IN THIS GUIDE · A fee that does not exist in the official framework, and how to check before paying
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
What the official framework describes, in its own order
As published, an applicant pays a nonrefundable processing fee of US$15,000 per person to the Department of Homeland Security. Vetting follows. Only after successful vetting does the gift arise: US$1 million for an individual principal, or US$2 million per corporate-sponsored employee. Each eligible joining spouse and each unmarried child under twenty-one adds US$15,000 in processing and US$1 million in gift, including in corporate cases. Corporate terms as published also describe one per cent annual maintenance and a five per cent transfer fee that includes a new background check by the Department of Homeland Security. There is no deposit, no reservation and no queue position for sale.
Why an invented step is the usual failure, not a legal misunderstanding
People rarely go wrong on the substance of this program. They go wrong on a step somebody added. A fee described as holding a place, guaranteeing an outcome, or securing an allocation has no counterpart in the official material, and the request itself is the warning. Two further tells appear regularly: an assurance that the outcome is certain, and pressure tied to a deadline that does not appear on the official page. Solange's protection is procedural rather than legal — read the official page, match every payment named there against what she is being asked for, and refuse anything that does not correspond.
What the Gold Card is not, which matters as much as what it is
It is not a conventional visa category. The payment made after vetting is a gift to the United States government, not an investment: it produces no return, no equity, no job-creation credit and no interest, and it should never be described or compared as though it were an EB-5 investment. Successful applicants proceed through the EB-1 or EB-2 route, subject to that category's own eligibility rules, admissibility and visa availability. That last phrase carries real weight, because meeting the program's financial terms does not by itself produce a place in a preference category.
Verify the terms yourself, on the day, before any transfer
Figures and conditions for this program have changed since it was announced and can change again. The published amounts above should be treated as current at the time of writing and re-verified on the official program page before any money moves, including the processing fee. Solange should also confirm who the payee is according to that page, and compare it against the account details she has been given, because a correct amount sent to the wrong recipient is the more expensive mistake. If any part of what she is told cannot be found on the official page, the sensible answer is to stop and take advice.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.