Trump’s New $1 Million Visa Lets Ultra-Rich Foreigners Buy U.S. Green Cards

Applications Now Open at Trumpcard.gov

On December 10, 2025, President Trump officially launched the Trump Gold Card, a new visa program that lets wealthy foreigners buy their way to U. S. residency. For a $1 million contribution and a $15,000 processing fee, applicants can skip the years-long green card line and get permanent resident status in weeks.

The program went live the same week the administration raised H-1B visa fees to $100,000 and tightened rules on asylum seekers, drawing sharp criticism from immigration lawyers who say Trump lacks the legal authority to create a new visa category without Congress.

Residency in Weeks Not Years

The Gold Card promises what no other immigration pathway offers: speed. Traditional green card applicants wait anywhere from eight months to six years for approval.

The EB-5 investor visa, which the Gold Card is designed to replace, takes nearly six years to process.

Trump’s program claims to deliver permanent resident status in weeks after applicants complete a background check and submit their $1 million contribution. The official website, trumpcard.gov, launched December 10 with applications open immediately.

Companies Can Sponsor Workers Too

Corporations can buy Gold Cards for foreign employees through the Corporate Gold Card program. The cost is $2 million per worker, plus the same $15,000 processing fee.

Companies also pay a 1% annual maintenance fee. If a sponsored employee becomes a U.S. citizen or leaves the company, the business can transfer the card to a different worker for a 5% transfer fee.

This lets corporations keep the same $2 million investment working across multiple hires over time.

Platinum Card Waitlist Now Open

A more expensive option is coming. The Trump Platinum Card will cost $5 million and allow holders to spend up to 270 days per year in the United States without paying U. S. taxes on foreign income. Unlike the Gold Card, the Platinum version does not provide permanent residency.

It functions more like a long-term visitor pass with tax benefits. The program has not launched yet, but foreigners can join a waitlist now through the same website.

Price Dropped from $5 Million

Trump first announced the Gold Card idea in February 2025 during an address to Congress, pricing it at $5 million.

By September, when he signed the executive order creating the program, the price had dropped to $1 million. The administration never explained the reduction.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promoted the lower price as a way to attract more applicants and generate billions in revenue. The physical card features Trump’s portrait, the Statue of Liberty, and the American flag.

Old EB-5 Program Was a Mess

The Gold Card is meant to replace the EB-5 investor visa program, which Congress created in 1990. That program let foreigners invest at least $1 million in a U.S. business that creates 10 jobs, then apply for a green card.

But the EB-5 became notorious for fraud. In one case, Vermont business executives took money from hundreds of Chinese investors for a biotech facility that never got built.

Processing times stretched to nearly six years. Lutnick called the program full of “nonsense, make-believe, and fraud.”

No Job Creation Required

The biggest difference between the Gold Card and the EB-5 visa it replaces is what applicants must do with their money.

EB-5 investors put capital into American businesses and must prove their investment created at least 10 full-time jobs for U. S. workers. Gold Card applicants simply make a contribution to the federal government.

The money goes to the Treasury Department. There are no job requirements, no business investments, and no returns.

The $1 million is a gift, not an investment.

Lawyers Say It May Be Illegal

Immigration attorneys are warning applicants to think twice before writing a check.

Creating a new visa category requires an act of Congress, according to legal experts at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Trump used an executive order instead.

That means a court could later rule the entire program illegal.

If that happens, applicants may never get their $15,000 processing fee back, and recovering the $1 million contribution could require suing the federal government.

Critics See Two-Tier Immigration

The Gold Card launched during the same week the administration announced new rules requiring tourists from 42 countries to submit five years of social media history.

The H-1B visa fee jumped from $2,500 to $100,000 in September. Asylum cases face longer delays and stricter standards.

Critics say the contrast is clear: wealthy foreigners get a fast lane while everyone else hits roadblocks.

Some Trump supporters on social media called it “selling citizenship” and accused the president of creating a country club instead of a republic.

Europe Already Tried This

Golden visa programs are not new. More than 25 countries have offered residency or citizenship in exchange for investment.

But many have ended badly. Spain canceled its golden visa program in April 2025 after officials blamed it for driving up housing costs. Portugal eliminated real estate investment as a qualifying path in 2023.

Ireland and the UK ended their programs over security concerns and money laundering risks. The European Union has pushed member states to shut down remaining programs entirely.

Revenue Claims All Over the Map

Lutnick estimates the Gold Card program combined with the $100,000 H-1B fee could bring in $100 billion in federal revenue.

Trump himself claimed in February the program could raise $50 trillion, a number experts called mathematically impossible.

Roughly 15 to 33 million people worldwide have net worth above $1 million, but that does not mean they would all buy a Gold Card.

Legal challenges, processing delays, and uncertainty about the program’s future could keep actual revenue far below projections.

Applicants Take All the Risk

The Gold Card sits in legal limbo. Congress did not authorize it.

Courts have not reviewed it. The executive order could be reversed by a future president or struck down by a judge.

Every dollar applicants pay is nonrefundable. If the program gets blocked, there is no guarantee anyone gets their money back.

For now, the website is live, the applications are open, and wealthy foreigners face a choice: pay $1 million for a shortcut that might not exist in six months, or wait years like everyone else.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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