No. The stated US$15,000 per-person processing fee is nonrefundable. Private travel losses do not alter that term.
Keep booking exposure separate from programme payments
Assess the household’s practical commitments without assuming government reimbursement or guaranteed timing. The gift follows successful vetting and official instructions; neither it nor a travel purchase is an investment promising a financial return.
Build a dated review file around the current official fee notice, required gift payment instruction, payer records, currency and transfer evidence, and any separate professional costs. The official individual gift is US$1 million; for an employee sponsored under the corporate terms discussed here, preserve the separate US$2 million principal amount already identified, along with any currently published maintenance or transfer charges. Around both sit ordinary costs that no programme page lists — counsel to assess admissibility and classification eligibility, certified translations of civil documents, and the filing charges that attach to the immigrant classification actually used, which are published in the USCIS fee schedule. Decide in advance which budget absorbs a change of plan, because the two behave differently under pressure: the school’s terms may permit a deferral that preserves the deposit, while a nonrefundable processing payment stays spent whatever the family decides next.