Keep the Gold Card gift and fees separate from EB-5 investment capital and project costs tied to the business, since they represent different legal structures with different financial consequences.
Model each route's full cost independently
Build a complete cost model for each route separately, including all included family members, and obtain independent financial and tax advice before deciding which, if either, fits the family's actual circumstances.
EB-5 money is invested in a business, remains at risk for the legally applicable sustainment period and must satisfy the ten-job requirement; any eventual return depends on the project documents and cannot be guaranteed. Separate currency and private service costs from any official State Department visa and medical charges; a funded account does not itself grant residence, US work permission or a promised completion date. After successful vetting, current terms request a US$2 million gift for a corporate-sponsored principal; the corresponding individual-principal gift is US$1 million, and eligible included relatives have separate published amounts. Where a program is recent and its procedures are still settling, and an existing route is already in progress, time spent verifying costs nothing and protects against an expensive reversal.