructions can be updated, save the official page and FAQ accessed for a proposed filing, use only the designated payment mechanism, and seek appropriate regulated advice for legal, tax, and financial questions. Comparing that notice with bank confirmations prevents a private invoice or intermediary receipt from being mistaken for proof of an official payment.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.