President Donald Trump stated that his government began accepting applications for the “Gold Card” visa program starting this Wednesday (10), highlighting the initiative as fundamental to helping companies hire foreign graduates from American universities.
“I heard from Tim Cook, from Apple, and from many people, some at the table, that basically in the United States you can’t keep students. You can’t hire people from the best schools because you don’t know if you can keep them,” Trump said on Wednesday, during an event at the White House with prominent executives from the technology industry.
Among those present were Michael Dell of Dell, Enrique Lores of HP, Antonio Neri of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Arvind Krishna of IBM. The president said fees generated by the program “could represent a tremendous amount of money” for the US government.
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The Gold Card highlights the tensions between the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on immigration, legal and illegal, and its stated goal of revitalizing American industries and maintaining the country’s spirit of innovation.
Business leaders who support other parts of Trump’s agenda, such as favorable tax policies and deregulation, have expressed concerns about the impact of immigration policies on the economy and labor supply, which could force highly skilled foreigners to seek work in other countries.
The Gold Card program, announced in September, is an attempt to encourage wealthy people from around the world to emigrate to the US by offering residency permits at a high cost. An executive order ordered the secretaries of Commerce, State and Homeland Security to “take all necessary and appropriate measures to implement the Gold Card program” within 90 days, with a deadline of December 18.
Individuals would pay US$1 million and companies US$2 million to obtain US residency through the Gold Card. Applicants would also have to pay a $15,000 processing and evaluation fee. A “Platinum Card” will also be available for $5 million, allowing recipients to “spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on foreign income.” This latest card was listed as “coming soon” on the government website on Wednesday.
“Basically, it’s a green card, but much better, much more powerful, a much stronger path. And a path is an important thing. It has to be good people, but it’s a much stronger path,” Trump said.
Immigration experts say Congress would likely need to approve any changes to visa policies. Trump administration officials say they plan to use existing pathways so that no legislation is needed.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X that the $1 million and $2 million payments will allow individuals to “receive expedited EB-1 or EB-2 green cards after rigorous evaluation.”
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