Introducing Trumps Prestigious New Gold Card
- On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced plans to introduce a new “gold card” visa, offering a pathway to citizenship for a $5 million investment, which would replace the existing 35-year-old investor visa program.
- “They’ll be affluent, successful, and contribute significantly to the economy through spending, taxes, and job creation. We believe this will be highly effective,” Trump stated in the Oval Office.
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained that the new “Trump Gold Card” would take the place of the EB-5 visa program within two weeks. The EB-5 program, established by Congress in 1990, was designed to attract foreign investment and is available to individuals who invest around $1 million in a business that creates at least 10 jobs.
- Lutnick noted that the gold card — essentially a green card, providing permanent legal residency — would increase the investment threshold for potential applicants and eliminate fraud and issues that he believes have plagued the EB-5 program. Like other green cards, this would also offer a route to citizenship.
Investor visas are widely available across the globe. According to Henley & Partners, a consulting firm, over 100 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Malta, Australia, Canada, and Italy, offer “golden visas” to affluent individuals.
Trump did not specify any job creation requirements. While the EB-5 program has a cap on the number of visas issued, Trump suggested that the federal government could sell up to 10 million “gold cards” to help reduce the national deficit. He called the idea “potentially great” and “maybe even fantastic.”
“It’s similar to a green card but at a more advanced level. It provides a path to citizenship for wealthy individuals or those with exceptional talent, where wealthy individuals fund the entry of talented people. Companies would pay for people to enter and secure long-term status in the country,” Trump explained.
While Congress typically sets the criteria for citizenship, Trump stated that the “gold cards” would not require approval from lawmakers.
