President Trump is touting his administration’s new “gold card” visa as a fast track for foreigners who are willing and able to pay $1 million for the right to immigrate to the U.S.
Applications for the new visa went live on Wednesday afternoon, with the government website for the gold card saying the process can be completed in a matter of weeks after applicants file their paperwork.
Mr. Trump unveiled the gold card initiative in February, promoting it as an expedited path for wealthy foreigners to secure legal residency and as a way to generate government revenue. The term riffs on the “green card,” which grants permanent residency status to noncitizens so they can live and work in the U.S. indefinitely.
“All funds go to the United States government — it could be a tremendous amount of money,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday about the gold card. “It’s somewhat like a green card, but with big advantages over a green card.”
The program also includes a $2 million gold card for corporations that want to secure visas for workers, as well as a $5 million platinum card that allows foreigners to spend up to 270 days in the U.S. without being required to pay federal income tax on non-U.S. income.
“It’s certainly plausible to me that this could be a meaningful source of revenue,” John Lettieri, the CEO of the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan policy research group, told CBS News.
But, he added, the gold card visa is likely to be a “niche program,” given the cost, although it could help attract some highly skilled foreign workers or entrepreneurs to the U.S.
Here’s how the gold card program will work.
What is a Trump gold card?
In essence, it’s a green card that has been fast-tracked by the Trump administration.
The website to apply for a gold card states that successful applicants will receive either an EB-1 or EB-2 visa, two kinds of employment-based green cards for skilled workers. To apply for an individual gold card, applicants must:
- Pay a nonrefundable $15,000 processing fee to the Department of Homeland Security.
- Undergo a vetting process, including a visa interview.
- Make a $1 million gift to the federal government after the vetting is complete.
The new program also allows companies to obtain gold cards for employees, one per worker, with each requiring a $2 million donation, according to the website.
Applicants must pay a $15,000 fee that will cover the cost of processing and conducting a background check, along with a 1% annual maintenance fee. Companies may also transfer the gold card between employees for a 5% transfer fee, the program specifies.
A transfer could happen if a gold card holder becomes a U.S. citizen, for example.
One potential difference between the Trump gold card and other types of green cards is that the new visa process could take only weeks, according to the Trump administration.
By comparison, immigrants who apply for a regular green card can expect to wait between eight months and three years for approval, according to immigration services company Boundless. The quickest processing time is for spouses of U.S. citizens, who typically face an eight-month wait, the group said.
How is the Trump gold card different from an EB-5 visa?
The gold card is meant to replace EB-5 visas, which Congress created in 1990 to generate foreign investment. These have been available to people who spend at least $1 million to start a company with at least 10 workers.
Unlike the EB-5 visa, however, a gold card visa doesn’t require applicants to create a certain number of jobs or to invest in U.S. businesses.
The EB-5 program has been criticized as cumbersome and as an invitation to commit fraud. In one notable case in recent years, hundreds of EB-5 applicants were defrauded by business executives in Vermont who claimed to be building a biotech facility, but who instead used the money for personal expenses.
The process to obtain an EB-5 visa is also glacially slow, with a processing time of almost six years. That is “by far the longest processing times in the U.S. immigration system,” according to an April blog post about the Trump gold cards from EIG.
The gold card is designed to help companies recruit foreign graduates of U.S. universities such as MIT and Harvard, Mr. Trump said on Wednesday.
“I’ve heard from Tim Cook of Apple, and I’ve heard from a lot of people, some of the people at this table, that essentially, in the United States, you can’t keep the student,” Mr. Trump said.
Can gold card holders become citizens?
Gold card recipients “have a path to citizenship,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at the press conference on Wednesday with Mr. Trump.
“Obviously, they have to be perfect people in America, and having passed the vetting, after five years they’ll be available to become citizens,” Lutnick said.
Green card holders can typically apply for citizenship after residing in the U.S. for five years.
Companies that secure a gold card for workers who then become citizens can transfer the card to new employees, Lutnick added.
Can a gold card visa be revoked?
Yes: The application website states: “The Trump Gold Card is a visa; therefore, national security and significant criminal risks are a basis for revocation.”
How much money could the visa program raise for the U.S.?
Mr. Trump didn’t provide an estimate this week, but the program could generate billions in annual revenue, said Lettieri of the Economic Innovation Group.
Based on the $1 million cost of a gold card visa, the program could raise $100 billion over a decade if it issues 10,000 gold cards per year, he calculated.
“Conservatively speaking, tens of billions over a decade is reasonable — it could be considerably higher,” Lettieri said.
Alain Sherter
More from CBS News
Go deeper with The Free Press
