The U.S. has made $1.3 billion so far from the sale of immigration gold cards, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
President Trump held up a gold card Friday in the Roosevelt Room while hosting a White House event on drug pricing. He said all the money will go “toward reducing debt.”
“It’s the Green Card on steroids, and it’s a pathway, and it’s been an amazing thing,” Mr. Trump said.
The card is gold and has a picture of the president’s face on it. It’s bigger than the size of a credit card.
The website to purchase the cards went live last week at trumpcard.gov. The card is a whopping $1 million for individuals to purchase, and $2 million for corporations, and gives recipients lawful permanent residence status as an EB-1 or EB-1 visa holder.
Visitors are asked their names, birthdays, place of birth, and address among other identifiers to sign up for the card.
The platinum card has a price tag of $5 million, but the website says “there is no assurance” it will stay at that price. It allows recipients to reside in the U.S. for up to 270 days per year without being subject to tax on non-U.S. income.
There are three options for cards: an individual Trump Gold Card, an individual Trump Platinum Card that still says “coming soon,” and the Trump Corporate Gold Card.
The gold card has been highly anticipated since it was announced in February. The original idea for the card was to replace the EB-5 program, also known as the Golden Visa, which allows foreigners to obtain a green card if they invest a certain amount of money that creates at least 10 jobs.
The president has predicted that the sale of the gold cards would bring in billions of dollars for the country, and that the plan was always to use the funds to pay down the country’s debt.