US President Donald Trump announced plans to offer citizenship for the "wealthy and successful" immigrants for $5 million.
The 'gold card' will offer immigrants a speedy path to American citizenship. It could replace EB-5 visas in two weeks.
President Donald Trump said he is starting a program to offer residency and a path to citizenship to investors who pay $5 million.
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) February 25, 2025
The US leader said the program, dubbed the “gold card,” would launch in two weeks https://t.co/bWJJwYCdx3 pic.twitter.com/l2wGuPrxHo
EB-5s, created by Congress in 1990 to generate foreign investment, are available to people who spend about $1 million on a company that employs at least 10 people.
Essentially, the Trump gold card is almost like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication.
BREAKING: President Donald Trump is launching a $5 million “Gold Card” for U.S. residency, offering Green Card privileges plus more.
— Adelle Nazarian (@AdelleNaz) February 26, 2025
This follows the model of investor visa programs in countries like Malta, St. Kitts, the UAE, and Turkey, but it’s a first for the US.
Brilliant. pic.twitter.com/vNP0tACQQi
"We are going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card; this is a gold card. We are going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million," the US President said.
He said this would essentially give people green card privileges and added that wealthy people would be coming into the US by buying this card.
"They will be wealthy and they will be successful, and they will be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it's going to be extremely successful," Trump was quoted as saying.
When asked if Russian oligarchs could qualify for this visa, the President said, "Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people."
According to news agency AP, Congress decides the qualifications for US citizenship, but Trump said gold cards would not require congressional approval.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the Trump Gold Card which is actually a green card, or permanent legal residency, would raise the price of admission for investors and do away with fraudulent practices, which according to him characterise the EB-5 programme.
The US President made no mention of the requirements for job creation, but noted that the federal government could sell 10 million gold cards.
