Read the general immigrant investor briefing overview
Central Saanich applicants using company resources should distinguish an individual’s EB-5 capital from an employer’s corporate Gold Card support. The source and agreement matter more than a general statement that the company will pay.
Trace the EB-5 contribution
Establish lawful entitlement, source and path through the actual distribution and investment. Capital generally is US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying TEA or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustment beginning January 1, 2027. At-risk funds, ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and management or policy-formulation participation remain required.
Read the Gold Card arrangement
Processing is US$15,000 nonrefundable per person. After vetting when instructed, gifts are US$1 million for an individual principal or US$2 million corporately; each eligible included spouse or child adds US$1 million and processing. Corporate 1% annual and 5% transfer charges have additional conditions. Private repayment provisions do not waive EB-1/EB-2 eligibility, admissibility or visa availability.
Preserve the actual residence sequence
A petition decision alone grants neither residence nor work permission. EB-5 generally requires I-829 within the 90 days before the second conditional-residence anniversary; filing does not automatically remove conditions or ensure repayment. Gold Card gifts are not EB-5 capital or equity, and corporate substitution is not an automatic right to transfer a pending case. No financial commitment guarantees approval or timing.
Hypothetical example: an employer offers to ‘sponsor’ its operations vice-president
Hypothetical example: a Central Saanich food-processing company tells its operations vice-president that it will ‘sponsor her green card’ and asks which route it should pay for. She also holds shares in a former employer that she could sell. The reviewer’s first question in either route is who the applicant is and whose money moves. Under EB-5 the investor is the individual whose own capital is placed at risk in a new commercial enterprise; if the company gives or lends her money, the file must show a documented gift or loan, its lawful source in the company’s statements, and the traced transfer into capital she places at risk. Under the Gold Card framework, as officially described, a corporate gift is made by the company in its own name, with per-person processing, and the framework carries corporate maintenance and transfer conditions that the company, not she, must read. Neither route makes the employer the applicant, and neither approval is residence; EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability still govern the Gold Card, and EB-5 residence is conditional for two years.
Sequence the decision so that nothing is resigned or sold too early
She should not sell the shares until the route is chosen, because a sale converts a traceable asset into cash whose later use must be explained, and she should not resign because an employer’s corporate gift depends on its continued willingness and on conditions she does not control. The order that keeps options open is: obtain the company’s written statement of what it will pay and under which route; obtain the current official Gold Card instructions and re-verify them before any transfer; obtain her own share-sale valuation and the tax position of a sale; then compare an EB-5 investment of her own money, with its ten-job and at-risk conditions and the I-829 filing in the ninety days before the second anniversary, against a corporate gift that is not an investment and carries no repayment. The document that decides EB-5 is her share-sale agreement and the traced proceeds; the document that decides the corporate route is the company’s board resolution and the official terms on the day the gift is instructed.
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.