No. The official program still requires an appropriate EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility determination, admissibility and visa availability.
Prepare facts for the actual assessment
Do not assume that wealth makes every professional claim unnecessary or that an impressive biography guarantees a particular category. Follow the current official instructions and provide the requested evidence accurately.
An employment budget does not replace the programme’s eligibility, vetting and official payment conditions. Permanent residence is then described as granted through an existing employment-based category as determined by the authorities and subject to visa availability. The Gold Card program is described officially as resting on a gift to the U.S. government plus a processing fee, and it is not one of the conventional statutory visa categories, so assumptions carried over from those categories are unsafe. The framework operates through the existing EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant classifications, and those classifications carry their own eligibility requirements. The gift does not remove the requirement to be admissible, and a prior immigration violation, criminal history or health ground would still be assessed. Successful applicants receive lawful permanent resident status through an EB-1 or EB-2 classification, subject to eligibility, admissibility and visa availability, so the resulting status is permanent residence rather than citizenship.