United States President, Donald Trump, has unveiled plans to introduce a “gold card” program, offering wealthy foreigners citizenship benefits to live and work across the country, in exchange for a $5 million investment.
According to Trump, the gold card would replace the existing EB-5 program, which grants “green cards” to foreigners investing in US businesses.
The president noted that sales of the gold card would commence within two weeks, and applicants would undergo thorough vetting to ensure they are “wonderful world-class global citizens.”
During a press conference at the Oval Office, Trump revealed that the $5 million investment would grant holders green card privileges, as well as a pathway to automatic citizenship.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card; you have a green card. This is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million, and that’s going to give you green card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card,” Trump explained.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who stood alongside Trump, stated that the gold card program would replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program which program allows foreign investors to invest in US projects, creating jobs, and subsequently apply for visas to immigrate to the US.
“The EB-5 program was full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud, and it was a way to get a green card at a low price. So, the President said, rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 program, we’re going to end the EB-5 program. We’re going to replace it with the Trump gold card,” Lutnick said.
