Washington, D.C., February 26, 2025 – The Europe Today: Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday his proposal to replace the existing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program with a new initiative called the “gold card,” which would provide foreign investors a pathway to U.S. citizenship for a fee of $5 million.
Speaking to reporters, Trump criticized the EB-5 program, which grants green cards to foreign nationals who invest substantial sums in U.S. businesses that create or preserve jobs. Instead, he proposed selling a “gold card” that would offer green card privileges along with an eventual route to American citizenship.
“We are going to be selling a gold card,” Trump stated. “We are going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million.” He added that the new initiative would attract wealthy individuals willing to invest significantly in the U.S.
The former president also addressed concerns over the eligibility of Russian oligarchs, affirming that they could potentially qualify. “Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people,” he remarked when questioned on the matter.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, established by Congress in 1990 and administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), was designed to stimulate economic growth through job creation and foreign capital investment. However, Trump criticized the existing program as ineffective and prone to abuse.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reinforced this stance, stating, “The EB-5 program … it was full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud, and it was a way to get a green card at a low price. So the president said, rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 program, we’re going to end the EB-5 program. We’re going to replace it with the Trump gold card.”
Trump indicated that further details on the proposed “gold card” scheme would be released in the coming weeks.
