The official government website describes the individual Gold Card as a nonrefundable $15,000 DHS processing fee, followed by background approval and a $1 million contribution, in exchange for U.S. residency “in record time.”

The site also says a successful applicant receives lawful permanent resident status as an EB-1 or EB-2 visa holder, subject to visa availability. This means the program is being layered onto existing employment-based immigrant categories, not floating above them in some entirely separate universe.

The same site says the process will be handled on an expedited basis and “should take weeks,” but it also acknowledges that applicants from some countries may face wait times of a year or more based on visa availability. It further states that permanent residents under the program remain subject to U.S. tax, including tax on non-U.S. income. For many high-net-worth families, this is one of the core decision points.

Individual vs. Corporate Gold Card

The corporate version is what has caught the attention of multinationals. Under the official guidance, the corporate sponsor pays a $15,000 processing fee per employee and then a $2 million gift per employee after vetting. The site also advertises a notable business feature: the sponsor can stop sponsoring one employee and reuse the prior contribution as the basis for sponsoring another, subject to a 1% annual maintenance fee and a 5% transfer fee that includes a new background check.

I can see why that concept has appeal. For a multinational trying to move a founder, rainmaker, or strategically critical executive, a reusable corporate immigration asset sounds efficient. But I would caution companies not to confuse an interesting structure with a proven one. Unlike EB-5, where capital is invested into a project and may be returned depending on the terms, the Gold Card model is framed as a gift to the United States. That distinction changes the financial calculus immediately.

The Real Timeline vs. the Promises

This is where the program has collided with reality.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told lawmakers in April 2026 that only one person had been approved and that hundreds more were in the queue. More revealing still, reporting on the government’s court filings showed that the applicant pool was much thinner than the public rhetoric suggested: 338 requests, 165 paid fees, and 59 people moving on to DHS paperwork. That is not a failed program, but it is nowhere near the image of instant scale that many prospective applicants were sold.

More importantly, the government apparently undercut its own sales pitch in court. The Washington Post reported that the administration told the court that Gold Card applicants do not automatically move faster than existing EB-1 and EB-2 applicants and must still wait according to priority dates and final action dates when visa availability is constrained. In other words, the “weeks” language on the site cannot be taken as a universal operational reality. For me, that changes the advisory conversation completely.

Litigation and Practical Alternatives

The legal risk is not abstract. Recent reporting describes ongoing litigation brought by professors and others who argue the program unlawfully displaces or reshapes the EB-1 and EB-2 system. At the same time, immigration attorneys representing affluent clients have publicly warned that the program lacks the same statutory grounding and long-term predictability that investors typically want when making life-and-tax decisions.

So who should consider it in 2026?

In my view, only a narrow client profile. Someone highly risk-tolerant, comfortable with executive-action uncertainty, prepared for worldwide taxation, and willing to pay for optionality rather than certainty. For many others, the smarter sequence is still to compare EB-5, EB-1A, EB-1C, O-1, or L-1 pathways first. Those options may not be glamorous, but glamour is not the same thing as legal durability.

My practical next step for readers is simple: run the Gold Card through a three-part filter before you spend a dollar. First, tax. Second, visa-availability reality. Third, litigation and policy durability. If the program still makes sense after that exercise, then it may be worth exploring. If not, there are still multiple viable paths to U.S. residency for the right candidate. In 2026, that is the calm, disciplined answer.