New $5 Million Dollar “Gold Card” To Replace EB-5 Visa
President Donald Trump announced a new path to U.S. citizenship dubbed a “gold card,” which is directed toward major investors and wealth creators looking to become U.S. citizens. The gold card will replace EB-5 visas, which were similarly designed for global investors looking to become citizens.
The EB-5 program, enacted in 1990, required investors to: “Make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States; and plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.”
Finding the EB-5 visas “ridiculous,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick announced they will come to an end and be replaced by the new gold card. Ultimately, the gold card is designed to get more investors into the U.S. due to the immense wealth and potential jobs they bring with them.
President Trump said the price of the gold card will be about $5 million. He is enthusiastic about the card and believes “they will sell like crazy.” The practice of providing wealthy individuals an easier path to citizenship for large sums of money is common among several European countries. Boosting a nation’s economy is typically the purpose behind these “golden visas.”
According to the New York Post, Trump was asked about the eligibility of Russian oligarchs for the gold cards. The President gave a cautious yet friendly response to the question: “Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It’s possible. They’re not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they can afford $5 million.”
Trump stated the cards can be a way of eliminating government debt: “As an example, a million cards would be worth $5 trillion. And if you sell 10 million of the cards, that’s a total of $50 trillion well. We have $35 trillion in debt. That’d be nice, so we’ll see.” The gold card will be official in two weeks and not require congressional approval to go into effect.
