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President Donald Trump stops the 5 million dollar card when he speaks to reporters during the flight on board Air Force One on his way to Miami on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
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The lawyers’ phones sound with wealthy foreigners who want to learn more about how to achieve a “gold card” – a glorified green card that enables them to live and work in the USA without going through the usual trouble or the usual bureaucracy. Apparently the price tag of the card does not startle the $ 5 million price, which lifts off the jet seters who want to bring the USA home. Or at least one of their houses.
“5 million US dollars for these people are Jet fuel costs. It means nothing to them,” says Matthew Kolken, an immigration lawyer from Buffalo, NY, who has Canadian customers who ask about the gold card. Customers rejected a comment, but Kolken believes that the gold card is understood, taking into account the time and anger, if at all, that it would save foreign multimillionaires.
“It enables you to buy to the United States,” says Kolken. “You would simply be able to throw down your Amex Black Card.”
And many are interested.
“I have one from India, one from Pakistan and two from Egypt. And a colleague who has some [clients] From Russia, “says immigration lawyer Mona Shah.
Shah says that security – and the status – to flash this “gold card” to wave to the USA is also a big draw, as well as what Trump described as “privilege – plus”. The president has not affected what that means, but Shah says that customers present VIP advantages that range from simple loans to a special fast track trail to customs at US airports.
“They seem to believe that this will be a kind of separation of the first class from Economy class and that this is a kind of ‘red carpet’ visa and that it is treated like a VIP everywhere,” says Shah.
Whether such discounts – or obligations – go hand in hand with the gold card remains far from making it clear, and the administration offers the idea of organizing the idea about three months after the first beginner.
“It’s a great thing, the gold card. Remember the words ‘The gold card!'” He announced reporters at the Oval Office in February. “Wealthy people will come to our country by buying this card. They will be rich and they will be successful and you will spend a lot of money and pay many taxes and many people. And we believe that it will be extremely successful, never was done before anything like this.”
Trump added that he would like to call it a “Trump Gold Card”. In fact, officials say that a government website is now using the name Trumpcard.govAnd Trump has revealed a sample card with a picture of his face on the front since then.
Trump said that the proceeds from the gold card would help pay the budget deficit and possibly even remove the massive government debt of US $ 36.2 trillion.
“We may be able to sell a million of these cards, maybe more than that,” said Trump. “A million cards would be worth 5 trillion dollars. And if you sell 10 million cards, that’s a total of 50 trillion dollars. We have 35 trillion dollars owe. That would be nice.”
But most immigration experts and lawyers see this figure as wild unrealistic. They expect sales to be in the low thousands.
The immigration lawyer Darren Silver says that he has received a flood of calls over the gold card, but as soon as he explains that this program does not correspond to the existing EB-5 visa program, which creates an investment of a company in a company in a company or creates $ 800,000 for investments in a lively employment area in a lower income.
According to Silver, his customers are surprised when he tells them that the gold card is not an investment that may offer returns. It is effectively only a donation.
“I had to explain to them: ‘You give the US government $ 5 million. It’s all you do,” says Silver. “And as soon as I explain that to them, they are outside.”
Similar programs that offer residency or citizenship in exchange for investments were brought to trial in several other countries, including Malta, Greece, Portugal, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Many of these countries were faced with challenges and a number has recently ended their programs.
In April Malta’s “Golden Visa” program was violated and applies Ordered switched off. Spain’s program ended after it was held responsible for the increase in real estate prices. A British program was closed in 2022 in the middle of questions with national security, illegal means and money laundering. Programs in Cyprus, Ireland, Bulgaria ended similarly.
“We saw that these programs attract unsavory characters,” says Kate Hooper, Senior Policy Analyst at the non -party migration policy institute. “Again and again the problem was that these programs are not very good at persecution who investors actually are and where their money comes from. These are real challenges to do effective investor visa programs, and we see that more of these programs are folding.”
Trump has announced that applicants are checked “very carefully” for gold cards. But he didn’t do much too concern when a reporter asked whether Russian oligarchs would be considered for gold cards, for example.
“Yes, possibly,” replied Trump. “I know some Russian oligarchs who are very nice people.”
The Trump administration will also have other challenges, including the administration of the optics, to equip the red carpet to welcome surviving and privileged foreigners at the same time Large number of immigrants of fewer means for various reasons.
“The gold card is directly from capitalism at the peak,” says lawyer Shah. “I think the founding fathers could roll in their graves if they knew that we will sell stay in this way.”
However, followers say that the opening of a special new trail for wealthy immigrants ultimately helps everyone.
“At the moment we really have no more money in the US Ministry of Finance and this seems to be a better way to get money than to raise taxes on American citizens,” says Stephen Moore, former Trump business consultant and Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “We can take the crowded masses And We can take the people who are very wealthy, they are not mutually off. “
John Lettieri, CEO of the Economic Innovation Group, a cross -party think tank, agrees. He sees the gold card as a good step towards creating a more merit -based immigration system.
“At the moment we are granting visas on a lottery that is completely random and blind to attract and keep the best and brightest people from all over the world, and we have to be more beneficial to this type of talent if we want to maintain this [competitive] Edge we have right now, “he says.” The gold card is not a handout. We get something very essential in return and it can be a very important way to compensate for the costs of other very important programs that the Americans depend on. “
A very separate question is whether Trump Legal can do what he suggests without the consent of the congress. Immigration lawyers, Some Democrats as well as some Republican legislators and conservative immigration experts say that he cannot. But Trump insists that it is “completely legal” because he only offers a permanent residence and no longer offers citizenship.
While the wealthy is waiting and thinking about the risks and advantages of a gold card, late night comedy shows and the Internet have fun with the gold card idea. In a contribution to X, a woman offered to beat Trump’s offer with a “discount” of $ 1 million. For just $ 4 million, she would help a deferred foreigner to marry him.