President Donald Trump has announced a proposal to replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa programme with a &ldquo;Gold Card&rdquo; that would grant green card privileges and a pathway to US citizenship for a $5 million&nbsp; (about &nbsp;₹43.60 crore) investment.&nbsp;
Trump said that wealthy foreign nationals purchasing these &ldquo;Gold Cards&rdquo; would help reduce the national debt. He estimated that one million such cards could be sold.
&ldquo;The EB-5 programme &hellip; it was full of nonsense, make-believe and fraud,&rdquo; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters. &ldquo;So the President said, rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 programme, we're going to end the EB-5 programme. We're going to replace it with the Trump Gold Card.&rdquo;
The EB-5 programme, introduced in 1990, granted green cards to foreigners who invested in US businesses that created or preserved jobs. Under the proposed replacement, the financial threshold would be significantly higher, but exact details are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
When asked whether Russian oligarchs would qualify, Trump responded, &ldquo;Yeah, possibly,&rdquo; adding, &ldquo;I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.&rdquo;
Critics argue that such a scheme could commercialize US citizenship and reinforce the idea that immigration benefits the wealthy over others. The administration maintains that the proposal is aimed at attracting high-net-worth individuals to stimulate economic growth.
Further details on the proposal are expected in the coming weeks.

New scheme to replace EB-5 visa, offers rich migrants a fast track to US citizenship

Trump’s $5M ‘Gold Card’ Plan: Citizenship for Sale

New scheme to replace EB-5 visa, offers rich migrants a fast track to US citizenship

February 26, 2025 | 09:50 IST