IN THIS GUIDE · Compare the corporate Gold Card track with an L-1A transfer before a Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures employer sponsors anyone
Start with the GOLD CARD eligibility and application overview
What the corporate track describes
The official FAQ, rechecked September 8, 2026, describes corporate sponsorship with a nonrefundable US$15,000 DHS processing fee per employee and, after that employee completes vetting, a US$2 million gift per employee. It also states that the corporate track has a 1% annual maintenance fee and a 5% transfer fee, including a new DHS background check, when the sponsor reuses the gift contribution for a replacement employee. These terms must be reread before any application or payment because the framework may change.
What an L-1A petition asks instead
L-1A asks whether the manager has one continuous year of qualifying employment with the Québec company in the last three years, whether the two plants have a qualifying corporate relationship, and whether his U.S. role will be primarily managerial or executive. It involves no gift and grants temporary status up to seven years. A permanent-residence objective can later be pursued through an employment-based immigrant petition on its own evidence.
What the gift does not buy
Under the official framework, the applicant must still be eligible for permanent residence, admissible and able to obtain a visa number. Vetting is part of the described process. A payment is not approval, and the FAQ does not describe the gift as refundable if the outcome is unfavourable. A company that treats the gift as a purchase of an outcome has misread the source.
How to structure the comparison
Put the two routes side by side on evidence, cost, timing, and what happens to the employee if he leaves the company. Add tax treatment of the gift for the corporation and the employee, which is outside immigration advice. Ask an adviser to identify anything in the manager's history that could affect admissibility under either route, since that is the fact the gift cannot change.
Keep the official payments and family conditions distinct
The official instructions recommend including a joining spouse and unmarried children under 21 in the initial application so they receive the program’s benefits. The official programme also describes possible State Department fees and medical-examination payments, with actual instructions depending on the applicant’s circumstances. A first review should produce an identity timeline, the exact eligibility record, and a payment checklist that separates government instructions from private services. Verify the destination through the official channel itself, and keep the instruction, the confirmation and the correspondence, because a payment made to the wrong recipient is generally not recoverable. A practical sequence is to preserve the official instructions, gather identity and admissibility records, complete the requested filing, await the required notice, and make no irreversible business or travel decision based only on an expectation of approval. Treat each listed family member as a separately funded commitment, and confirm the current official instructions before any payment because private summaries may omit conditions or changes.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.