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A top Trump administration official has claimed that roughly 250,000 people are waiting to obtain President Donald Trump’s proposed “gold card” visa.
Some shit you should know before you read: Earlier this week, President Trump announced his proposal for a new “gold card” visa program, which would allow wealthy foreigners to obtain US permanent residency for a $5 million investment. Trump said if the government sold one million of them, it could generate $5 trillion in revenue to help pay down the national debt. Unlike the existing EB-5 investor visa program, which requires applicants to invest at least $1 million (or $800,000 in low-income areas) and create at least 10 US jobs, the gold card visa would not require job creation—anyone who can afford the price would be eligible. Trump framed the plan as a way to attract wealthy and successful individuals who would spend money, pay taxes, and contribute to the economy. He also alluded that companies could pay the $5 million to bring top talent into the US.
What’s going on now: While speaking on Fox News, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed that 250,000 people were already waiting in line for the opportunity. He argued that if each of those individuals paid the required $5 million, it would generate over $1 trillion in revenue. When pressed on the program’s viability, Lutnick assured viewers that applicants would be “deeply vetted” and emphasized their potential contributions, stating, “These are going to be great global citizens who are going to bring entrepreneurial spirit, capacity, and growth to America.”
Lutnick also suggested that there was a large pool of potential applicants worldwide who could afford the price tag of the gold card visa. He pointed to data indicating that approximately 424,000 individuals globally have a net worth exceeding $30 million, with around 277,000 of them living outside the United States.
This comes as the current backlog for the EB-5 investor visa program is estimated to be between 24,000 and 60,000 applicants, far fewer than the 250,000 figure Lutnick claimed.
