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Can India's middle class afford Trump's ‘gold card’? Indian-origin visa expert weighs in
Donald Trump's new ‘Gold Card’ program, which replaces the EB-5 program, allows wealthy immigrants to purchase US citizenship for $5 million.
Donald Trump has announced the introduction of a new ‘gold card’ program, allowing wealthy immigrants to purchase a pathway to US citizenship for $5 million. The initiative is set to replace the existing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which has been a staple of employment-based immigration since 1990.
“We are going to be selling a gold card,” Trump said as he signed executive orders alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “We are going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million.”
“It's going to give you green card privileges, plus it's going to be a route to (American) citizenship, and wealthy people would be coming into our country by buying this card.”
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The president explained that the Gold Card would grant immigrants green card privileges while serving as a direct route to American citizenship. “The people that can pay $5 million, they're going to create jobs,” Trump emphasized. “It's going to sell like crazy. It's a bargain.”
The sharp increase in investment requirements has raised concerns among Indian immigrants, many of whom have been stuck in the Green Card backlog due to the per-country visa cap.
How will the Gold Card affect Indian immigrants?
“The Gold Card announced by President Trump for $5 million is intended to replace the EB-5 program. The investment amount drastically increases from $800k/$1.05 million to $5 million,” Rahul Menon, an Indian-origin visa podcaster, told Hindustan Times.
“It was a steep amount for Indian visa holders to begin with, and now will be next to impossible for the majority of the folks stuck in the Green Card backlog.”
Menon also pointed out that such a drastic policy change would likely require Congressional approval. “From a legal standpoint, this will have to be passed by Congress similar to the EB 5 reform bill that was passed in 2022 by the Biden administration, where they increased investment amounts to $800k/1.05 million,” he said.
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How does the Gold Card compare to the EB-5 program?
Under the existing system, immigrants could secure a green card by investing $800,000 to $1.05 million, depending on whether the investment was in a high-unemployment or rural area. The Biden administration had increased these investment thresholds as part of the 2022 EB-5 Reform Bill.
With Trump’s proposed shift, the required investment jumps drastically to $5 million, making it more challenging for middle-income investors, particularly from countries like India, to qualify.
