On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump proposed replacing a visa program for foreign investors with a so-called “gold card” that could be purchased for $5 million as a pathway to American citizenship.
Trump told reporters that he plans to replace the “EB-5” immigrant investor visa program, which lets foreign investors become permanent residents by investing vast sums of money in creating or preserving employment in the United States, with a “gold card.” The EB-5 program provides “green cards” to foreigners who promise to invest in U.S. enterprises. “We are going to sell a gold card,” Trump announced. “We are going to put a price on that card of about $5 million,” he informed me.
“It will give you green card privileges as well as a path to (American) citizenship, and wealthy people will enter our country by purchasing this card,” Trump said, adding that further information about the program will be released in two weeks. When asked if Russian oligarchs would be eligible for gold cards, Trump said it’s conceivable. “Yes, perhaps. Hey. “I know some Russian oligarchs who are very nice,” he stated.
Congress established the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program in 1990 to “stimulate the U.S. economy via job creation and capital investment by foreign investors,” according to the USCIS website. “The EB-5 program… was full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud, and it was a low-cost way to obtain a green card.” So the president said, “Rather than having this ridiculous EB-5 program, we’re going remove it.” “We’ll replace it with the Trump gold card,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on Tuesday.
