Under the current published framework it is a route through existing employment-based immigrant classifications, reached by paying a nonrefundable processing fee of US$15,000 per person and, after vetting, making a gift to the U.S. government of US$1,000,000 individually or US$2,000,000 where a corporation sponsors an employee.
Read the framework before comparing it with anything
The single most common misunderstanding is the direction of the payment, and it survives because the word gift sounds like something received. It is not. The applicant pays the U.S.
government, and the payment is not an investment, a deposit or a loan; it buys no asset, earns no return and is not recoverable if circumstances change. The second misunderstanding is that this is a new visa category. The published framework uses classifications that already exist within employment-based immigration, in the first and second preference categories, which means the requirements and procedures of the underlying category continue to matter and should be examined rather than skipped.
For Aurélie the practical consequence is that a decision cannot be made from a broker's summary. It requires reading the official program page and its FAQ, identifying which underlying classification would apply to her, and understanding what the vetting stage involves before any commitment. Terms have been revised since the framework was first announced, so currency of information is itself a requirement.