What is America’s Gold Card Scheme?
“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”, President Donald Trump said on February 25.
A Gold Card visa is a path for wealthy foreigners to gain citizenship in exchange for a $5 million fee. It grants permanent US residency with an optional path to citizenship. Apart from the green card privileges and the right to live and work in the US, it comes with the added advantage of citizenship.
A proposed immigration policy aimed at wealthy foreign investors, “gold card”, offers a path to US citizenship for a fee of $5 million. This scheme will replace the current EB-5 visa program and grant investors the privileges of a green card, allowing them to become permanent US residents through financial investment. EB-5s were created in 1990 as a method for immigrants to obtain green cards in which a person must invest at least $1 million in a company or $800k in a low-income area that employs at least 10 people. The Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick referred to it as the “Trump Gold Card” and revealed to have sold 1,000 gold cards a day. The program represents an evolution in immigration policy that explicitly prioritizes economic contribution over other considerations.
What’s the significance of the Gold Card Scheme?
Donald Trump’s “Golden Card” has garnered significant attention due to the higher level of sophistication it entails. It is designed as a way to attract high-net-worth individuals and donors and acts as a form of insurance for wealthy families who may want the ability to relocate to the US in times of crisis. It allows them the right to be in America indefinitely and at any time they want. The Gold cardholders will have to pay taxes in the US and thereby generate trillions in revenue primarily to reduce the national debt which currently stands at over US$36 trillion while bringing successful individuals who would contribute to the American economy. It is said to strengthen the US economy, with more wealthy people buying gold cards to settle in the US, generate jobs, and boost employment.
Have other countries done this before?
Trump’s proposed Gold Card is not a pioneering idea. Several countries operate investment visa programs of a similar nature. For instance, Portugal’s Golden Visa program requires fund investments starting at €500,000. While Greece offers golden visa residency for property purchases of €250,000, the UK previously offered an Investor Visa for £2 million before closing it in 2022 due to security concerns. Similarly, Spain maintains a popular Golden Visa program requiring €500,000 in real estate investment. Cyprus had one of the most expensive direct citizenship programs, charging €2.2 million for citizenship until it was terminated amid a scandal in 2020.
What are its Implications?
The removal of the EB-5 visa program would be a severe blow to Indian investors contributing billions of dollars to the real estate, infrastructure, and technology sectors in the US. Experts say Indians are unlikely to be drawn to the scheme. The primary applicants for these residency and citizenship visas tend to be Russians and Chinese, largely due to geopolitical factors in their home countries. Historically, Indians have not been significant participants in these schemes. The proposal could push Indian investors towards other global residency routes with lower investment thresholds and faster processing times, making them viable alternatives for Indian high-net-worth individuals.
The program is seen as “citizenship for sale,” or creating a “pay-to-play” immigration system. It undermines traditional immigration values, prioritizing family reunification, humanitarian concerns, and merit-based selection, creating economic inequality in immigration policy and potentially affecting public trust in the immigration system. The focus on wealthy applicants could divert attention from processing regular immigration applications, which already face significant backlogs. Similar investor visa programs exist in other nations at lower price points. The unusually high $5 million threshold positions the Trump Gold Card as one of the most expensive residency-by-investment options worldwide. The program’s explicit targeting of the ultra-wealthy reinforces the risks and accusations of corruption. It gives the wealthy a disproportionate amount of influence over policy decisions, the practices may undermine democratic processes tremendously. Some have described the card as a form of VIP pass. It is particularly seen as a symbol of Trump’s enduring influence and is tied to his political and business ventures.
The EB-5 program has faced criticism for fraud, misuse, and lengthy processing times, and the Trump administration, with the Golden Card, suggests addressing these issues while generating more significant economic benefits through higher investment thresholds.
