US President Donald Trump introduced major changes to the US visa system, unveiling two new residency schemes: the "Trump Gold Card" and "Platinum Card," alongside a significant hike in H-1B visa fees with a $100,000 surcharge.
Trump signed the executive order in the Oval Office, describing the initiative as a way to attract high-value immigrants while boosting government revenue. “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,” he said.
What is Trump's gold card?
Under the Gold Card Visa Program, individuals can secure US residency by investing $1 million. The corporate variant, the Trump Corporate Gold Card, allows companies to sponsor foreign employees by investing $2 million per worker.
Trump added on Truth Social, “It is beyond time that the American People, and American Taxpayers, are benefitting from our LEGAL Immigration System. We anticipate THE TRUMP GOLD CARD will generate well over $100 Billion Dollars very quickly. This money will be used for reducing Taxes, Pro Growth Projects, and paying down our Debt.”
Here's the direct link to apply for the Trump Gold Card.
These initiatives follow the administration’s broader efforts to tighten immigration rules and impose stricter limits on the types of foreigners allowed entry into the United States.
Replacement of EB-1 and EB-2 visas
The Gold Card program is planned to replace the current EB-1 and EB-2 visas, which permit foreign nationals with extraordinary skills or achievements to apply for permanent residency. The rollout is expected to take less than a month, and several other visa categories may be temporarily suspended in favor of the new system.
According to the Trump Gold Card website, approved applicants will gain "lawful permanent resident status" as an EB-1 or EB-2 visa holder, Axios reported. Axios also noted that it is unclear whether existing law permits visas to be sold in this manner, and the cost is significantly higher than similar "golden visa" programs, which have had limited success elsewhere.
Is Trump trying to replace the H1-B visa with a gold card?
US President Donald Trump discussed his views on the U.S. visa system with Sean Spicer, contrasting the H-1B program with the newly introduced Gold Card initiative.
“I asked the President about the two categories of visa programs. As H-1B is often seen as taking American jobs, while the Gold Card and programs like EB-5 are viewed as adding value and jobs to America. I asked if that was how he looked at the visa program," Sean Spicer asked Trump.
President Trump responded, "I would say that's a correct assessment. But the main thing is we're going to have great people coming in and they're going to be paying." He added, "The gold card will be taken in hundreds of billions of dollars...And we're going to take that money and we're going to reduce taxes. We're going to reduce debt. We have a very, very strong country."
Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, highlighted the contrast between the traditional employment-based green card system and the Gold Card program.
“Historically, the employment-based green card programme led in 2,81,000 people a year. And those people, on average, earned $66,000 a year, and they were five times more likely to go on government assistance programmes. So we were taking in the bottom quartile, below the average American. It was illogical. The only country in the world that was taking in the bottom quartile," Lutnick said.
He explained that the Gold Card program is designed to admit only “extraordinary people at the very top” who can create business opportunities and jobs for Americans.
“We are going to stop doing that. We're going to only take extraordinary people at the very top, instead of those trying to take jobs from Americans. They're going to create businesses and create jobs for Americans. And this programme will raise more than $100 billion for the Treasury of the United States of America,” Lutnick added.
The remarks reinforce the administration’s position that the H-1B program has often displaced American workers, while the Gold Card initiative is aimed at attracting highly skilled, high-value individuals who can contribute to economic growth and job creation in the United States.
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