WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday officially launched its “Trump Gold Card” visa program to provide a path, at a high price, for non-U.S. citizens to obtain expedited permission to live in the United States.
The Trumpcard.gov website, which includes an “apply now” button, allows interested applicants to pay a $15,000 fee to the Department of Homeland Security to expedite processing.
After going through a background check or vetting process, applicants must make a “contribution” – the website also calls it a “gift” – of $1 million to obtain the visa, similar to a “Green Card,” which allows them to live and work in the United States.
“It’s basically a Green Card, but much better. Much more powerful, much stronger path,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “A path is something very important. They have to be great people.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said about 10,000 people had already signed up for the gold card during a pre-registration period and he expected many more to do so. “I would expect that over time we would sell thousands of these cards and raise billions of dollars,” Lutnick told Reuters in a brief interview.
Lutnick said the gold card program would bring people to the United States who would benefit the economy. He compared that to “average” green card holders, who he said made less money than average Americans and were more likely to receive public assistance or have family members who did. He provided no evidence for that claim.
The Trump administration has waged a sweeping crackdown on immigration, deporting hundreds of thousands of people who were in the country illegally and also taking steps to discourage legal immigration.
The gold card program is Trump’s version of a counterweight to that, designed to generate money for the U.S. Treasury in the same way that the president, a former New York businessman and reality TV host, has said his tariff program has successfully done.
Lutnick noted that there was also a corporate version of the gold card that allowed companies to obtain expedited visas for employees who wanted to work in the United States, for a contribution of $2 million per employee.
