US President Donald Trump announces new ‘Gold Card’ for immigrants at Rs...; what it means for Indians

United States President Donald Trump has announced that his government will be rolling out a new “Gold Card” to get US citizenship. He said it will be sold to immigrants for about USD 5 million or approximately Rs 43.60 crore.

Trump, 78, who regained power as US president last month, said the card is a premium version of the Green Card and will provide immigrants with “a route to citizenship.”

“We're gonna be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We're gonna be putting a price on that card of about  USD 5 million and that's gonna give you green card privileges plus,” Trump said on Tuesday at the Oval Office in the US capital – Washington, DC.

‘Wealthy people will be coming’
Trump added that through this card, wealthy people will come to America and “pay a lot of taxes.”

“It's gonna be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. 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,” the president said as he signed executive orders alongside US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The so-called Gold Card is expected to be launched in two weeks and Trump suggested that millions of such cards would be sold.

Replacement for ‘ridiculous’ EB-5 program
The upcoming Gold Card scheme would replace the existing EB-5 program – which allows immigrant investors to obtain a Green Card by investing in US-based businesses – Lutnick told reporters.

“The president said rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 program, we’re going to end the EB-5 program. We’re going to replace it with the Trump gold card,” he said. “They’ll be able to pay $5 million to the US government not to go through vetting, of course, going to make sure they are wonderful world class, global citizens.”

What it means for Indians
Currently, the EB-5 visa is one of the legitimate ways to gain permanent residency in the US. However, the new Gold Card is set to replace that visa, according to Trump's plan.
This means that many Indians with even a high net-worth who are eligible for the EB-5 visa may not qualify for the Gold Card because of its stricter $5 million requirement.