US President Donald Trump's "gold card" visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to a report by Associated Press. After it launched in December, Lutnick said that the government had sold $1.3 billion "worth" in just several days, as Trump stood by holding up the gilded ticket and said, "essentially it's the green card on steroids."
Trump pushed the idea last year, initially suggesting a cost of $5 million, and arguing that it would entice foreign talent to U.S. shores and fill out federal coffers. It's meant to replace the EB-5 program, a decades-old program that offered U.S. visas to people who invested about $1 million in a company with at least 10 employees. Though only one person has been approved, "there are hundreds in the queue that they are going through," said Lutnick, at a congressional committee hearing Thursday.
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"They've just set it up, and they wanted to make sure they did it perfectly," he said. A year ago, Lutnick said at a cabinet meeting that the gold card would raise $1 trillion in revenue and help "balance the budget." The publicly held debt is $31.3 trillion and outside projections by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget are that this fiscal's annual budget deficit will be roughly $2 trillion. Lutnick didn't disclose details about the individual approved for the gold card visa, as per AP.
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The commerce secretary noted that each applicant pays a $15,000 fee, on top of their million bucks, which allows for "rigorous vetting" of those applying to the program that eventually opens a path to US citizenship. It also allows corporations to spend $2 million for a foreign-born employee, along with a 1% annual maintenance fee. A government website promoting the visa programme describes it as a way to "Unlock life in America" and features a gold card design with Trump's image and national symbols.
While Trump has created a presidential identity partially around deporting immigrants without legal status, he has repeatedly supported skilled immigration to the U.S., which the gold card program could facilitate. When asked how the proceeds will be spent, Lutnick said: "That will be determined by the administration, and its terms are for the betterment of the United States of America." The idea is relatively common around the world, with dozens of countries offering versions of "golden visas" to wealthy individuals, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Malta, Australia, Canada and Italy.
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