Read the general immigrant investor briefing overview
Selling a contracting business creates one pool of money and two very different proposals for it. EB-5 places capital at risk in an enterprise that must create ten jobs and returns it only if the project succeeds; the Gold Card framework, per the official page, requires a nonrefundable processing fee and a gift to the U.S. government that is never returned. The family should ask what each dollar does, who else must be paid for, and what remains to live on afterwards.
Ask what the money does in each route
Hypothetical example: a heating-and-ventilation contractor from Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier sells to a national firm and considers both routes with the proceeds. In EB-5, the standard amount is currently US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a targeted employment area or infrastructure project, invested at risk under the applicable sustainment rules and traceable to its lawful source and path; approved investors then receive two-year conditional residence and later file Form I-829. In the Gold Card framework, the official page describes a gift of US$1 million per person included, plus a US$15,000 processing fee each, with no enterprise, jobs requirement or return. The first is an investment; the second is a payment. Verify both sets of figures before money moves.
Count the family under each set of terms
EB-5 covers the spouse and unmarried children under 21 as derivatives of a single investment, subject to the Child Status Protection Act for children near the limit. The Gold Card terms attach a further gift and fee to each included spouse and eligible child, so a family of four is budgeted as four principals' worth of gifts, not one. Both routes end in permanent residence with the same admissibility requirements and the same dependence on visa availability, and neither exempts a family member with an inadmissibility problem. List the household, the ages and the marital status of each child, and total each route honestly.
Keep enough to live on and enough for the exit
Whichever route is chosen, the family becomes U.S. tax resident on obtaining permanent residence and faces Canadian departure tax on the deemed disposition of remaining assets, which for a contractor may include real estate and the holding company that received the sale proceeds. Model the after-tax position under each route with an accountant who works on both sides of the border, and make sure the money that is invested or gifted is not the money the family needs for the first years. An immigration file that succeeds while the household is short of funds has solved the wrong problem.
What else is on your mind?
Does an EB-5 immigration review tell me whether an investment is good?Is the Gold Card another name for EB-5?Should I assume one Gold Card payment covers my family?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.