Under the official terms read September 7, 2026, a joining spouse adds a further US$15,000 nonrefundable processing fee and a further US$1,000,000 gift, must be separately vetted and admissible, and follows the principal's immigrant category as a derivative.
The joining spouse is a second applicant in everything but the category
The official framework does not fold a spouse into the principal's payment. As read September 7, 2026, each joining spouse or unmarried child under 21 carries their own processing fee and their own gift, so a Torbay couple applying together should expect two fees and two gifts, and should re-verify that on the official page before deciding. The joining spouse does not need a separate Gold Card principal petition; the principal is the beneficiary of the I-140G and gift-as-evidence process, and the spouse applies as a derivative. The spouse must, however, be separately vetted and admissible, and the immigrant visas depend on availability under the Visa Bulletin. Compare this with the ordinary EB-1 and EB-2 process, in which a spouse and children accompany the principal as derivatives without a Gold Card gift, before concluding that the Gold Card is the right route for the household rather than the principal alone. Adult children over 21 are not derivatives under either approach.
Hypothetical example: a Torbay couple decide that the spouse with the stronger EB-2 record will be principal while the other joins as a derivative. Their first review should list each person's admissibility documents, age-sensitive children, payment responsibility and evidence tying the principal to the underlying category. That sequence prevents a household budget from being mistaken for immigration eligibility. A joining adult child needs an independent route, and a payment by the applicant to the U.S. government does not turn the Gold Card into a conventional visa or waive visa-number availability.