United States President, Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday that the United States will introduce a new “gold card” for wealthy foreigners, granting them the right to live and work in the country with a pathway to citizenship in exchange for a $5 million fee.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “You have a green card. This is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s going to give you green card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.”
Trump said sales of the cards would begin in about two weeks and suggested that millions could be sold. When asked if Russian oligarchs would be eligible, he responded, “Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, appearing alongside Trump, said the gold card will replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, which currently allows foreign investors to gain U.S. residency by investing in job-creating projects.
“They’ll have to go through vetting, of course,” Lutnick said, “to make sure they’re wonderful world-class global citizens.”
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The EB-5 program, established by Congress in 1992, permits immigrants to obtain green cards by investing at least $1,050,000 in U.S. businesses, or $800,000 in targeted employment areas. Businesses linked to Trump and his family have previously used the program to finance real estate developments.
During Trump’s first term, the EB-5 program faced bipartisan scrutiny from lawmakers who argued it had strayed from its intended purpose and required reform.
In 2019, the Trump administration attempted to increase the minimum investment to $900,000 for targeted areas and $1.8 million elsewhere, but a federal judge struck down the changes in 2021 due to procedural issues.
The program was last renewed in 2022 under the Biden administration, which raised the minimum investment levels to their current amounts.
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