AMN / WASHINGTON
The United States President Donald Trump has announced a new gold card investor visa programme for wealthy immigrants, replacing the existing EB-5 visa. Speaking at the Oval Office, Trump said the companies can buy immigration Gold Card on payment of $5 million for highly talented employees to deal with the uncertainties of work visas and green cards. He described the initiative as green card privileges plus as an upgrade from the green card system.
Trump said, it could deal with the uncertainty of H-1B work visas for professionals and the wait of decades for green cards that people have to endure.
Trump said the sale of the cards will begin in about two weeks and suggested millions of such cards could be sold.
Asked whether he would consider selling the cards to Russian oligarchs, Trump responded: “Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, standing alongside Trump, said the card will replace the government’s EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, which allows foreign investors to pump money into US projects that create jobs and then apply for visas to immigrate to the US.
“They’ll have to go through vetting, of course,” Lutnick said, “to make sure they’re wonderful world-class global citizens.”
Created by Congress in 1992, the EB-5 program can grant green cards to immigrants who make a minimum investment of least $1,050,000, or $800,000 in economically distressed zones called targeted employment areas, to create jobs for American workers, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
Businesses connected to Trump and his family have also made use of the program to fund major property developments.