IN THIS GUIDE · A Montréal-Est employer weighing two sponsored employees, one of them bringing a spouse
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
The arithmetic for two employees and one spouse
Two corporate principals mean two US$2 million gifts. The spouse joining one of them adds US$1 million, giving US$5,000,000 in gifts. Three individuals each carry the US$15,000 processing fee, so US$45,000 in fees, and US$5,045,000 in total before visa fees, medical examinations, translations and professional costs, which are charged separately. Only the US$45,000 in processing fees is stated to be non-refundable. Confirm the current official instructions before treating an estimate as a commitment. The payment is made by the applicant to the U.S. government under the published process, even where a company intends to support the applicant. It is not a conventional visa classification, and the payment does not replace the separate eligibility determination.
Two files, two eligibility determinations
Neither employee is approved because the other is. Each is separately vetted, separately assessed for admissibility, and separately determined under EB-1 or EB-2 with their own chargeability and visa queue. One case may reach interview months ahead of the other, and one may fail on a personal ground while the other proceeds. Budget and plan for divergence rather than a single outcome. Make a person-by-person decision table with the proposed category, chargeability, family relationship, payment status and unresolved record. That table reveals whether a relative is actually included and whether one person's timing depends on another event. Do not use a sponsor's shared budget as evidence that separate individual conditions have been met.
Where the sponsor's own conduct touches both cases
The eligibility determinations are individual, but the sponsor is common to both. Inconsistent corporate documentation, a disputed signing authority, or a transfer that does not match the instruction can hold up either file or both. Document each authorized signatory and maintain consistent, accurate corporate evidence across the submissions. Assess whether a company-related question affects the other file; shared sponsorship does not mean every issue necessarily affects every case.
Maintenance and transfer terms arrive later
The 1% annual maintenance charge and the 5% charge where the transfer mechanism is used are not part of the initial per-employee cost. They arise later — notably when a prior US$2 million gift is applied to another employee. That reuse requires fresh vetting, the transfer requirements in force at the time, and the earlier holder's abandonment of status under the Executive Order process. Keep the initial payment file separate from any later transfer request. A later mechanism can have different conditions, fees and abandonment consequences, so it should not be promised in an employment offer as though it were automatic. The decision to support a second person should follow the current official process, not a recycled internal calculation.
Follow the official payment sequence and individual amounts
The applicant should make the payment directed by the official process, not route the required amount through a business, a donor, or a private intermediary.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.