
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday his intention to launch a new “gold card” visa, which would provide a route to U.S. citizenship for a fee of $5 million. This visa is set to replace the existing EB-5 investor visa, which has been active for 35 years.
In a statement delivered from the Oval Office, Trump clarified that the new visa targets affluent and successful individuals who would enhance the U.S. economy. “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money, paying a lot of taxes, and employing a lot of people,” Trump stated. “We believe it’s going to be highly effective.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick noted that the new “Trump Gold Card” is expected to be introduced within the next two weeks, taking the place of the current EB-5 visa program. The EB-5 visa was established by Congress in 1990 to spur foreign investment, allowing visa applicants to secure their status by investing approximately $1 million in a U.S. business that generates at least 10 jobs.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration contends that the EB-5 program has been marred by fraud and exploitation. The gold card visa would raise the investment requirement to $5 million and aims to address these concerns. Similar to other green cards, the gold card would provide permanent residency and a pathway to U.S. citizenship for investors.
This new strategy is part of a larger initiative to guarantee that foreign investment is legitimate while simultaneously benefiting the U.S. economy by attracting wealthy individuals ready to invest and create employment opportunities.