Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa starting at $1 million granted to just 1 person so far, White House says
President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa where a foreigner can pay him at least $1 million Living and working legally in the USACommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that it had been approved for one person — appearing to fall short of an earlier claim.
Then Released in DecemberThe government sold “worth” $1.3 billion in just a few days, Lutnick said, as Trump held up the gilded ticket and called it “essentially a green card on steroids.”
Lutnick did not address the apparent inconsistency in an exchange with a congressman during Thursday’s committee hearing.
Trump floated the idea last year and initially suggested: $5 million costargues that it will be attract foreign talent Go to US shores and fill federal coffers. This program is intended to replace the EB-5 program, a decades-old program that offers U.S. visas to people who invest about $1 million in a company with at least 10 employees.
Lutnick, who appeared pleased with the results of the program at a congressional committee hearing on Thursday, said that although only one person had been approved, “there are hundreds of people in the queue.”
“They just installed it and wanted to make sure they did it perfectly,” he said.
A year ago, Lutnick told a cabinet meeting that the gold card would generate $1 trillion in revenue and help “balance the budget.” The public debt is $31.3 trillion, and external estimates from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget are that this fiscal year’s annual budget deficit will be roughly $2 trillion.
The commerce secretary noted that each applicant pays a $15,000 fee in addition to the millions of dollars, which allows for “rigorous vetting” of applicants for the program, which eventually opens a path to U.S. citizenship. It also allows companies to spend $2 million for a foreign employee, along with a 1% annual maintenance fee.
There’s a flashy government website with the phrase “Unlock life in America” above a depiction of a gold card: Trump’s stern face alongside a bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty and his squiggly signature. The website also promotes the $5 million “Trump Platinum Card,” which offers up to 270 days of use in the United States without being taxed on non-U.S. income.
Although Trump has created a presidential identity in part around deporting immigrants without legal status, he has repeatedly supported skilled immigration to the United States that could be facilitated by the gold card program.
Asked how the revenues would be spent, Lutnick said, “That will be determined by the administration and its terms are for the good of the United States.”
This idea is relatively common around the world; Dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Malta, Australia, Canada and Italy, offer versions of “golden visas” to wealthy individuals.
