US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order creating a "gold card" residency programme that offers a path to US citizenship for a fee of $1 million for individuals and $2 million for corporate sponsorships.
"I think it's going to be tremendously successful," Trump told journalists during a chat at the Oval Office on Friday.
Trump had announced a $5 million “gold card” in February to replace an existing investor visa — now rebranded as the “platinum card.”
According to the administration, the Trump Platinum Card will cost $5 million and allow foreigners to spend up to 270 days a year in the United States without being taxed on non-US income.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the gold and platinum cards would replace employment-based visas that currently offer paths to citizenship, including those for professors, scientists, artists and athletes.
Lutnick said the president could introduce H-1B fee changes and the gold card, but the platinum card would need approval from Congress, which determines qualifications for citizenship.
Trump has said the new high-priced visa, a premium version of the traditional green card, would attract job creators and help reduce the US national deficit.
During the first meeting of his second-term Cabinet in February, Trump suggested revenue from the programme could be used to pay down the country’s debt.
“If we sell a million, that’s $5 trillion dollars,” he said.
Of demand from the business community, he said: “I think we will sell a lot because I think there’s really a thirst.”
Lutnick told reporters at the same meeting that the initiative would replace the EB-5 programme, which grants US visas to investors who spend about $1 million on a company employing at least 10 people.
He suggested the gold card — which would function more like a green card, or permanent residency — would raise the bar for investors and eliminate fraud and “nonsense” he said plagued the EB-5 scheme.
A pathway to citizenship would also distinguish the new programme from EB-5. Trump said vetting procedures for gold card applicants were “still being worked out.”
Doug Rand, a senior official at US Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration, called the proposed fees “ludicrously lawless.”
“This isn’t real policy — it’s fan service for immigration restrictionists,” Rand said. “Trump gets his headlines, and inflicts a jolt of panic, and doesn’t care whether this survives first contact with the courts.”
The new programme could mark a major shift in US immigration policy, though similar schemes exist elsewhere. Several European nations and other countries offer so-called “golden visas” that allow wealthy participants to buy residency or citizenship.
Henley & Partners, an advisory firm, says more than 100 countries offer such visas, including the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Malta, Australia, Canada and Italy.