No. Payment and even successful vetting do not confer status; the applicant works in the United States only when admitted in a status that permits it, which for permanent residence means after the immigrant visa is issued and used.
Nothing changes on the day of payment
Hypothetical example: The sequence described on the official page is fee, vetting, then gift on instruction, followed by the immigrant process under EB-1 or EB-2 with its own petition, visa availability and consular or adjustment stage. At no point before admission as a permanent resident does a Portugal Cove-St. Philip's applicant hold U.S. work authorization by virtue of the Gold Card. An architect who wants to begin on site sooner should obtain a temporary status such as TN or L-1 for the interim, and should be careful that visitor entries during the process remain visitor activity. Estimates of how long vetting or the immigrant process will take are not commitments, and a U.S. employer's start date should be written as conditional on status. Because the framework is new and its terms have been revised, the applicant should re-check the official page at each stage rather than plan around the version read at the outset.
Hypothetical example: a renewable-energy project developer wants to leave a current job only after a Gold Card outcome is certain. The person should create a staged calendar that distinguishes checking the current official framework, preparing personal records, any payment step, vetting, and the separate immigration process that follows. The written program terms determine whether a step can begin; an employer's desired start date does not. Keeping existing work arrangements in place until the relevant permission is available avoids making a move decision based on an uncertain administrative sequence.