A nonrefundable processing fee of US$15,000 per person, background vetting, and then a gift of US$1 million to the U.S. government, or US$2 million where a corporate sponsor makes it for an employee. Successful applicants proceed under existing EB-1 or EB-2 classifications with their own eligibility and visa availability rules.
A fee, then vetting, then a gift the applicant makes
Hypothetical example: Bastien owns a small temperature-controlled transport company and is considering the Gold Card framework for his household. The sequence is worth stating plainly because summaries scramble it. The fee comes first and is nonrefundable, which means it is spent whether or not vetting succeeds.
Vetting follows. Only after successful vetting does the gift arise, and the gift runs from the applicant to the U.S. government rather than in any other direction.
Nothing about this is a purchase of status by itself, because the underlying route is an existing employment-based immigrant classification and its requirements do not disappear. Bastien therefore needs an honest assessment of whether he can qualify under EB-1 or EB-2 on his own record, quite apart from what he is willing to pay, and he needs to understand that visa availability in those categories is outside anyone's control. Because the framework's terms have moved, the figures above should be re-verified on the official page before he commits, and confirmed by a licensed United States immigration attorney.