President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his long-promised “gold card” was officially going on sale, offering legal status and an eventual pathway to US citizenship for individuals paying $ 1 million and corporations ponying up twice that per foreign-born employee. A website accepting applications went live as Trump revealed the start of the programme while surrounded by business leaders in the White House’s Roosevelt Room.
It is meant to replace EB-5 visas, which Congress created in 1990 to generate foreign investment and had been available to people who spend about $ 1 million on a company that employs at least 10 people. Trump sees the new version as a way for the US to attract and retain top talent, all while generating revenue for federal coffers. He has been promoting the gold card programme for months, and once s uggested that each card would cost $5 million, though he more recently revised that to the $1 million and $2 million pricing scheme.
The president said all funds taken in as part of the programme will “go to the US government” and predicted that billions would flow into an account run by the Treasury Department “where we can do things positive for the country.”
The new programme is actually a green card, effectively offering permanent legal residency with the chance for citizenship. “Basically, it’s a green card but much better,” Trump said. “Much more powerful, a much stronger path.”
