IN THIS GUIDE · Distinguish preparation assistance from official eligibility review
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Identify the scope of assistance
Hypothetical example: a representative offers to prepare information and track requests. Explain the actual service. A private agreement does not establish the government’s decision or remove the applicant’s responsibility for accurate information.
Preserve the official sequence
Current processing is US$15,000 nonrefundable per person. The principal gift follows successful vetting and official instructions: US$1 million individually or US$2 million corporately. A private service milestone is not the instruction to make the government gift.
Keep individual eligibility and family terms
EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability remain relevant. Intended eligible joining spouse and unmarried children under 21 should be included initially, each adding US$1 million and US$15,000. A representative’s package does not expand eligible relationships.
Separate corporate and private obligations
The corporate route concerns sponsored employees and includes 1% annual maintenance and a 5% transfer fee with a new background check, without automatic replacement approval. The government gift is not EB-5 capital or a return promise. Private charges do not change official terms.
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.
What the official material describes, in its own terms
The official material states that successful applicants obtain permanent residence through existing employment-based categories as determined by the administering authorities, subject to visa availability. Treat the Gold Card as a framework whose official instructions must be checked at the moment of action. Gold Card is an official program framework rather than a conventional standalone visa category, and its gift-plus-fee terms must be re-verified on the official site before any money moves. Use only verified government channels for each instructed step and retain confirmations, identifiers and source records. A deposit to a private account before any official fee is paid is not a stage the page describes, and the applicant should ask the intermediary to point to where it is. The payment record should identify the instructed amount, payer, recipient, date, and case to which it relates. Gold Card is not a conventional visa: it operates through the stated employment-based framework, subject to the applicable eligibility and government decisions. The decision is whether the applicant can satisfy the announced framework and the underlying immigration conditions, not whether a third party describes the payment as a shortcut.
Follow the post-vetting government instructions
A promoter promising guaranteed approval, a fixed timeline, or immunity from background screening is describing something inconsistent with the program's official conditions, which include government vetting. A company may reuse a prior US$2 million gift to sponsor another employee, subject to fresh vetting and the transfer requirements then in force, and the Executive Order process involves the prior holder abandoning status. Official State Department visa and medical costs may also arise; neither a private all-inclusive quote nor payment itself guarantees residence, work permission, approval or a completion date. Verify the destination through the official channel itself, and keep the instruction, the confirmation and the correspondence, because a payment made to the wrong recipient is generally not recoverable. A first review should produce a funds-availability chart that distinguishes an anticipated distribution from money held by the applicant and from money that can lawfully be transferred when official payment instructions arrive. Follow verified official instructions, and assess tax and financial consequences separately rather than importing proposed programme benefits or an investment repayment assumption. A private adviser’s invoice is not a gift payment, and an assurance from that adviser cannot transform its own remedy into a government obligation.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.