One person was approved for the $1 million program; North American government expected to raise up to US$5 trillion
The accelerated residency program in the United States, launched by the Donald Trump (Republican Party) government, recorded low adherence. It was in September 2025. To date, only 1 applicant has been approved for the US$1 million visa. The information was shared by the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, in testimony to the North American Congress. The information is from the newspaper Financial Times.
The project, known as ““received 338 formal requests. Of that group, 165 people paid the $15,000 processing fee. According to Justice Department documents, 59 candidates advanced to the vetting stage conducted by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.
The initiative was created by billionaire John Paulson, a Trump donor. The strategy was to raise resources and reduce the US$37 trillion national debt. At the launch, the US president stated that the program would result in rich and successful people coming to invest and employ citizens in the country.
Lutnick declared that the scheme could generate US$1 trillion by issuing more than 200,000 visas. The projection was that the strategy would raise up to US$5 trillion by selling for US$5 million each. However, despite the government registering 70,000 initial expressions of interest in , the volume of formal requests has not kept up with expectations.
LEGAL ACTION
The program is the target of a lawsuit filed by the American Association of University Professors. The entity states that “gold card” illegally replaces the merit-based system with the direct sale of visas to wealthy taxpayers.
In January 2026, rapper Nicki Minaj thanked Trump for a visa “free“. Authorities later clarified to the newspaper The New York Times that the item given to the artist was just a souvenir since the artist has permanent legal residence.
