A Cantley executive offered corporate Gold Card sponsorship: employer’s gift or her own EB-5?

The corporate Gold Card runs on the employer’s terms

Under the official FAQ checked September 7, 2026, a corporate sponsor pays a US$15,000 nonrefundable processing fee per person and, after vetting, a US$2,000,000 gift per sponsored employee, with 1% annual maintenance and a 5% transfer fee including a new background check if the gift is later used for a different employee. Joining family members add US$15,000 and US$1,000,000 each. The case is processed in EB-1 or EB-2 subject to eligibility, admissibility and visa availability. Because the gift can be transferred to another employee, the executive should ask what happens to her case if she leaves the company before permanent residence is granted.

EB-5 runs on her own capital and her own conditions

An EB-5 investment of US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project, with statutory adjustment from January 1, 2027, is her own money placed at risk in a new commercial enterprise that must create ten full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. She must document lawful source and be engaged in management or policy formulation. The result does not depend on her employer, and the capital may be returned if the enterprise succeeds. Residence is conditional for two years, with Form I-829 filed in the final ninety days. Her spouse and unmarried children under 21 are derivatives without additional gifts.

Decide on control and on what is being paid for

The corporate route costs her nothing directly but ties the outcome to continued employment and to the sponsor’s decisions about a transferable gift, and the money is a gift with no return in any event. The EB-5 route costs her capital and effort but leaves her independent of the employer. Neither is a purchase of a visa: both depend on immigrant-category conditions and on visa availability. She should read the official Gold Card page immediately before any step, because the program is administered by executive order and its terms may change, and she should check the USCIS fee schedule for the government charges that apply to whichever route she selects.

Before selecting either route, write down who controls the money, who bears the financial loss, what immigration classification must be adjudicated, and what residence pattern follows admission. The decision is not solved by the largest payment. EB-5 requires capital at risk and the required employment result. Under Executive Order 14351, a Gold Card gift by an individual or by a corporation on an individual’s behalf is treated as evidence of specified eligibility under an existing EB-1 or EB-2 classification; it is not an EB-5 investment or a new conventional visa category. Compare the routes using current official materials.