The US President has unveiled a controversial “pay-to-stay” residency program for wealthy foreigners, promising billions for the Treasury while cracking down on undocumented immigrants.
President Donald Trump officially rolled out his “Gold Card” program on Wednesday (December 10), and it’s exactly what it sounds like: pay $1 million (£780,000) and get a fast track to permanent US residency. The President called it “much more powerful” than a Green Card. Companies can also sponsor foreign employees for $2 million a pop.
The program replaces the old EB-5 investor visa, which required foreigners to actually invest in businesses that created jobs. Under the new “Gold Card” rules, that job creation requirement is gone completely. Now applicants just pay a non-refundable $15,000 processing fee, pass a Department of Homeland Security background check, and then hand over $1 million straight to the US Treasury.
A website, trumpcard.gov, went live during the announcement at the White House’s Roosevelt Room. For corporate sponsors, on top of that $2 million fee, there’s a recurring 1% annual maintenance fee ($20,000) and a $100,000 transfer fee if they reassign the visa to a different employee.
Trump also teased a future “Platinum Card” tier that would cost $5 million. That version would reportedly let people live in the US for up to 270 days a year without paying taxes on their global income.
“Basically, it’s a green card but much better. Much more powerful, a much stronger path,” Trump told business leaders, predicting the program would rake in “many billions of dollars.”
“Companies are going to be able to go to the Wharton School… Harvard, MIT… and you’re able to buy a card and keep that person in the United States,” he added, selling the corporate option as a fix for brain drain.
The timing is interesting. This launch comes while the administration is cracking down hard on illegal immigration and putting other legal immigration pathways on hold. Critics say this creates a two-tiered system where residency basically goes to the highest bidder while vulnerable migrants get deported. There are also questions about whether the administration even has the authority to unilaterally change immigration and tax laws like this without Congress signing off.
That $1 million price tag is actually a lot lower than the $5 million people were originally hearing about. Analysts think the drop is meant to make the US program competitive with other countries’ “golden visa” schemes, like the ones in New Zealand or the UAE.
The administration is projecting huge revenue from this, but whether it actually works depends on how many wealthy people want in and whether the executive order holds up legally. They’ve made the first batch of 80,000 Gold Cards available, and applications are open now.
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