Trump pitches 'gold card' as replacement for EB5 investor visa

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it would be revamping the U.S. investor visa, increasing the funds required to secure the status while dubbing the new option a "gold card."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters in the Oval Office that the Trump administration would be ending the existing EB5 visa program, while President Trump boasted the new visa would bolster the economy.

“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. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it's going to be extremely successful,” Trump said.

Lutnick said the new card would raise funds to pay down U.S. debts.

“They'll have to go through vetting, of course, to make sure they're wonderful world class global citizens, they can come to America. President can give them a green card, and they can invest in America, and we can use that money to reduce our deficit.”

While Trump said the new system has “never been done before, anything like this,” the broad strokes of what the men announced sound similar to the existing EB5 investor program, albeit with a higher price tag.

The current program requires would-be investors to invest a little over $1 million and create at least 10 jobs and it also puts investors on a pathway to a green card and later citizenship.

It’s unclear, however, whether Trump can end the EB5 program without Congress’s blessing as the investor program was just reauthorized in 2022.

Alex Gangitano contributed.

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