President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled his administration’s much-anticipated “gold card,” a new $1 million visa pathway designed to fast-track residency and work rights in the United States for wealthy foreigners.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who joined Trump for the announcement in the Oval Office, explained that the gold card would replace the EB-1 and EB-2 visa categories, which traditionally cater to individuals with “exceptional value” to the country. The program is expected to begin with 80,000 available slots, though officials signaled it could expand and eventually phase out other visa types.
The administration had previewed the initiative for months, even opening a waiting list in June for interested applicants. Lutnick presented the visa as a tool to attract investment and boost government revenue, projecting that it could generate $100 billion. Trump suggested those funds could be used to reduce federal taxes and debt.
“We were taking in the bottom quartile,” Lutnick said of the existing system. “Now we’re only going to accept extraordinary people at the top, not those competing with American workers.”
The launch adds to a string of Trump-era efforts to raise government income through unconventional measures. Since taking office, Trump has increased tariff collections, demanded partial revenues from tech companies like Nvidia, taken government stakes in corporations such as Intel, and proposed tapping into university patent profits.
According to Lutnick, the gold card will operate similarly to a green card, requiring recipients to pay global taxes in the same manner as U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Individual applicants would pay $1 million plus a $15,000 vetting fee, while corporations sponsoring workers would be charged $2 million.
Another proposed option, the so-called “Trump Platinum Card,” would carry a $5 million price tag and grant up to 270 days of U.S. residency without taxation on foreign income. However, Trump did not reference it in his remarks, and Lutnick clarified that such a plan would need congressional approval before moving forward.
The gold card rollout coincides with broader crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration. Alongside tougher measures against undocumented migrants, the Trump administration has curtailed avenues such as Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole. On the same day, it also introduced a $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visa applicants in an effort to discourage what it calls “abuse” of the skilled worker program.
Like many of Trump’s immigration policies, the new initiative may face legal challenges. Experts warn that creating a fast-track pathway for the wealthy could trigger lawsuits from critics who see it as undermining fairness in the immigration system.