United States · Residency by investment
Trump Gold Card
This programme is real, but it stands on shaky legal ground. It was created by Executive Order 14351 (19 September 2025), and applications open at trumpcard.gov on 10 December 2025. It is not a new visa category created by Congress. Only Congress can do that. Instead, it channels applicants into the existing statutory EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant categories, on the theory that a USD 1,000,000 gift to the United States counts as a substantial benefit to the country. Uptake has been negligible. Per DHS figures reported in spring 2026, roughly 338 requests had been submitted, 165 people had paid the USD 15,000 processing fee, and the White House confirmed that one card had actually been granted. Multiple lawsuits are underway, including an AAUP challenge arguing that the programme crowds out merit-based EB-1/EB-2 applicants, and a Democracy Defenders Fund FOIA suit over withheld records.
The immigration bar has been nearly unanimous in advising wealthy clients not to pay the USD 15,000 yet. There is no congressional authorisation. The litigation is unresolved. And the tax consequence is unambiguous and brutal. Approval makes you a US lawful permanent resident, and therefore a worldwide-income US taxpayer subject to §877A on the way out. Buying a Gold Card means buying into citizenship-based taxation, not around it.
Qualifying routes
There is also a non-refundable USD 15,000 DHS processing fee, paid before vetting begins. The USD 1M gift is only requested after vetting succeeds.
A corporate sponsor pays this per employee, plus USD 15,000 per employee. It is aimed at replacing H-1B dependence for senior hires.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $1M
- Total landed cost
- USD 1,015,000 for an individual, or USD 2,015,000 per sponsored employee, before counsel. The USD 15,000 fee is non-refundable whether or not you are ever vetted or approved.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Timeline
- 1–12 months (The government advertises a timeline of weeks. But only one grant has been confirmed in the first six months, which makes that published timeline impossible to verify.)
- Physical presence
- Green card maintenance rules apply. The Gold Card confers ordinary lawful permanent resident status through EB-1/EB-2, with all the residence and tax consequences that status carries.
- Family
- SpouseUnmarried children under 21 qualify. They are treated as derivatives of the underlying EB-1/EB-2 petition
- Permanent residency
- Immediate on approval. This is a green card, not a temporary status.
- Citizenship
- 5 years of permanent residence
- Language test
- English and civics test on naturalisation
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- USD 15,000 non-refundable DHS processing feeDHS security vettingUSD 1,000,000 (individual) or USD 2,000,000 (corporate, per employee) gift to the United States after vettingunderlying EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility and visa availability
- This is executive action, not statute. An adverse appellate ruling, or the next administration, could end it without any legislation. There is no indication the USD 1M gift would be refunded.
- It draws on the statutory EB-1/EB-2 annual caps, which are themselves subject to per-country limits. An Indian-born or Chinese-born Gold Card holder may find the visa number simply is not there, regardless of the payment.
- The USD 15,000 processing fee is non-refundable and is due before any adjudication takes place.
- The payment is structured as a gift to the United States, not an investment. That means no return, no asset, and no recourse.
- It confers permanent residence. That means worldwide US taxation, FBAR/FATCA reporting, and exposure to the 8-of-15-year long-term-resident exit tax trap.
- Reported uptake of roughly one approval every six months tells you what the market's own advisers have already concluded.