18 hours Ago
United States President Donald Trump on Friday showcased the new 'Gold Card', a high-value immigration initiative priced at $5 million, promising US residency and a potential pathway to citizenship for affluent foreign nationals. Holding up the gleaming card with his face emblazoned on it, Trump told media persons, "For $5 million, this could be yours..
. it will be out in about less than two weeks probably. Pretty exciting, right?" When asked who the first buyer was, Trump did not hesitate: "I am the first buyer.
" The Gold Card program, first introduced by Trump in February, is pitched as a replacement for the EB-5 immigrant investor visa. That program, established in 1990, allowed immigrants to obtain green cards by investing a minimum of $1 million -- $800,000 in a targeted low-income area -- provided the investment created at least 10 US jobs. In 2024 alone, over 4,500 EB-5 visas were issued.
Trump, touting the new initiative as a game-changer for the US economy, claimed the program could "generate trillions in revenue" and help reduce the national debt. "It is somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication," he said, adding, "It is a road to citizenship for people, and essentially people of wealth or people of great talent." Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a key figure behind the rollout, criticized the EB-5 program, calling it 'full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud'.
According to Lutnick, the Gold Card will raise the investment threshold and streamline the application process to attract high-net-worth individuals while reducing the potential for abuse. While the program promises residency benefits similar to those of Green Card holders, including the right to live and work in the US, details on the citizenship timeline and processing remain undisclosed. The administration says it is banking on the exclusivity and financial rigour of the program to draw global elites -- and inject fresh capital into the American economy.
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