President Donald Trump announced Tuesday plans to introduce a "gold card" visa that offers a path to U.S. citizenship for $5 million, replacing the 35-year-old EB-5 investor visa program.
“They’ll be wealthy and successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money, paying a lot of taxes, and employing a lot of people. We think it’s going to be extremely successful,” Trump stated from the Oval Office.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that the “Trump Gold Card” will replace the existing EB-5 visa program within two weeks. Established by Congress in 1990, the EB-5 program allows foreign investors to secure a U.S. visa by investing at least $1 million in a business that creates at least 10 jobs.
Lutnick emphasized that the gold card—which grants permanent residency (a green card)—will set a higher financial threshold for investors while eliminating the fraud and inefficiencies associated with the EB-5 program. Like all green cards, it will provide a path to U.S. citizenship.
According to Homeland Security data, 8,000 people obtained investor visas in the 12 months ending September 30, 2022. However, a 2021 Congressional Research Service report highlighted concerns about fraud risks, particularly in verifying that investment funds were obtained legally.
Investor visas are a common practice worldwide. Henley & Partners, a firm specializing in global residence programs, reports that over 100 countries—including the U.S., U.K., Spain, Greece, Malta, Australia, Canada, and Italy—offer “golden visas” to wealthy individuals.
Unlike the EB-5 program, Trump’s proposal does not mandate job creation. While the EB-5 visa program has a cap, Trump suggested that the government could sell up to 10 million “gold cards” to help reduce the federal deficit, calling the idea “great, maybe even fantastic.”
“It’s somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication—a road to citizenship for wealthy individuals or those with great talent,” Trump explained. “Essentially, wealthy individuals or companies would sponsor skilled individuals, allowing them to gain long-term U.S. residency.”
While Congress typically determines citizenship qualifications, Trump asserted that his gold card program would not require congressional approval.
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