‘Direct path to citizenship’: Donald Trump launches Gold Card, cites corporate demand — what it means
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled what he called the “Trump Gold Card,” announcing that people will be able to apply for Gold Card citizenship starting Wednesday afternoon.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump promoted the new immigration pathway, saying, “THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT’S TRUMP GOLD CARD IS HERE TODAY! A direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent. Live Site opens in 30 minutes!”Speaking further about the initiative, Trump said, “Very excitingly for me and for the country, we’ve just launched the Trump Gold Card. The site goes up in about 30 minutes, and all funds go to the United States government… It’s somewhat like a green card, but with big advantages over a green card. Companies will be able to go to any school, buy a card, and keep that person in the United States… It’s a gift to get somebody great coming into our country, because we think there will be some tremendous people who otherwise wouldn’t have been allowed to stay. They graduate from college, they have to go back to India or China or France… The companies will be very happy. I know Apple is going to be happy. Nobody talked to me more about it than Tim Cook. He said it’s a real problem. And it’s not going to be a problem anymore… The other thing is it’ll take in, we think, probably billions of dollars that will go to the Treasury of the United States… Many billions of dollars, even.”Trump has previously spoken about a Gold Card–style visa program designed to attract wealthy or highly skilled foreign nationals. The broader objective has been to bring top talent and significant foreign investment into the United States by offering a faster pathway to residency.While full details of the newly announced Gold Card are still unclear, earlier proposals included substantial financial thresholds: individual applicants were expected to donate $1 million to the US Treasury, and corporate-sponsored applicants needed to contribute $2 million, in addition to a non-refundable $15,000 processing fee.A third tier, the Platinum Card, had also been proposed, allowing an individual to spend up to 270 days a year in the US without becoming subject to US tax on foreign income, in exchange for $5 million. It remains unclear whether this tier is part of the current rollout.
