IN THIS GUIDE · First consultation without a payment commitment
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Start from the published requirements
A useful first meeting compares the household's facts with what the program actually requires: eligibility for lawful permanent residence, admissibility, and an available visa, with a determination under EB-1 or EB-2. Payment does not purchase citizenship or set aside a ground of inadmissibility. It is worth noting what the Gold Card does not require — there are no EB-5 job creation obligations — but that difference is a reason to compare routes carefully, not a reason to assume qualification. Take the underlying category first, since it is the condition most likely to be decisive and the one the payments do not address. Ask what an EB-1 or EB-2 determination would rest on for this particular applicant and what evidence exists for it today. A household that cannot answer that question has not yet reached the point where the payment schedule is relevant.
Price the commitment before the first payment
The first payable step is a US$15,000 nonrefundable DHS processing fee submitted with the online application; the US$1,000,000 gift is made after successful vetting, when instructed. Where a company applies for an employee, the corporate figures differ: US$15,000 per employee and a US$2,000,000 gift. Visa fees, medical examinations and professional advice cost more on top. Because none of the gift is refundable equity, the household should decide what it can lose before it pays anything. Write the total against the actual list of intending immigrants rather than against the headline figures, because the per-person amounts are what turn a large number into a different one. Then ask a blunt question of the household's balance sheet: after these payments and the surrounding costs, does the remaining position still work for the years that follow.
Ask for evidence, not encouragement
An exploratory consultation is worth having only if it can produce a negative answer. Ask which official page supports each statement, and be wary of anyone describing benefits of an unreleased Platinum tier or its waitlist as though they were available. Approval odds, processing speed and refund possibilities are the three areas where informal claims most often outrun the published material. A meeting that ends with cited sources and a list of open questions has done its job. Two claims deserve particular scepticism because they are the ones most often made informally: that approval is likely, and that a payment can be recovered. Neither is a matter of opinion, and both should be answered by reference to published material or acknowledged as unknown. Ask for the page, not the reassurance.
Compare on the household's own facts
Any comparison should rest on the individual records in front of the reviewer: who the applicants are, what their immigration history shows, and what evidence exists. Assumptions drawn from where a household lives or where it comes from have no place in that analysis. Include the tax picture, since permanent residence brings taxation of worldwide income under the ordinary rules and needs qualified advice. Finish by asking whether a different immigration route deserves the same evidence-based comparison. Take the tax advice before the immigration decision rather than after it, since the sequence of a disposal and a change of residence status can matter a great deal and is difficult to unwind. A household holding a business or property is usually better served by an hour with a qualified adviser at this stage than by a second immigration opinion.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.