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President Donald Trump announced a new visa program for the world’s wealthy, a much-anticipated effort to encourage them to immigrate to the US by offering residency permits for a hefty price tag.
“They’re going to spend a lot of money to come in,” Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office as he signed the order to create the visa program. “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.”
Individuals can pay $1 million to receive US residency with the “Trump Gold Card,” following a processing fee and vetting, according to a website announcing the program.
According to the site, a “Platinum Card” will soon be available for $5 million, and allow recipients to “spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.”
Businesses that pay a $2 million fee per employee can receive US residency for an unspecified number of workers, according to the website.
“The Trump Corporate Gold Card allows your business to transfer access from one employee and grant it to another, with the cost of a transfer fee and DHS vetting. A small annual maintenance fee will also apply,” the website said, referring to the Department of Homeland Security.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the platinum card program is dependent on congressional approval and predicted “that will happen later this year.”
The executive order directs the Commerce secretary to deposit revenue from the program into a “separate fund” at the Treasury and use it to promote commerce and American industry.
Lutnick told reporters Friday that the vetting fee for the Gold Card is expected to be $15,000 and said that applicants would be subject to “a much more rigorous vetting than has ever been done before.”
The Gold Card would replace the existing EB-1 and EB-2 visas that allow foreign nationals with extraordinary or exceptional abilities to seek permanent residency, Lutnick said. After an implementation phase Lutnick said should last less than a month, “other visa green card categories are likely to be suspended, and this will be the model that people can come in to the country.”
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