Identify the intended applicants before building the household budget. A spouse or child remaining in Canada is a different planning situation from someone seeking U.S. permanent residence. Have each person’s eligibility and intended immigration process assessed; do not assume a single household decision settles every application.
Separate participation from family relationships
Prepare a short record of who wants to relocate, who is undecided, and who has a different timetable. For each proposed applicant, check the official current charges and supporting evidence before committing funds. If a child’s age or marital status may change during processing, raise that issue explicitly.
Payment does not resolve eligibility or preserve an immigration benefit by itself. The published additional charge for each included spouse or eligible unmarried child under 21 is US$15,000 in processing fees plus a US$1 million gift, as checked September 7, 2026; verify the current terms before payment. Build the family analysis person by person, with relationship evidence, age, payment consequences, and any independent admissibility issue.
The first review should not assume that a child who is currently eligible will remain so throughout processing. Hypothetical example: a Québec applicant wants to include a twenty-year-old unmarried daughter who is completing a pastry apprenticeship and a spouse who has a prior U.S. overstay.
The daughter’s age requires calendar monitoring, while the spouse’s history requires separate advice before funds are committed. A household total is useful only after those individual questions are answered.