How Trump’s $5 million ‘gold card’ could affect Indians

Donald Trump is known for some radical ideas and on Tuesday (February 25), he added to this list with the idea of selling a ‘gold card’ visa, promising permanent residency and a chance of citizenship.

This new ‘ gold card’ visa, as Trump said, will roll out within two weeks and will replace the existing EB-5 visa programme, which was established in 1990. Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said, “We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million.

Touting the benefits of the ‘gold card’, Trump said at his first Cabinet meeting , “It’s going to sell like crazy. It’s a bargain.”

While this ‘gold card’ may result in a jackpot for the US, it won’t be the same for Indians seeking to pursue the American Dream. Here’s why.

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What’s the ‘gold card’ visa?

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced a new plan known as the ‘gold card’ visa — providing a path to US citizenship at a price tag of $5 million (Rs 43.5 crore). As he explained, this would be an upgrade from the green card system, calling it “green card privileges plus”.

He said the programme is expected to launch in two weeks. “We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card. This is a gold card.” He further said that the new scheme would attract successful individuals who will contribute significantly 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.”

Once again, Trump is the expert of thinking of things we had no idea we could do.

Now, he's offering to sell U.S. "gold cards" to wealthy foreigners for $5,000,000 in return for entry into the U.S.

If just 200 rich people take this, that's $1 BILLION.pic.twitter.com/Vtssqu0de7

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 25, 2025

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Further elaborating on the proposal during his first Cabinet meeting, Trump said that the ‘gold card’ would function similarly to green cards, which allow individuals to live and work permanently in the US, but would go to “high-level people”.

Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also hailed the gold card visa, saying that the money earned from it could be used to “reduce our deficit”. He further added that the gold card scheme would replace EB-5 visas. “The president said rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 programme, we’re going to end the EB-5 programme. We’re going to replace it with the Trump Gold Card,” said the US commerce secretary. “They’ll be able to pay $5 million to the US government —not to skip vetting, of course. We’re going to make sure they are wonderful, world-class global citizens.”

Gold card vs EB-5 visa: What’s the difference?

As Lutnick explained the gold card visa will replace the EB-5 visa programme. The EB-5 programme was created in 1990 by the US Congress with the aim of growing the American economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. For the EB-5 visa, one has to make an investment of minimum $1,050,000 (Rs 9 crore), or $800,000 (Rs 6.97 crore) in economically distressed zones called targeted employment areas.

However, the EB-5 programme has received criticism with Lutnick saying it was “full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud.”

Under the ‘gold card’ scheme, Lutnick explained individuals would have a path to US citizenship for a price of $5 million.

The gold card won’t require an investment in American businesses or the creation of new employment. It could simply be a direct purchase of a Green Card by paying a flat fee of $5 million to the US government.

Will Trump’s gold card be boon or bane for Indians?

Leading international investment migration firm Henley & Partners welcomed Trump’s move for a ‘gold card’, saying it would enhance US competitiveness in the global investment migration landscape.

CEO of Henley & Partners, Dr Juerg Steffen, was quoted saying, “The proposed gold card visa presents an exciting new opportunity for high-net-worth investors seeking US residence and citizenship.”

But not everyone is thrilled about Trump’s gold card idea, especially Indians. Many Indians note that this plan will hurt the thousands who wish to move overseas to pursue their American dream. This is because of the cost. For an Indian individual seeking US citizenship, they will now have to shell out a whopping $5 million. This means only India’s super-rich can afford this shortcut to American residency.

The gold card, which would be replacing the EB-5 visa programme, could also hurt the thousands of skilled Indian professionals stuck in long green card backlogs. Some immigration experts note that the gold card, which focuses on cost, would sideline skilled workers already waiting for US residency.

“The idea that you can buy your way into a green card and citizenship for $5 million, while millions of skilled workers — engineers, doctors, tech experts — languish in a backlog that stretches over 50 years for some, especially from countries like India, is a slap in the face. These are individuals who have already proven their worth, paying taxes, driving innovation, and building lives here. They won’t benefit from this. Instead, we are rolling out a red carpet for the ultra-wealthy, no backlog required, just a fat check. That’s not sophistication — it is elitism dressed up as policy,” Ajay Bhutoria, a Silicon Valley-based Democrat and immigration reform advocate told Times of India.

Even Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner, KS Legal & Associates, agreed that the gold card scheme would hurt Indians. “Indians may find the new gold card unattractive because it significantly raises the financial barrier to US residency, making it accessible only to ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The EB-5 programme, despite its delays, was a structured investment route that allowed Indian entrepreneurs and professionals to invest lesser amounts, create jobs and gain a green card through economic contribution,” she told Hindu Business Line. “Also if the EB-5 programme is scrapped abruptly hundreds of investors may be left in limbo.”

However, US President Donald Trump maintains that the gold card would be beneficial to students. He maintained that American businesses could purchase his proposed offer to help keep bright students from countries like India, who went to schools in the United States for higher studies.

The US president said, “I get calls from, as an example, companies where they want to hire the No. 1 student at the school, a person comes from India, China, Japan, lots of different places, and they go to Harvard to Wharton School of Finance, they go to Yale, they go to all great schools and graduate number one in their class and they are made job offers.”

However, these companies struggle to recruit high quality student owing to the uncertainty of their immigration status, said Donald Trump. “These companies can go and buy a gold card, and they can use it as a matter of recruitment. We’re going to start selling, hopefully, in about two weeks now," he added.

What are the alternative US immigration options for Indians?

For Indians who won’t be able to afford the hefty $5 million cost of the gold card, the path to US residency will be a bit tougher and longer. They may have to opt for traditional employment-based green cards, but the wait time is usually long.

Highly skilled professionals could opt for the O-1 visa, which is designed for people with exceptional qualities in fields such as technology, research, arts, and business. It also doesn’t have the burden of long backlogs.

There’s also the H-1B visa. Indians usually on this type of visa pursue the EB-2 or EB-3 employment-based green card route. However, this process is time-consuming and if Trump does impose restrictive policies, it could hurt Indian applicants.

With inputs from agencies