What’s Trump’s Gold Card for immigrants, $5 million ‘pathway to US citizenship’?
US President Donald Trump has launched a new immigration initiative – the ‘Gold Card’ – which might permit rich international traders to buy a direct pathway to American citizenship for USD 5 million. Introduced from the Oval Workplace on Tuesday, the proposal is being pitched as a “premium model” of the Inexperienced Card, providing long-term residency and a path to naturalisation.
“We’re going to be promoting a Gold Card,” Trump declared. “We’re going to be placing a worth on that card of about $5 million.” In keeping with the President, this new program is meant to draw high-net-worth people to america whereas producing vital income for the federal government.
The Gold Card would substitute the present EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program, which presently permits international traders to acquire Inexperienced Playing cards in the event that they make investments not less than $800,000 in tasks positioned in Focused Employment Areas (TEAs) or USD 1.8 million elsewhere, whereas additionally creating not less than ten US jobs. Trump dismissed the EB-5 system as inefficient and outdated.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was current in the course of the announcement, backed the President’s determination, stating, “Quite than having this form of ridiculous EB-5 program, we will finish it. We will substitute it with the Trump Gold Card.”
Not like the EB-5, which requires funding in job-creating ventures, the Gold Card program seems to focus totally on direct funds to the US authorities.
Trump additionally floated the thought of promoting as much as 10 million Gold Playing cards to assist scale back the nationwide deficit. “It might be nice, perhaps it could be incredible,” he mentioned. Nevertheless, he didn’t make clear whether or not Gold Card holders could be required to create jobs, a key requirement of the EB-5 program.
Requested whether or not Russian oligarchs could be eligible to buy a Gold Card, Trump responded, “Yeah, probably. Hey, I do know some Russian oligarchs who’re very good folks.”
Whereas the complete particulars of this system are but to be disclosed, Trump promised extra info inside two weeks. “It is considerably like a Inexperienced Card, however at a better stage of sophistication,” he defined.
“It is a street to citizenship for folks of wealth or folks of nice expertise, the place corporations pays for folks to get in and have lengthy, long-term standing within the nation.”
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