Keep four categories apart: the nonrefundable processing fees, the gift to the U.S. government, professional and government costs associated with the underlying immigrant classification, and the household's own relocation and living reserve. Only the first two are specific to this program, and neither is recoverable.
Nothing in the first two columns comes back
The processing fee is spent when it is paid, per person, and produces no entitlement. The gift is larger and equally irreversible, since giving is what it is. Rashid's accountant will want to know how a corporate payment of two million dollars is characterized in the company's books and what the consequences are if the beneficiary leaves; those are questions for the company's own tax and legal advisers and should be answered before the board approves anything.
The third column covers what the underlying classification costs in the ordinary way, including the immigrant visa or adjustment stage, medical examinations, translations and legal fees. The fourth is the family's living reserve, which should never be counted as part of the program's cost. Presenting all four as one number is how households talk themselves into a commitment they have not actually examined.