US Introduces $5m ‘Trump Gold Card’ Visa For Rich Foreigners
United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to introduce a new $5 million visa, called the “Trump Gold Card,” designed to attract wealthy foreign nationals to the country.
The programme allows foreigners with at least $5 million to apply for lawful permanent residency, effectively granting them a route to US citizenship. Trump highlighted that the initiative would appeal to “very high-level people” and could help reduce the national deficit.
The programme is set to launch in two weeks, with the proceeds expected to contribute towards paying down the US 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 explained. “They’ll be wealthy, successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes.”
Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, also referred to the new initiative as the “Trump Gold Card,” indicating that it would replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor visa programme. The EB-5 visa currently allows foreigners to gain US residency by investing at least $1.05 million in a new business that creates jobs, or $800,000 for projects in rural or high-unemployment areas.
Lutnick criticized the EB-5 programme, calling it “full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud,” while assuring reporters that applicants for the Trump Gold Card would undergo a rigorous vetting process.
When questioned by a reporter about whether Russian oligarchs could apply for the new visa, Trump responded, “Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
This announcement has raised eyebrows, with many questioning the implications of offering such a high-priced visa programme, especially in terms of potential national security concerns and its impact on immigration policy.
