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President Donald Trump has unveiled a new visa initiative dubbed the “Gold Card,” designed to grant lawful permanent residency to wealthy foreigners willing to invest $5 million in the United States. The initiative, which Trump says will launch within two weeks, aims to attract “very high-level people” while generating revenue to help pay down the national deficit.
“It’s going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “They’ll be wealthy, and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes.”
A Solution for Retaining Top Talent?
Trump suggested that the Gold Card could help U.S. companies retain highly skilled graduates from American universities.
“I get calls from, as an example, companies where they want to hire the No. 1 student at the school — a person comes from India, China, Japan, lots of different places, and they go to Harvard or Wharton, they go to Yale,” Trump explained. “They graduate No. 1 in their class and they’re made job offers. But the offer is immediately rescinded because you have no idea whether or not that person can stay in the country.”
The proposed visa program could provide a direct pathway to citizenship for these top graduates and other high-net-worth individuals, potentially reshaping U.S. immigration policy.
Replacing the EB-5 Visa?
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a key advocate for the initiative, informally referred to the program as the “Trump Gold Card” and suggested it would replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor visa.
The EB-5 program, which currently grants residency to foreigners who invest at least $1.05 million in a U.S. business or $800,000 in designated rural or high-unemployment areas, has faced criticism over fraud and inefficiency.
“The EB-5 program is full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud,” Lutnick told reporters. “The Gold Card will be different — applicants will be thoroughly vetted.”
Open to Russian Oligarchs?
When asked whether Russian oligarchs could apply for the Gold Card, Trump responded with a mix of humor and pragmatism.
“Yeah, possibly,” he said, before adding, “Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
While specifics on the vetting process remain unclear, the announcement signals Trump’s renewed focus on immigration reform aimed at economic benefits. As details of the program unfold, debate is expected over the implications of effectively selling U.S. residency to the highest bidders.
