IN THIS GUIDE · Meeting a bank's source-of-wealth review after Gold Card gift instructions reach a Saint-Joseph-du-Lac applicant
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
A bank review is not an immigration decision
Your bank's source-of-wealth questions come from its own compliance obligations. A satisfied bank does not decide eligibility, admissibility or visa availability, and a delay can affect your ability to satisfy an instructed payment deadline even though the bank does not adjudicate immigration. Equally, the qualifying gift serves as evidence of the specified benefit and eligibility, so the paper trail you build for the bank is worth keeping in a form the case file can use.
Trace the actual money, not the headline
A statement of net worth is not a trace. Show where the specific funds being sent came from: the sale, the salary, the distribution, the maturity — with the dated documents behind each step. Company profits are not the same as your personal liquidity, and an account label such as 'administrative' does not by itself characterise the money. What governs is the actual source and the actual movement. The program is not a conventional visa category and an applicant must not describe the gift as a recoverable investment. Hypothetical example: a film-location sound editor plans to send the gift from proceeds held by a personal corporation. The first review compares the corporate account authority, dividend or salary record, personal account trail, and the payment instructions. The decision is whether the personal account trail identifies the applicant's payment clearly enough for the selected arrangement.
Joint accounts and who may instruct
If the funds sit in an account held with a spouse or a parent, two questions arise: who is legally entitled to instruct the transfer, and whose money is being sent. The account agreement and the bank's mandate govern the first. Where a family member is contributing, say so plainly and document it; a silent assumption about authority is the kind of gap a compliance review will find.
Charges land on the amount that arrives
Wire fees, correspondent bank deductions and conversion spreads reduce what reaches the destination. The instructed gift amount is the amount to be delivered, so plan for the charges rather than discovering a shortfall afterwards. Amounts under the program are in US dollars. Where a route is slow or expensive, ask your bank and your advisers for a lawful alternative — structuring payments to avoid scrutiny is not one.
Keep eligibility, vetting and payment as three separate steps
The framework as published describes three steps for an individual: the processing fee, which is not refunded under any outcome; vetting, whose criteria the applicant should read on the official page rather than assume; and the gift, requested after successful vetting. The official description ties the outcome to permanent residence through an existing employment-based category as determined by the authorities. The current corporate FAQ describes 1% annual maintenance and a 5% transfer fee including a new DHS background check.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.