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Trump to Axe EB-5 Program and Introduce $5m “Gold Card”

Trump will put an abrupt end to four decades of EB-5 in favor of a simpler but higher-priced donation-based route to US permanent residency.

Moustafa Daly
Cairo

President Donald Trump has announced his plan to end the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa program and replace it with a new “Gold Card,” which would offer applicants a “strong” route to US citizenship if they “pay $5 million to the US government”, in what appears to be a form of economic donation rather than an investment.

Announcing the news from the Oval Office alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump described the Gold Card as a bold strategy to attract high-net-worth individuals to the United States. The administration plans to launch the program within two weeks.

“We’re going to be selling a Gold Card,” Trump said, noting that it would give holders all the privileges of a Green Card. “It’s a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will come into our country by buying this card. They’ll be successful, spending a lot of money, paying taxes, and employing a lot of people.”

Trump clarified that Gold Card holders won’t pay taxes on income earned outside the United States, but they would pay full taxes on domestic earnings. “You’re getting big taxpayers and big job creators,” he said.

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He has set an ambitious goal of selling the Gold Card to one million investors, projecting $5 trillion in revenue. “If we sell 10 million, that’s $50 trillion. We have $35 trillion in debt. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?”

When a reporter asked whether Russian oligarchs, typically restricted under other RCBI programs since the Ukraine war, could qualify, Trump did not rule out the possibility. “I know Russian oligarchs that are very nice people,” he responded, suggesting eligibility could extend to them if they meet the program’s requirements.

Allowing Russians to apply wouldn’t go against the previous administration’s policies, as although Biden’s government had successfully pressured Caribbean CBI programs to ban Russian and Belarusian applicants from qualifying two years ago, they continued to allow them to apply for the EB-5 visa.

“EB-5 Full of Nonsense and Fraud”

The Gold Card would replace the EB-5 program, a program that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has criticized and labeled as ineffective and outdated.

“The EB-5 program was full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud,” Lutnick said, calling it a low-cost way to obtain a Green Card. “Rather than keep this ridiculous program, the president decided to replace it with the Trump Gold Card.”

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Ishaan Khanna, President of the American Immigrant Investor Alliance (AIIA), a political nonprofit that advocates for EB-5 investors in the American congressional space, disagrees with Lutnick, pointing out that the EB-5 “program has created tens of thousands of jobs across the United States” and that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found “less than 1% of EB-5 petitions were fraudulent during the 2021 fiscal year.”

While he disagrees with Lutnick’s assessment, he says the AIIA welcomes “the President’s confirmation of his longstanding support for legal immigration that benefits America by fostering job creation through investment.”

What Trump’s Gold Card could offer

Lutnick explained the details of the program and described how it would work. He says that rather than having “a low-cost, flawed EB-5 program, the president decided on the Gold Card.” He explained that “wealthy applicants will pay $5 million directly to the US government” and that they will “go through vetting to ensure they’re world-class global citizens, and then come to America,” suggesting a donation-based structure.

He said the funds collected from the program would help reduce the national deficit.

The Gold Card may also include provisions for companies to sponsor applicants with exceptional talent or skills. Trump pointed to recent graduates from elite universities as an example, suggesting companies like Apple might sponsor Gold Cards for top talent they want to employ.

“Generally, it’ll be people with money or people who create jobs,” Trump said.

Trump aims to bypass Congress

The administration framed the Gold Card as a visa program rather than direct citizenship, which Trump says falls under the executive branch and will allow this initiative to bypass Congress. When a reporter asked about this, Trump explained that while the card provides a pathway to citizenship, it does not automatically grant it – in effect appearing like a semi-direct citizenship program.

“It’s a very strong path to citizenship, but we’re not doing the actual citizenship part; that would require Congress,” Trump said.

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