President Donald Trump’s “golden card” visa, where a foreigner can pay at least $1 million Live and work legally in the United Stateshas been approved for one person, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday — and appears to be slightly lower than the previous claim.
after that It was launched in DecemberThe government sold $1.3 billion worth in just several days, Lutnick said, while Trump stood up, holding up the gilded ticket and declaring, “It’s basically a green card on steroids.”
Lutnick did not address the apparent contradiction in his conversation with a congresswoman at the committee hearing on Thursday.
Trump floated this idea last year, and initially proposed it At a cost of 5 million dollarsAnd he argues that it will be so Attracting foreign talent To the shores of the United States and fill the federal coffers. It is meant to replace the EB-5 program, a decades-old program that provided U.S. visas to people who invested about $1 million in a company with at least 10 employees.
Although only one person has been approved, “there are hundreds on a waiting list that are going through,” Lutnick, who seemed pleased with the program’s results, said at a congressional committee hearing Thursday.
“They just set it up and wanted to make sure they did it right,” he said.
A year ago, Lutnick said at a Cabinet meeting that the gold card would raise $1 trillion in revenue and help “balance the budget.” The public debt is $31.3 trillion, and external projections from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget indicate that the annual budget deficit for this fiscal year will be about $2 trillion.
The Secretary of Commerce noted that each applicant pays a fee of $15,000, in addition to the $1 million, which allows for “rigorous vetting” of applicants for the program that ultimately opens the way to U.S. citizenship. It also allows companies to spend $2 million per foreign-born employee, along with a 1% annual maintenance fee.
It boasts an attractive government website with the phrase “Open Life America” above a graphic of a gold card: Trump’s stern face, flanked by a bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, and his signature squiggle. The site also touts the upcoming $5 million “Trump Platinum Card,” which provides up to 270 days in America without tax on non-U.S. income.
While Trump has created a presidential identity partly centered around deporting immigrants without legal status, he has repeatedly supported skilled labor immigration to the United States, which the Gold Card program can facilitate.
When asked how the proceeds would be spent, Lutnick said: “This will be determined by the administration, and its conditions are to improve the situation of the United States of America.”
The idea is relatively popular around the world, with dozens of countries offering versions of “golden visas” for wealthy individuals, including the UK, Spain, Greece, Malta, Australia, Canada and Italy.