The United States is looking to attract wealthy immigrants looking for US citizenship through a new “gold visa” program. “It’ll be people with money,” Trump said outright, noting the visa is “something akin to a green card, but with a higher level of sophistication.” The new path to citizenship will replace the current EB-5 visa program and require 5X the investment.
The EB-5 visa program was created in 1990 as a route to American citizenship for those willing to invest $1 million in an American company. Unlike a typical green card where the wait could take up to several years, those who applied for the EB-5 visa were granted immediate visas and were fast-tracked to eventual citizenship. The US State Department capped the program at 10,000 visas per year and set aside 3,000 for anyone willing to invest in an area facing a high rate of unemployment. This program was intended to boost job creation and stimulate the US economy through foreign investment.
However, $1 million certainly does not go as far as it once did. The Trump Administration claims that the program has been outright fraudulent. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) admitted that fraud was prevalent in a 2021 report, but less than 1% of applicants were found to be in error. Around 57% of all fraud cases involved Chinese nationals, which was of particular concern to the US. Then, about 12% of applicants had missing or unknown countries of birth.
“The EB-5 program … it was full of nonsense, make-believe and fraud, and it was a way to get a green card that was 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,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
If implemented, the US gold visa would be the most expensive visa in the world. There is currently no cap on the proposed program, and while there will be a vetting process, who can and cannot apply is unclear. “They’ll be affluent and they’ll thrive, contributing significantly in taxes and creating numerous jobs,” Trump said. The $5 million is merely the entry fee as the government is after taxes as US citizens, wherever they reside, must pay Uncle Sam indefinitely.
