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President Donald Trump According to experts, the $5 million “gold card” proposal to live in the United States will be the most expensive in the world.
However, demand has been strong as the global super-rich population migrates to other countries in record numbers and seeks safe havens, and there are potential tax benefits.
“Introduction to the Golden Card Visa Program is a unique opportunity to ensure high net worth individuals in our residences with a pathway to citizenship,” said Dominic Volek, head of private account at Henley & Partners. “The United States remains an undisputed leader in the creation and accumulation of private wealth.”
Volek and others who cater to wealthy people around the world say they have answered calls from customers they want to buy Trump’s Golden Card. There are about 135,000 millionaires in the world It is expected to migrate to a new country According to Henry, 2025. The UAE and the United States are usually destination lists.
“I think it’s going to be like crazy,” Trump said at his first cabinet press conference on Wednesday. “It’s cheap.”
Although details are unclear, the proposal will fundamentally change the U.S. living path for the global wealthy, who currently must browse patchwork with strict restrictions to stay in the country. This will also mark a major potential tax change for wealthy people around the United States, bringing a new loophole for gold card holders.
The rapid growth industry announced that lawyers and wealth consultants who have consulted the wealthy were surprised. They say customers are cracking down on a problem.
“It’s blue,” said Laura Foote Reiff, a lawyer for Greenberg Traurig. “We need to see more details on paper.”
One thing is clear: the plan will be one of the most expensive plans in the world. Singapore’s global investors plan to ask SG to invest $10 million, or about $7.5 million, Volker said. Comparable plans in New Zealand require up to 10 million New Zealanders or $5.7 million in investment.
However, most investment visa programs around the world cost less than $1 million, lawyers said.
Henry said about 100 countries offer some type of investment visa program and about 60 jurisdictions actively promote their programs. About 30 programs dominate the $20 billion investment immigration business, while several jurisdictions in Malta, the UAE, Portugal, Italy, and the Caribbean are the most popular.
Similar plans in Australia and Portugal also face strong national opposition or prone to fraud. Australia launched the “Golden Ticketing Visa” in 2012 for those who invest at least $5 million in approved investments, including Australian private equity funds or Australian listed companies. Although the program attracted 2,349 visa holders, the Special Committee found that it did not generate the expected financial benefits and was exploited by corrupt overseas officials.
Portugal launched the Golden Visa Program in 2008, allowing those who invest at least $300,000 in the country to qualify. More than 30,000 people took advantage of the program, and many bought beach real estate in the Algarve area to meet their investment requirements. The plan has since been reduced after resentment over rising real estate prices and corruption discoveries.
In a press conference Wednesday, Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the U.S. gold medal will replace the current investment visa program, called EB-5, which provides green cards to those who invest at least $900,000 or $1.8 million, according to the region and program. The EB-5 program has been plagued by a history of delays and fraud and abuse. Although the program’s mission is to create jobs in underserved or hired areas, the program ultimately pooled funds to high-end real estate developments in New York, Florida and elsewhere.
The plan was renewed by Congress in 2022 and has undergone major changes requiring investment to be introduced into more rural, impoverished areas and infrastructure projects.
In terms of applicants, China has always been the biggest source of people seeking EB-5 visas, and Taiwan, Vietnam and India are also ranked highly. According to the State Department, the United States issued only more than 12,000 EB-5 visas last year, two-thirds of which were given to Chinese nationals.
Wealthy Chinese are also major users of global investment in VISA programs, including Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Lutnick said Wednesday that the EB-5 program has a waiting list of more than 200,000 people. If these hopeful people buy a gold medal, he said, “we will have a trillion dollars to pay off the debt.”
The possible demand could be a small part of the total, perhaps thousands but not hundreds of thousands, the lawyer said. There are about 424,000 people in the world worth $30 million or more, of which 148,000 are in the United States, and there are about 277,000 super-rich people overseas who can reasonably afford the plan.
However, only a small percentage of this may apply to living in the United States, immigration lawyers said. Henry said last year, the net inflows in the United States were about 38 million.
“Thousands of thousands sound high,” Foot Reve said. “There are probably some businesses that can give top talent, such as research scientists who want to bring here without quotas.”
In addition to employer sponsorship, some applicants can also borrow loans to provide funding for $5 million or receive funding from several family members, she said.
One of the major draws in the new plan is tax benefits. Historically, permanent residents of the United States must pay income tax on their U.S. income and any income they earn overseas (including their home country). The U.S. tax on global income makes it less attractive to the rich globally with businesses all over the world and often sheltered by tax havens.
Trump said gold card holders will not pay taxes on their overseas income.
He said he expects companies, especially technology, to be in the greatest demand, trying to hire top U.S. college graduates from India, China or other countries but not able to obtain appropriate visas.
