IN THIS GUIDE · Moving a Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac household to the United States on the Gold Card before the immigrant visa is issued.
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
What each stage actually authorises
Paying the US$15,000 processing fee and filing through the official portal opens a case; it is not status and it is not permission to work. Approval of the petition is a step, not admission. Lawful permanent residence begins when an immigrant visa is issued and the officer admits you at a port of entry, and that admission is generally what authorises employment. Keep the portal receipt, official notices and consular instructions in date order. They establish which stage has occurred and prevent a household from committing to work or travel on the basis of a payment confirmation alone.
Travel and admission papers for the actual move
Plan the move around the documents that carry you across the border, not around optimism. Each traveller needs a passport valid for the trip, the immigrant visa issued to them, and whatever the consular post hands over sealed with instructions not to open it. Follow the instructions you actually receive; do not assume a document accepted in one channel satisfies another. Compare each traveller’s document expiry and medical or consular appointment requirements with the intended departure date. The family must decide whether to travel together or preserve flexibility for a later eligible arrival.
Every dependent carries their own file
A legally married spouse and each unmarried child under 21 can join, and each addition adds US$15,000 plus a US$1,000,000 gift. Including them from the start is officially recommended for program benefits; adding someone later is neither impossible nor free. Each person has their own admissibility, while derivative eligibility depends on the principal, so a shared fact can affect two files at once. Make a person-by-person table of relationship evidence, age, passport, fee and process status. A shared household plan cannot cure a missing individual document or an issue affecting a particular derivative applicant.
Budgeting deposits against an uncertain date
Only the US$15,000 per person is explicitly non-refundable; other government, medical and professional costs are additional and are not all payable in one moment. The US$1,000,000 gift per person is sent after successful vetting, when you are instructed. Household totals — US$4,060,000 for a family of four — are a sum, not a single wire instruction. Deposits committed before visa issuance are your risk. Gold Card involves a qualifying applicant’s payment to the U.S. government and is not a conventional visa. Confirm the official instruction, the individual payer and the amount before a transfer; do not recast it as an investment or assume payment itself supplies status.
Identify whether the individual or corporate track applies
The gift framework remains subject to applicable EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability. The second, after vetting, is a gift to the U.S. government: US$1 million where an individual applies, or US$2 million where a corporate sponsor makes the payment for the applicant.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.