Name the people actually proposed for inclusion before using a household total. Under the September 7, 2026 official terms, each eligible joining spouse or unmarried child younger than 21 requires an additional US$1,000,000 gift and US$15,000 processing fee, including where the principal is corporately sponsored.
Test inclusion before assigning a cost to everyone
Hypothetical example: an applicant is still deciding whether family members would relocate during the next project phase. Record actual relationships, ages and intentions; a possible arrival is not a completed family application. The principal’s project duration does not determine another person’s eligibility or permission.
Confirm current official instructions, then distinguish processing fees from later gifts and each person’s actual immigration outcome. Do not treat a combined payment proposal as approval for the household. The added family review should begin with a fresh hypothetical example: a Canadian ceramic-arts curator expects to apply individually, while her spouse may join a year later and an unmarried twenty-year-old child plans to marry after graduation.
Record the exact relationship, age, marital status, intended timing, passport information, and any prior immigration history for each person. The household must not treat a projected family move as a single automatic entitlement. The first review should compare current official family terms with the evidence required for every person, including marriage or birth certificates and certified translations where appropriate.
Confirm whether each proposed family member has a separate processing fee and gift obligation, and whether the individual must meet separate vetting, admissibility, and visa-availability requirements. A child’s marriage or age can change the analysis; a school calendar or financial dependence does not replace the governing category. Keep payment evidence distinct from relationship evidence and do not assume that a corporate proposal removes the applicant-by-applicant review.
A common problem is paying or planning for relatives before official instructions establish their eligibility and their payment recipient. Any payment required under the program is by the applicant to the U.S. government, not an investment in a business or an employer-paid substitute.
Current work and travel permissions remain separate. The family should make housing, school, and employment decisions only after confirming each person’s actual process and documentation.