Trump Gold Card: A New Visa Program for Wealthy Investors

The Trump Gold Card is a newly launched U.S. visa initiative that offers a pathway to lawful permanent residency for people willing to pay at least one million dollars directly to the federal government. Announced on December 11, 2025, the Trump Gold Card is being sold by the administration as a way to attract wealthy investors and high-earning professionals while raising revenue and supporting American businesses.

Supporters argue that the Trump Gold Card aligns the U.S. with other countries that monetize immigration through so-called “golden visas.” Critics counter that the Trump Gold Card formalizes a “pay to immigrate” model that favors the global ultra-rich while millions of other applicants remain stuck in long queues based on family ties, humanitarian claims, or employment-based petitions.

Unlike earlier debates over merit-based immigration, the Trump Gold Card explicitly ties access to U.S. residency to a fixed cash payment rather than to job creation, extraordinary professional achievement, or refugee protection. For supporters, the Trump Gold Card is a pragmatic tool to capture global capital and talent. For opponents, the Trump Gold Card marks a sharp break from the idea that visas should primarily reflect skills, family connections, or humanitarian need.

What Is the Trump Gold Card Visa Program?

Core structure and eligibility

Under the program, foreign nationals can obtain U.S. lawful permanent residency by paying a non-refundable application fee of about 15,000 dollars, passing security and background checks, and then making a one-million-dollar “contribution” to the federal government. In return, Trump has promised immigration benefits that are functionally similar to a traditional green card, including the ability to live and work in the United States and, after meeting statutory requirements, pursue citizenship.

The program also includes a corporate track. Companies that want to sponsor foreign employees can pay approximately two million dollars per worker to secure the same fast-tracked permanent residency status for those employees. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that more than ten thousand people pre-registered for the Trump Gold Card and that the administration expects the program to raise “many billions of dollars” if demand remains strong.

Trump has described the Trump Gold Card as “more powerful” and more prestigious than an ordinary green card, even though its core legal benefits are similar. The administration emphasizes that all applicants must pass extensive vetting, but there is no statutory requirement that Trump Gold Card holders create jobs or invest in specific regions or sectors.

How the program differs from the EB-5 and other investor visas

The clearest comparison point for the Trump Gold Card is the long-standing EB-5 immigrant investor program. Congress created EB-5 in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. To qualify, applicants must invest a minimum amount (currently in the low-to-mid six figures, depending on location) in a U.S. commercial enterprise and create or preserve at least ten full-time jobs for U.S. workers. EB-5 visas are administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, are numerically capped, and are subject to strict integrity and reporting rules.

By contrast, the Trump Gold Card does not require that the one-million-dollar payment be tied to any specific business project or to measurable job creation. The money goes straight to the U.S. government rather than into a regulated commercial enterprise. The program is led by the Department of Commerce, with participation from the Departments of State and Homeland Security, rather than being housed exclusively inside USCIS.

Some analysts note that the Trump Gold Card also sits uneasily alongside employment-based categories such as EB-1 and EB-2, which are supposed to reward extraordinary ability, advanced degrees, and exceptional skills. Those categories rely on evidence of merit and are constrained by per-country limits and long backlogs. The Trump Gold Card, in effect, offers a fast lane based primarily on the applicant’s ability to make a seven-figure payment.

Policy Context and Motivations Behind the Program

Revenue, talent, and a restrictive overall agenda

The Trump administration has repeatedly signaled that it wants the U.S. immigration system to favor wealthier, highly educated, and financially self-sufficient immigrants. Earlier policy documents outlined a points-based system that would award immigration benefits based on education, income, likelihood of assimilation, and projected economic contribution. At the same time, the administration has tightened asylum standards, cut refugee admissions, and sought to limit certain forms of family-based migration.

The Trump Gold Card fits neatly into that broader strategy. It is explicitly marketed as a way to “monetize” immigration, with the administration highlighting both projected fiscal benefits and the promise of attracting high-earning professionals and investors. Supporters say the Trump Gold Card could help retain foreign graduates of U.S. universities who currently struggle to secure long-term status and could provide a clear path for globally mobile entrepreneurs who might otherwise choose competing countries.

Positioning the Trump Gold Card within the global “golden visa” market

Internationally, many governments run immigrant investor or “golden visa” programs that trade residency rights for significant investments. In Europe, for example, countries such as Portugal, Greece, and Spain have offered residence permits in exchange for real-estate purchases, investment funds, or capital transfers, with the option to apply for citizenship after years of residence. These golden visa schemes are promoted as tools to attract foreign capital, boost construction and tourism, and diversify economies.

The Trump Gold Card borrows both the language and logic of those golden visa programs, but with a distinctive twist: instead of requiring a specific property purchase or regulated investment, the core Trump Gold Card contribution is a direct payment to the U.S. government. The Trump Gold Card also comes at a moment when several European states are tightening or closing their own golden visa schemes due to concerns about housing costs, money laundering, and security risks, raising questions about whether the U.S. is moving into a space that others are retreating from.

