President Trump signed an executive order Friday to offer up fast-track “Gold Card” visas to people willing to pay $1 million or more.
“The Trump Gold Card is Here,” reads a government website, which features a mock-up of a bright, gilded card embossed with a photo of Mr. Trump, his signature and images of a bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty: “Unlock life in America.”
Under the Gold Card program, which Mr. Trump first floated in February, non-Americans who give a gift of at least $1 million to the Commerce Department will be eligible for an “expedited process” to gain an immigrant visa, the executive order states. Corporations can sponsor people for Gold Cards if they give the government at least $2 million.
Some 80,000 Gold Cards will be made available, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said the program is still in the “implementation phase.”
People who are approved for a Gold Card after vetting by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security — and who pay a $15,000 “vetting fee” — will be considered lawful permanent residents, more commonly known as green-card holders, Lutnick told reporters Friday. He said Gold Cards will take the place of the existing EB-1 and EB-2 visa programs, which offer green cards to people with “exceptional ability” in business or other fields.
“You can prove exceptional value for the United States of America by contributing $1 million to the United States of America. That’s a pretty good expectation that they’re highly valuable,” he said.
Lutnick said: “In less than a month, the other visa Green Card categories are likely to be suspended, and this will be the model that people can come into the country.”
The administration is also considering offering a $5 million “Platinum Card” that will allow people to spend up to 270 days in the country without paying taxes on their non-U.S. income. That program, which Lutnick said would not offer a pathway to citizenship, will need approval from Congress before it launches. The federal government has set up an online waiting list.
Separately, Mr. Trump signed an executive order Friday that imposes an extra $100,000 fee for people who wish to enter the U.S. on an H-1B visa, a non-immigrant visa that allows tens of thousands of people to live and work in the U.S. for up to six years.
The change could mark a substantial crackdown on the H-1B program. Critics argue that the visas allow employers to undercut U.S. workers by sponsoring foreign job applicants willing to work for lower salaries. But supporters of the program argue it is essential to industries like tech that often struggle to find qualified U.S.-based workers — with firms like Amazon applying for thousands of H-1Bs per year — and employers are already required to pay H-1B recipients no less than the wages earned by similarly qualified workers.
Asked Friday how he believes tech companies will react to the new H-1B fee, Mr. Trump told reporters: “I think they’re going to be very happy.”
“And we’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people, and in many cases, these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that, and they’re very happy about it,” the president said.
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