US President Donald Trump has announced a new visa program that will offer a “gold card” with a potential pathway to US citizenship for $5 million, that could significantly benefit Indian graduates and investors. This initiative, which Trump expects to generate significant revenue, is set to replace the existing EB-5 visa program.
A new opportunity for Indian graduates
Speaking about the program at his first cabinet meeting of his second term on Thursday, Trump said that the new program would allow American companies to hire Indian graduates from US universities. He highlighted how current immigration policies have prevented skilled professionals, particularly from India, from staying in the country after completing their education.
“A person comes from India, China, Japan, lots of different places, and they go to Harvard, the Wharton School of Finance… they are made job offers, but the offer is immediately rescinded because you have no idea whether that person can stay in the country,” Trump said.
He acknowledged that many of these graduates return to their home countries and become successful entrepreneurs. “They go back to India, or they go back to the country where they came from, and they open up a company, and they become billionaires. They’re employing thousands of people,” he said, pointing out the economic loss for the US.
“We have to be able to get people in the country, and we want people that are productive people,” Trump added.
Many countries around the world have citizenship or residency-by-investment programs. In Europe, countries like Portugal offer “golden visas,” granting permanent residency to foreigners who invest at least €500,000 ($524,000) in a qualifying fund.
Revenue generation
Trump sees the gold card visa as a potential source of income for the US. “If we sell a million, that’s $5 trillion dollars,” he said, adding that the revenue could help reduce national debt.
The program will replace the EB-5 visa, which currently grants residency to investors who invest at least $1 million in businesses that create jobs. Trump believes the gold card will attract wealthy individuals who will contribute to the US economy.
“They’ll be wealthy, and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful,” he said.
Trump expressed confidence in the demand for the new visa, saying, “I happen to think it’ll sell like crazy. It’s a market. But we’ll know very soon.”
Congress, meanwhile, determines qualifications for US citizenship, but the president said “gold cards” would not require congressional approval.
Gold card to replace current visa system
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who was also present at the meeting, said the gold card visa program would replace the current visa system for foreign investors but did not provide many details.
He confirmed that the initiative would take the place of the EB-5 visa, which grants permanent residency to foreign investors who invest around $1 million and create at least 10 full-time jobs in the US.
Lutnick criticized the EB-5 program, calling it “poorly overseen and poorly executed,” and said the new gold visa system would be a better alternative.
“We’re going to make sure they’re wonderful world-class global citizens,” he said about future gold card applicants.
It remains unclear how recipients would be selected, whether there would be any restrictions, or if a limit would be set on the number of visas issued.
In the fiscal year 2024, the State Department issued more than 12,000 EB-5 visas, marking a record high for the program.