Trump announces $5 million ‘gold card’ for wealthy investors

Washington: While the US is pushing to deport millions of people who entered the country illegally, President Donald Trump has introduced a new immigration initiative, the “gold card,” aimed at wealthy investors.

Announcing the scheme from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said the gold card, priced at $5 million (approximately Rs 43.52 crore), would grant permanent residency and work rights in the United States, making the path to American citizenship easier.

“They’ll be rich and they’ll be successful, and they’ll spend a lot of money, pay a lot of taxes, and employ a lot of people. We think it is going to be very successful,” he said.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Luttnik stated that the proposed gold card would replace the existing EB-5 investor visa scheme, which currently grants visas to foreign investors under certain conditions. Unlike the EB-5 visa, Trump did not specify job creation requirements for the new program. “These will be people with money,” he said.

Trump suggested that the federal government could sell up to 10 million gold cards to reduce the deficit, calling it a “great, maybe fantastic” initiative. “It’s a path to citizenship for really rich people or people with great talent, where rich people pay people with talent to come in,” he said, adding that companies would sponsor skilled individuals to work and stay in the country long-term.

However, key details remain unclear, including how long gold card holders would have to wait for citizenship and whether existing green card holders, including EB-5 beneficiaries, would be included. While Congress typically sets qualifications for US citizenship, Trump claimed that the gold card would not require congressional approval.

He added that further details of the scheme would be released in two weeks.