IN THIS GUIDE · Rechecking current terms after older announcements
The individual figures as verified
For an individual principal the official material sets a nonrefundable US$15,000 DHS processing fee, paid with the online application, and a US$1 million gift made after successful vetting. Each joining spouse and each unmarried child under 21 must be considered in the initial application and carries an additional US$15,000 fee and an additional US$1 million gift. Nothing in that structure resembles a single five-million-dollar payment, so an old figure should be discarded rather than adjusted. Note what these payments are not, since that is where remembered figures do most of their damage. They are not an investment, they create no ownership and no right to repayment, and they do not by themselves establish eligibility, which rests on a separate EB-1 or EB-2 determination together with admissibility and an available visa.
The corporate figures are different
The corporate route runs on its own numbers. A corporate principal pays a nonrefundable US$15,000 processing fee per employee and a US$2 million gift per employee, and the corporate program carries a 1% annual maintenance fee and a 5% transfer fee. Joining family members are not treated differently: each spouse and unmarried child under 21 still adds US$15,000 and US$1 million. Have current corporate terms reviewed before relying on any of these figures. Where an employer is involved, establish in writing which amounts the company pays, what happens if the employee leaves, and how the maintenance and transfer charges are handled between the parties. Those are contractual questions the programme does not answer, and they are considerably easier to settle before a payment than after one.
Platinum is a separate, unreleased concept
A separate Platinum concept has been described as unreleased, with a waitlist. It is distinct from the Gold Card, and no benefit, price, or eligibility rule should be assumed for it from Gold Card material or from commentary. Planning around an unreleased product means planning around terms that do not yet exist in official instructions. Anyone budgeting today should work from what the Gold Card material actually states and treat Platinum as a separate question. The practical consequence is simple: a household cannot compare a published route against an unpublished one, so any comparison that includes the second is really a decision to wait. Where waiting is genuinely acceptable, say so and set a review date. Where it is not, the unreleased concept should be left out of the analysis entirely rather than carried as a hypothetical alternative.
Attach a date to every number you write down
The figures above were checked against the official program instructions on 7 September 2026. That date is part of the fact. Before paying anything, open the official site and the executive order again and compare, because a program that has already changed once can change again. Keep a short note of what you read and when, so a later conversation with counsel starts from a verified figure rather than a recollection. Keep that note with the household's own figures rather than in an inbox, and re-read it before each payment. A number verified months ago is a historical record of what the terms were, and the only figure that matters at the moment of payment is the one in force then. Where an adviser quotes something different, the dated note settles the question in a minute.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.