President Trump unveiled his much-anticipated immigration Gold Card that gives the world’s wealthiest immigrants a new visa pathway into the country with a steep price tag of $1 million.
“They’re going to spend a lot of money to come in,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office Friday. “It’s going to raise billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars, which is going to go to reduce taxes, pay off debt and for other good things.”
The website, trumpcard.gov, says individuals can pay $1 million, along with a processing fee and, after being vetted, will receive U.S. residency “in record time with the Trump Gold Card.”
There will be 80,000 available for purchase, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters after the order was signed.
The price is increased to $2 million if a corporation is sponsoring an employee. After a fee and vetting, a Trump Corporate Gold Card will be received.
“The Trump Corporate Gold Card allows your business to transfer access from one employee and grant it to another, with the cost of a transfer fee and DHS vetting. A small annual maintenance fee will also apply,” the website said
The vetting fee will be $15,000, Mr. Lutnick said. Those who get the gold and corporate cards will pay global tax and have a pathway to citizenship.
“We’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people, and in many cases, these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that, and they’re very happy about it,” Mr. Trump said.
Another option, the Trump Platinum Card, is coming soon, according to the website. The platinum card will come with a $5 million price tag and allows an individual to “spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.”
Individuals who get the platinum card will not have a pathway to citizenship, Mr. Lutnick said.
The gold card has been highly anticipated since it was first announced in February. The original idea for the card was to replace the EB-5 program, also known as the Golden Visa, which allows foreigners to obtain a green card if they invest a certain amount of money that creates at least 10 jobs.
Mr. Lutnick said Friday that the 80,000 visas will replace the EB-1 and EB-2 programs and “we’ll go from there.”
He estimated that the Gold Card program will bring in more than $100 billion and the Platinum Card will bring in $1 trillion for the U.S. Treasury, which will be used to reduce debt.
“We’re going to only take extraordinary people at the very top,” he said. “Instead of people trying to take the jobs from Americans, they’re going to create businesses and create jobs for Americans.”
Invest in the USA, a nonprofit industry trade association that represents the EB-5 Regional Center Program, applauded the president and Mr. Lutnick “for their continued focus on expanding upon our economically beneficial immigration pathways.”
The president also signed an order that requires a $100,000-a-year application fee for H-1B visas, which allow U.S. companies to employ foreign workers who have exceptional skill in specific occupations. as a way to cut down on the amount of people applying and “ensure that the people they’re bringing in are actually very highly skilled, and that they’re not replaceable by American workers.”
The visas are for three years, but could be renewed one time, for a total of six years.
“If you’re going to train people, you’re going to train Americans,” Mr. Lutnick told reporters after the order was signed.
Immigration attorney J. Mike Sevilla said the change to H1-B applications will hurt several industries.
“A $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions would be devastating to several industries as it would significantly prohibit the hiring of foreign national talent in this visa classification. Practitioners are eager to see how much truth there is to this report and to evaluate the details to best advise their clients,” Mr. Sevilla said.
