Elon Musk says testing Gold Card Visa program in ‘quiet trial’

Elon Musk

President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa program is quietly being tested to ensure the system works properly, Elon Musk said in a post on X.

“Once it is fully tested, it will be rolled out to the public with an announcement by the president,” Musk said.

The “gold card” program is a Trump plan that would give wealthy foreigners who can pay for it an easier path to citizenship.

Were doing a quiet trial to make sure the system works properly. Once it is fully tested, it will be rolled out to the public with an announcement by the President.

gorklon rust (@elonmusk) May 11, 2025

"We are going to be selling a gold card," Trump said. "We are going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million," he added. "It's going to give you green card privileges plus its going to be a route to (American) citizenship, and wealthy people would be coming into our country by buying this card," Trump said, adding that details about the scheme will come out in two weeks.

Trump added it is possible Russian oligarchs could qualify for the gold cards, when asked by a journalist if those people would be eligible. "Yeah, possibly. Hey. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people," he said.

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, was created by Congress in 1990 to "stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors," according to the USCIS website.

"The EB-5 program ... it was full of nonsense, make believe and fraud, and it was a way to get a green card that was 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," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on Tuesday.