United States (US) President Donald Trump’s $1 million Gold Card visa program was supposed to raise more than $1 trillion; however, it has only been awarded to one person in the last year.
Trump announced last year the new visa program for people who wanted to accelerate their immigration to the United States, the president, at the time, described it as “the green card on steroids.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick declared that the government had sold $1.3 billion worth of them within days of their launch. There was talk of raising a trillion dollars, balancing the budget and attracting the world’s richest talent to American shores.
However, all claims were refuted by Lutnick himself during his hearing before a congressional committee on Thursday. He told the committee that since the program launched in December, exactly one person has been approved.
However, he added that there are hundreds of applicants waiting to be approved for the program, adding that the administration wanted to make sure they did everything perfectly before approving anyone.
Lutnick failed to clarify his claim of $1.3 billion in sales from the program, although one applicant has so far been approved.
When asked by a congresswoman how the government was spending the application fee, Lutnick responded: “That will be determined by the administration, for the betterment of the United States of America.”
How does the Gold Card work?
A foreign citizen pays at least $1 million, plus a $15,000 application fee, in exchange for the right to live and work legally in the United States.
The concept itself is not new, as dozens of countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Australia and Canada, offer some version of a golden visa to wealthy investors.
