Wealthy foreign nationals may soon be able to apply for a new US visa program offering permanent residency in exchange for a $5 million investment. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced on Wednesday that registration for the “gold card” visa will open shortly, with a government website expected to go live within a week.
The announcement was made during Axios’ “Building the Future” event in Washington. According to CNN, Lutnick said, “I expect there will be a website up called ‘ Trump card dot gov’ in about a week. The details of that will come soon after, but people can start to register.”
The visa program is designed to replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor scheme, which currently allows applicants to secure green cards through investments of $1.8 million, or $900,000 in targeted employment areas.
The “gold card” was first proposed by former President Donald Trump in February. At the time, Trump said, “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.”
Lutnick claimed the new program has already generated interest abroad. “Basically, everyone I meet who is not an American is going to want to buy this card if they have the fiscal capacity,” he said, citing conversations during a recent visit to the Middle East.
He also positioned the program as a tool to address the national debt. “These are going to be great people who are going to come and bring businesses and opportunity to America, and they’re going to pay $5 million. If there are 200,000 people who pay, that’s a trillion dollars. That pays for everything,” Lutnick said.
However, immigration law experts caution that such a visa program would likely require Congressional approval. More details are expected in the coming weeks.
The announcement was made during Axios’ “Building the Future” event in Washington. According to CNN, Lutnick said, “I expect there will be a website up called ‘ Trump card dot gov’ in about a week. The details of that will come soon after, but people can start to register.”
The visa program is designed to replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor scheme, which currently allows applicants to secure green cards through investments of $1.8 million, or $900,000 in targeted employment areas.
The “gold card” was first proposed by former President Donald Trump in February. At the time, Trump said, “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.”
Lutnick claimed the new program has already generated interest abroad. “Basically, everyone I meet who is not an American is going to want to buy this card if they have the fiscal capacity,” he said, citing conversations during a recent visit to the Middle East.
He also positioned the program as a tool to address the national debt. “These are going to be great people who are going to come and bring businesses and opportunity to America, and they’re going to pay $5 million. If there are 200,000 people who pay, that’s a trillion dollars. That pays for everything,” Lutnick said.
However, immigration law experts caution that such a visa program would likely require Congressional approval. More details are expected in the coming weeks.
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