IN THIS GUIDE · Splitting corporate and personal funding between a sponsored employee and a joining spouse in Dorval
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Who pays is not who qualifies
An employer funding the corporate gift does not transfer eligibility to the company. The employee must still be eligible for lawful permanent residence, admissible, and reach an available visa, and USCIS still determines whether the case falls under EB-1 or EB-2. Payment allocation is a commercial arrangement between you and the employer; the immigration decision is made on the person.
The arithmetic of this file
Corporate sponsorship carries US$15,000 per employee plus a US$2,000,000 gift. A joining legally married spouse adds US$15,000 plus a US$1,000,000 gift. Together that is US$3,030,000 in fees and gifts, before other government visa, medical and professional costs, which are additional and priced separately. If an unmarried child under 21 also joins, add another US$15,000 and US$1,000,000.
Corporate terms that continue after approval
The corporate route carries a 1% annual maintenance obligation, and 5% where the transfer mechanism is used — neither is part of the ordinary initial fee, so read them as continuing terms in the employer's arrangement rather than as your closing cost. Ask which entity carries them, for how long, and what happens if you leave the employer.
Reuse of a prior gift, and its limits
A corporate sponsor may reuse a prior US$2,000,000 gift to sponsor another employee, subject to new vetting and the transfer requirements in force at the time. The process under the executive order involves the prior holder abandoning status — a step that person takes, not one the company performs. No employer can unilaterally reassign someone's permanent residence as if it were property.
Set the gift against an investment before comparing prices
A payment to the U.S. government and a capital investment in a business are different transactions that a household budget can make look alike. Investment capital goes into an enterprise, stays at risk there, may be lost, and is assessed on what the enterprise does with it. The gift under this program is paid out: it buys no equity, promises no return, carries no job-creation obligation, and is not measured against the cost of establishing anything. Reading it as an investment leads people to ask when the money comes back, which is the wrong question to be asking. Compare the two on what each requires afterwards instead, since an investment route keeps testing the enterprise while the continuing terms here attach to an employment arrangement. Confirm current terms against the official instructions before either comparison is priced.
Compare this sponsorship with an ordinary employer-sponsored case
Sponsorship here means funding, which is narrower than the word usually implies. In a conventional employment-based case the employer's role is evidentiary: it extends a permanent job offer, tests the labour market in some categories, and that offer supports the petition itself. Under this program the employer's role is financial, while the substantive determination continues to rest on the individual and remains with USCIS, including whether the case falls under EB-1 or EB-2. Two consequences follow. Leaving the employer does not by itself undo an approved permanent residence, though it may trigger private terms in the employment agreement, so read those apart from the immigration file. And a company's willingness to fund says nothing about whether the applicant is admissible, which is decided on that person's own record.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.