IN THIS GUIDE · Compare an adviser’s service quote with the Gold Card government obligations
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
Read what the service scope actually includes
Identify the applicant or applicants covered, document preparation, representation and any separately charged work. Ask whether government amounts are included, excluded or merely estimated. Do not treat a quote’s total as the official program price or a promise that every future request is covered. Hypothetical example: the principal of a mining consultancy receives a single figure described as covering the family, with no schedule behind it. Ask which people are named, which steps are included, and what triggers an additional charge: a further request for evidence, a change of circumstances, a second interview, a refiling. Ask as well what is not included, since the omissions are usually where a later invoice comes from. Where the quote refers to documents to be prepared, ask who signs them and who is responsible if they are wrong.
Keep the official sequence explicit
Current individual terms begin with US$15,000 nonrefundable processing and a US$1 million gift after successful vetting and official instructions. Corporate principal terms use US$2 million plus US$15,000 per employee, with 1% annual maintenance and 5% transfer including a new background check. A service contract does not replace the instructed payment method or sequence. Keep a dated record of the official steps as they actually occur, separate from the adviser's correspondence: what was submitted, when, which instruction was received and what was paid in response to it. The reason for the separation is that only one of those two records can answer a question about the government's file. If an adviser proposes to hold funds and pay on the applicant's behalf, ask how the payment will be made, what confirmation the applicant will receive directly, and what happens to the money if the instruction never comes.
Identify the intended household and substantive review
The intended eligible spouse and unmarried children under 21 should be included initially; each adds US$15,000 and a US$1 million gift, including under corporate sponsorship. EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability remain necessary. A fee paid to an adviser does not establish that those conditions or each person’s required review are complete. Write out the household as it stands today and as it will stand at each expected step, since a marriage, a birthday or a change in a child's marital status can move a person out of the intended group. Ask the adviser to confirm in writing which people the quote covers, by name, and note that adding a person later has consequences on both sides: a further professional fee and the further official amounts. Keep the substantive eligibility questions live throughout, because a completed payment does not answer them and no adviser can make them unnecessary.
Distinguish service delivery from government timing
An adviser can schedule work it performs, but a private delivery date is not a guaranteed government decision or residence date. Retain the actual engagement and official records separately. This page endorses no provider and sets no market price for professional assistance. Where a proposal offers a target date, ask what is specifically promised by that date: a draft prepared, a submission made, or an outcome. Only the first two lie within an adviser's control. Ask what the adviser does if the process pauses, whether fees continue, and what happens if the applicant decides not to proceed. Keep the engagement letter, every invoice and every official confirmation in one file in date order, and add one line each time an amount is paid noting who received it and on what instruction.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.