Japa: Trump introduces $5m ‘gold card’ pathway to US citizenship

• Published On: 26 February 2025 at 17:20

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced the creation of a "gold card" visa program, which will allow wealthy foreigners to obtain permanent US residency and a path to citizenship in exchange for a $5 million fee.

"You have a green card, and this is a gold card," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, describing it as a path to citizenship with green card benefits.

"Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card."

Trump continued: "They'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, speaking alongside Donald Trump, stated that the proposed "gold card" program would replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa, which he described as "full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud."

Lutnik contrasted the proposed "gold card" program with the EB-5 visa, describing the latter as a "low-cost" way to obtain a green card.

Under the EB-5 program, foreign investors can obtain a green card by investing at least $1.05 million in U.S. businesses (or $800,000 in rural or high-unemployment areas) and meeting job creation requirements.

The Department of Homeland Security reports that the United States issues approximately 10,000 EB-5 visas each year.

According to Lutnick, the money raised through the "gold card" program could help reduce the United States' deficit.