Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Record the family facts correctly
The framework retains EB-1/EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa-availability conditions. Chargeability generally follows country of birth rather than passport nationality, subject to applicable rules and exceptions. Assess each person’s relationships and actual case circumstances instead of assuming all family details are interchangeable. The document set should state what each record proves. A passport may establish identity and nationality; a birth certificate may be relevant to chargeability; a marriage or birth record may support a claimed family relationship. Neither a household address nor an employer’s assurance resolves those points. If names differ across documents, preserve the intervening change records and explain them consistently before the case reaches an identity review.
Use the actual programme amounts
Nonrefundable processing is US$15,000 per person. Following vetting when instructed, the principal gift is US$1 million individually or US$2 million corporately. Each eligible included spouse or child adds US$1 million plus US$15,000, including corporate cases. Corporate 1% annual and 5% transfer charges have additional conditions. Gifts are not EB-5 investments, and payment guarantees neither approval, speed nor citizenship. Eligible children generally must be unmarried and under 21; assess any applicable CSPA protection on the individual case facts. The Gold Card framework uses a gift to the U.S. government, not an EB-5 investment, and does not create a separate conventional statutory visa classification; successful cases use EB-1 or EB-2. Re-verify the official terms before any money moves. Hypothetical example: an Esquimalt lidar-calibration physicist receives a corporate offer that refers to a Gold Card budget but provides no evidence for her EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility. She must decide whether to first assemble awards, publications, employment evidence and the relevant classification theory, or whether the company should change its proposed US start date. The official programme instructions, corporate authorization and her own eligibility records settle different issues. A private reimbursement promise does not turn a gift payment into an approved immigration outcome. Planning also requires separating gatekeeping from budgeting. Before anyone sends payment, check that eligibility evidence, family documentation and visa availability are sufficiently developed for the proposed path. If an employer selects corporate treatment, document who may act for that company and do not infer that internal budget approval is immigration approval. Keep payment instructions and confirmations with the case record; they show a gift transaction, not an ownership interest or entitlement to residence. If eligibility evidence remains incomplete, decide whether to defer the move, pursue another authorized interim arrangement or alter the recruitment timetable.
Check the immigrant-category requirements still apply
Successful applicants proceed through the existing EB-1 or EB-2 classifications, so the ordinary requirements of those categories, together with admissibility and visa availability, continue to apply. A replacement employee needs a new background check; the company cannot assume automatic approval or unrestricted reuse. 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.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.