Evans Love
The new "gold card" gives wealthy foreigners a pathway to U.S. citizenship.
On Feb. 25, President Donald Trump announced the proposal of a new “gold card” in the United States.
The gold card will provide wealthy non-citizens U.S. residency with an easier route to citizenship for the price of $5 million. It replaces the current EB-5 program.
Buyers would receive permanent residency and work authorizations in the U.S., similar to green card privileges. While the gold card does not offer immediate citizenship, it is a start in that direction for the consumer. The most common path to U.S. citizenship is being a permanent resident for at least five years.
The intended audience Trump has alluded to is well-off foreigners who are highly productive workers and the companies looking to employ them.
Businesses looking to hire exceptional people with visa issues can purchase them for their future employees. Examples mentioned have been professional athletes and international students attending U.S. universities at the top of their class.
“I get calls from, as an example, companies where they want to hire the No. 1 student at the school. The person comes from India, China, Japan, lots of different places, and they go to Harvard, to the Wharton School of Finance, or Yale. But they are not hired by top companies, as they are not sure whether these employees will stay in the country.”- U.S. President Donald Trump
For years enrollment among international students in college has been hampered by visa policies; this could help change that for some. Applicants will go through background checks and vetting before being accepted.
Trump claims the funds generated from the gold card would go directly into the national debt, helping eliminate some of that deficit. The U.S. has a national debt of $36 trillion.
“For example, a million cards would be worth $5 trillion. If we sell ten million [gold cards], which is possible…that’s $50 trillion,” Trump expressed at his press conference. “That means our debt is totally paid off, and we have $15 trillion above that.”
The card is expected to go up for sale sometime in the next two weeks.