Gold Card for a couple under the published terms is two US$15,000 fees and two US$1 million gifts, plus ordinary immigrant-visa charges. Employer EB-2 is the employer's labour-certification and petition costs plus the same visa charges, with derivatives included. The difference is the gifts.
The gift is the whole difference, and it is not refundable
Line the two budgets up on paper. Employer-sponsored EB-2: the employer pays the labour certification and Form I-140 costs, which by law it must bear for the certification, and the family pays consular immigrant-visa or adjustment fees for the principal and each derivative from the current government schedules, plus professional fees. Gold Card for the same couple: two US$15,000 processing fees, nonrefundable even if vetting fails, and after vetting two US$1 million gifts to the U.S.
government, followed by the same immigrant-visa charges and professional fees. There is no economic return on the gift and no refund. Add the corporate structure only if an employer is sponsoring under that track, which carries a US$2 million gift per employee plus published maintenance and transfer charges.
Check every figure against the official page on the day of decision; the amounts stated here were read on September 7, 2026.