Photo illustration by Max Herman/Borderless Magazine. Source images: Ascannio/Alamy Stock Photo, Canva. Donald Trump’s proposal to replace EB-5 visas with Gold Cards could change people’s access to the country and affect the economy.
President Donald Trump recently announced the possibility of a new visa, the “gold card,” amid his administration’s crackdown on immigration.
Under the idea, wealthy foreigners would be allowed to pay up to $5 million to gain citizenship.
This concept is nothing new. About 30 countries have set up similar visa programs allowing wealthy immigrants to pay large fees to live and work in their countries, according to the Washington Post.
Overall, the legality of these visas is being questioned. Immigrant experts doubt Trump will be able to enact these changes without Congress, especially with such short notice.
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Borderless spoke with immigration attorney Kevin L. Dixler about Trump’s proposed “gold card.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is the ‘gold card’ and its requirements?
The “gold card” would be a replacement for the EB-5 investor visa. The investor visa program has been around for 35 years and gave foreigners the opportunity to gain residency if they invested between $800,000 to $1.5 million to increase employment.
Now, Trump is raising the price under the recent proposal. If passed by Congress, foreigners would have to pay up to $5 million in order to apply to become lawful permanent residents.
However, the proposal for the Trump Gold Card is not official.
“It is a proposal by the president, like any other proposal the president’s given,” Dixler said. “There is no bill in Congress right now.”
A bill, Dixler noted, would have to be written and approved by Congress, but ultimately questioned a pathway beyond permanent residency.
“We usually require people to take a test, so that they know politics and civics and history and they understand how the constitution is supposed to work,” Dixler stated.
How is this different from an EB-5 investor visa?
“The challenge is that the EB-5 visa is overly restrictive; and the truth is that there needs to be…a better EB-5 system,” Dixler said.
This EB-5 program has faced its fair share of controversy. In 2021, Congressional Research reported that these visas posed a risk of fraud, and there were problems verifying whether the funds were obtained legally.
The EB-5 program has its shortfalls, Dixler said, but it can be improved. “We should be allowing people coming to the United States to make a good investment and even choose the investment or maybe even promote the investment, and provide a good plan… so that the USCIS can review the investment instead of having these pre-certified investments that are going to ensure that the funds are at risk.”
Overall, the investor visa is made to create jobs and improve the economy, Dixler said. “We don’t realize that a good investment is a win all around because it creates new jobs by the investment,” Dixler said.
Why does the Trump administration want to change the EB-5 visa requirements?
Dixler noted that the changes target the wealthy.
“To make it easier for the people who are most likely to invest in the program, but again, it doesn’t do what the program intends it to do. It creates more trouble for Americans than it solves.”
Does Congress need to approve ‘gold cards’ or can Trump carry out this change through an executive order?
“An executive order is not an edict, we do not live in a dictatorship. There is a rule of law and there is a separation of powers,” Dixler says. “Congress has to vote this into place if the president decides to do this.”
What do we know about how similar programs have been carried out in other countries?
“There may have been something similar carried out in Morocco and other places, but again, our system of government, our sort of backbone, has always dedicated that we don’t believe in pay to play,” Dixler said.
Dixler also referenced a similar immigration investor program in Canada, which shut down in 2014. Other countries like Austria have more requirements and different options. People can gain citizenship by actively investing in their economy or by having extraordinary achievements that serve national interests in sports, science, philanthropy, or the arts.
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Meanwhile, Costa Rica focuses more on investments and the applicant’s financial stability. Applicants must invest in real estate, corporations, or the stock market. In addition, there’s a separate category for retired and fixed-income people. However, their investment program only offers residency but no citizenship.
Similar to Costa Rica, Greece only offers residency to investors. However, applicants have to invest different amounts depending on the type of property the applicant will be investing in; all that matters is that the applicant spends at least 250,000 euros.
A recent study by the International Monetary Fund shows that a country’s requirements and size affect the results of investment programs. According to the study authors, these programs can be harmful or beneficial. For example, in 2018, Greece applicants to the residence by investment program contributed to a potentially destabilizing housing market. In 2021, the program contributed to less than 1 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
If approved, what could we expect next?
During a recent cabinet meeting, Howard Lutnick mentioned that by selling 200,000 Gold cards, they could raise up to $1 trillion to pay the country’s $7.75 trillion deficit when discussing the proposal.
However, Dixer states that this is not enough. “It’s not really going to decrease the deficit as the president claims he’ll do,” Dixer says. “It’s going to create a class of people who really aren’t beholden to our country. These people will be given no restrictions except to pay a fee.”
Samantha Monje is a journalism student at Northwestern University and a Borderless Magazine Pathway intern.
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