Criticisms and Legal Questions

A two-tier immigration system based on wealth

Immigrant-rights organizations, many immigration lawyers, and some economists argue that the Trump Gold Card formalizes a two-tier system in which the wealthy can effectively buy their way to the front of the line. Their central concern is that someone who can afford a one-million-dollar contribution can leap ahead of nurses, engineers, researchers, and family members who have been waiting for years in backlogs under traditional categories.

Advocates warn that the Trump Gold Card could undermine public confidence in the fairness of U.S. immigration law. Existing categories already allow immigration by investors and highly skilled individuals, but those pathways are defined by statutes passed by Congress and are subject to numerical caps and documented criteria. Critics argue that layering the Trump Gold Card on top of these categories sends a blunt message: if you are rich enough, you can purchase an expedited path to U.S. residency that is unavailable to most applicants.

Questions about legality, oversight, and risk

Beyond fairness, legal scholars and former officials have flagged serious questions about whether the Trump Gold Card can be implemented by executive order alone. U.S. presidents have broad authority to set enforcement priorities and shape how existing visa categories are administered, but Congress ultimately defines immigrant visa classifications in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Critics argue that creating what amounts to a new paid-for pathway to permanent residency without new legislation could be vulnerable to court challenges.

There are also concerns about oversight and financial integrity. Experience with golden visa programs in other countries shows that they can attract illicit funds, politically exposed persons, and people who later emerge as security risks if due-diligence standards are weak. European Union institutions and national governments have criticized such schemes for enabling money laundering and tax evasion, and several countries have tightened or abolished their programs. Experts warn that unless the Trump Gold Card incorporates robust source-of-funds checks and anti-money-laundering safeguards, it could replicate these vulnerabilities inside the U.S. system.

Potential Economic Impact of the Trump Gold Card

Supporters’ case for the program

Supporters of the Trump Gold Card, including business leaders who appeared alongside Trump at the launch, argue that the program could generate substantial federal revenue with relatively modest administrative costs. With each individual Trump Gold Card priced at one million dollars (plus application fees) and each corporate-sponsored employee priced at two million dollars, even a few tens of thousands of approvals would translate into many billions of dollars in receipts. Commerce officials have suggested that this money could support economic priorities while reducing the need for higher taxes.

Backers also contend that the Trump Gold Card will help the United States compete for global talent. They point to international students who earn U.S. degrees but struggle to obtain long-term visas, and to entrepreneurs and investors who weigh different jurisdictions based on how predictable and fast residency pathways are. In that framing, the Trump Gold Card is marketed as a premium, high-price but clear route that signals the United States is open to capital and high-earning professionals, even as other parts of the system remain restrictive.

Economic and social caveats

Skeptics respond that revenue projections for the Trump Gold Card are speculative and that the program may not deliver the real-world benefits advertised. One concern is that some applicants for the Trump Gold Card may simply be formalizing investments or moves they would have made anyway, reshuffling existing capital flows rather than generating new ones. Another is that, unlike EB-5, the Trump Gold Card does not require job creation or targeted investment in high-unemployment areas, which could limit direct gains for workers and communities.

There are also broader social and political risks that are hard to quantify. Public opinion research consistently shows that perceived fairness and contribution matter as much as headline economic numbers in shaping attitudes toward immigration. A highly visible program that reserves the fastest path to permanent residency for Trump Gold Card applicants could deepen polarization, especially if other channels remain severely backlogged or further restricted. In that sense, the long-term impact of the Trump Gold Card will depend not only on how much money it raises, but on how it interacts with the rest of the immigration system and with public perceptions of who “deserves” a chance at U.S. residence.

What the Trump Gold Card Means for the Future of U.S. Immigration

Taken together, the launch of the Trump Gold Card underscores a clear shift in U.S. immigration policy toward explicitly treating visas as tools of economic and fiscal policy. For supporters, the Trump Gold Card is a bold way to align immigration with national economic interests, retain high-earning graduates, and keep the United States competitive in a world where many countries already market golden visas to wealthy individuals.

For critics, the Trump Gold Card is a warning that financial capacity is being elevated above humanitarian commitments, family unity, and merit-based evaluation. They argue that by putting a literal million-dollar price tag on an expedited path to U.S. residency, the Trump Gold Card signals that citizenship and long-term residence are commodities available first to those who can afford them. That debate goes to the heart of how Americans understand immigration: as a humanitarian obligation, a family-reunification tool, an economic lever, or some contested mix of all three.

As legal challenges and potential legislative responses move forward, the Trump Gold Card is likely to remain a focal point in arguments over the future of U.S. immigration. Whatever ultimately happens to the program, the Trump Gold Card has already reshaped the conversation by tying the promise of American residence directly to the ability to pay.

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Trump Gold Card: How Trump’s Million-Dollar Visa Redefines U.S. Immigration