President Donald Trump announced a new initiative on Tuesday to sell a “gold card” to wealthy foreigners for $5 million, granting them the right to live and work in the U.S. and offering a pathway to citizenship.
Trump described the gold card as an upgraded version of the traditional green card with additional privileges and citizenship prospects.
The big picture: The first gold cards are expected to be sold in the next couple of weeks, with Trump suggesting that millions could be sold.
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was present during the announcement, explained that the gold card will serve as a replacement for the existing EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.
- The EB-5 program permits foreign investors to inject capital into U.S. projects that generate employment opportunities and subsequently apply for visas to relocate to the U.S.
- Lutnick emphasized that applicants for the gold card would undergo thorough vetting procedures to ensure they are “world-class global citizens.” This vetting process aims to assess the background and intentions of prospective cardholders to mitigate security risks associated with granting residency and citizenship.
Driving the news: The EB-5 program, established by Congress in 1992, has been a target of bipartisan scrutiny due to concerns that it had strayed from its original objectives, prompting calls for reforms. Previous attempts to modify the program include increasing the minimum investment thresholds in certain economic zones, a change that was later overturned by a federal judge citing procedural lapses in the authorization process.
- The program’s renewal in 2022 under the Biden administration brought alterations to the investment requirements, ensuring consistency with current standards.
