The official FAQ describes the processing fee as nonrefundable. The gift is made after successful vetting, so an applicant who fails vetting should not have made it. Confirm the current sequence and refund terms on the official page before paying.
The sequence protects the gift; nothing protects the fee
Hypothetical example: a Mission company budgets the full corporate amount as one payment and asks what comes back if the crew member does not clear vetting. As described in the official FAQ on September 7, 2026, the processing fee of US$15,000 per person is nonrefundable and is paid first, while the gift follows successful vetting. That ordering means a failed vetting should cost the fee and not the gift, provided the company has not prepaid the gift into some arrangement outside the official process.
The company should also ask what happens to the gift if the subsequent EB-1 or EB-2 case is refused for reasons unrelated to vetting, and whether the corporate one-percent maintenance and five-percent transfer terms apply in that event. Those answers come from the official page and its instructions, which should be printed and dated on the day of decision. Hypothetical example: A commercial-bakery owner receives a consultant's proposal that combines a service fee with the official processing charge and the gift payment.
The first review should separate those items and identify their recipient, refund terms and trigger. Official program instructions and payment confirmations settle the government amounts; a private service agreement only settles the consultant's fee. The individual applicant or corporate sponsor, as applicable, must use the official gift-payment instructions, so a payment to a consultant or other intermediary is not a substitute.
Budget for unsuccessful vetting as well, because a nonrefundable charge can remain payable even when the later gift payment is never reached.