U.S. President Donald Trump indicators an government order within the Oval Office on the White House on September 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump signed two government orders, establishing the “Trump Gold Card” and introducing a $100,000 price for H-1B visas.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A model of this text first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth e-newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly information to the high-net-worth investor and client. Sign up to obtain future editions, straight to your inbox.
By slashing the worth of the Gold Card from $5 million to $1 million, President Donald Trump has created probably the most coveted offers within the international visa market, with demand already surging among the many world’s wealthy, in accordance with immigration attorneys.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order saying the official launch of the Gold Card, which is able to value $1 million and grant residency in “record time,” he mentioned. When he first introduced the Gold Card in February, the worth was $5 million. While the Gold Card web site additionally touts a future $5 million Platinum Card, with added tax advantages, the Platinum Card wasn’t within the government order and wasn’t talked about within the press occasion.
With its new discounted value and promise of speedy approvals, the Gold Card has immediately develop into probably the most wanted golden-visas on the earth, with a value beneath many different international locations. Singapore’s funding visa program, for occasion, prices practically $8 million, whereas New Zealand’s new program is slightly below $3 million. Even Samoa is dearer, requiring a $1.4 million funding.
“The Gold Card is almost too cheap,” mentioned Reaz Jafri of Withers. “You get access to the U.S. education system, health care system, banking system and financial markets, all for $1 million. It’s a pittance for many of these families. I think they should have kept it at $5 million to make it special.”
The international wealthy are prepared to write down the checks. Jafri mentioned he was talking at a household workplace convention in Singapore this week and was approached by three households — two primarily based in China and one primarily based in India — who instantly expressed curiosity in shopping for a Gold Card. He mentioned he expects his agency alone will assist course of “hundreds” of functions as soon as this system is off the bottom and confirmed.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick mentioned the federal government plans to concern 80,000 Gold Cards. Together with potential Platinum Card and the brand new H-1B charges, which have been raised to $100,000, he mentioned the applications are anticipated to boost $100 billion in federal income.
The Gold Card nonetheless faces obstacles. Despite the announcement on the White House Friday, there isn’t a strategy to apply for the visa but. The web site saying the Gold Card that went dwell in June asks for primary info from potential candidates, together with their title and nation of residence. So far, individuals who registered on the positioning mentioned they have not obtained any updates.
The program can also be prone to be challenged within the courts and doubtlessly by Congress. Because immigration legislation is ready by Congress, the president created the Gold Card by way of a number of authorized workarounds, together with utilizing the prevailing EB-1 and EB-2 applications because the infrastructure or foundation for the Gold Card. The $1 million price is formally labeled an “unrestricted gift” to the federal government relatively than an official price change.
The tentative authorized standing may give the abroad wealthy pause at first, in accordance with immigration attorneys. Many candidates will doubtless wait to see the primary Gold Cards awarded and granted earlier than spending the $1 million. And some might wait even longer.
“These things always take a little bit of time to ramp up,” mentioned Dominic Volek group head of personal shoppers at Henley & Partners. “People don’t want to be the first one to try it. The majority of our clients like to see the program up and running for three to six months and see the outcomes before they commit.”
Volek mentioned he is already had various inquiries from shoppers and expects this system to draw at the least 5,000 to 10,000 functions a 12 months.
“From a price point perspective, it’s definitely more attractive at $1 million instead of $5 million,” Volek mentioned. “And if it’s as quick as they say, it becomes even more attractive.”
The Gold Card additionally comes at an opportune second within the international visa market. As geopolitical uncertainty, wars and political tensions rise internationally, the ultra-wealthy are shopping for alternative citizenships and residencies for a “Plan B” or hedge in opposition to their dwelling international locations.
An estimated 142,000 millionaires are anticipated to relocate to a different nation in 2025, in accordance with a report from New World Wealth and Henley & Partners. The U.S. is likely one of the top destinations, with 7,500 millionaires anticipated to maneuver to the U.S. this 12 months, rating solely second to the UAE, in accordance with the report. Most of the millionaires coming to America are from Asia, the U.Okay. and Latin America.
Demand for the Gold Card is prone to come primarily from China and India, in accordance with immigration advisers. Yet candidates from these international locations could also be dissatisfied. The EB-1 and EB-2 applications (which kind the idea for the Gold Card) have already got massive backlogs from candidates from China and India, stretching for years. If Gold Card patrons are allowed to skip to the entrance of the road due to their $1 million donation, the candidates who’ve been ready might file lawsuits. At the identical time, Gold Card patrons will not be prepared to spend $1 million in the event that they’re pressured to attend years for approval.
Dramatically increasing the variety of visas out there by way of the EB-1 and EB-2 applications would additionally doubtless require approval from Congress, advisors mentioned.
“India and China are actually excluded in a way from the Gold Card,” Volek mentioned. “The EB-1 and EB-2 routes already have significant backlogs for China and India. So immediate access to the Gold Card may not actually work if you’re born in one of those two countries.”
The Gold Card additionally has some downsides in contrast with different golden visa applications all over the world. The $1 million donation is not refundable, whereas visas in different international locations are structured as investments that would generate returns. And not like most different international locations, the U.S. taxes its residents and residents on their worldwide revenue, even when it is earned abroad.
The Platinum Card is designed to partially keep away from the taxation concern in alternate for the next value. According to the White House, the Platinum Card would permit holders to stay within the U.S. for 270 days a 12 months with out paying taxes on their abroad revenue. Currently, abroad nationals are topic to worldwide tax in the event that they are within the U.S. for 183 days throughout a three-year interval utilizing a fancy IRS day-counting formulation often called the “substantial presence” check.
Some advisors say the Platinum Card might be a harder promote than the Gold Card, because it would not result in a inexperienced card or citizenship and has restricted advantages for the ultra-rich who already spend time within the U.S.
“It will not sell well,” mentioned David Lesperance, of Lesperance Associates. “Few will consider it worth $5 million just to spend an additional 91 days in the U.S.”
Others say the Gold and Platinum playing cards will attraction to various kinds of abroad wealthy. The Platinum Card could also be interesting to the ultra-wealthy — say, billionaires from Asia or the Middle East — who wish to be within the U.S. however wish to defend their corporations and revenue from U.S. taxes. Jafri mentioned he is already obtained inquiries in regards to the Platinum Card from 4 Brazilian household workplaces.
The Gold Card is extra becoming for the little kids of the abroad wealthy who wish to go to school within the U.S. and develop into extra aggressive within the U.S. job market after graduating.
“A lot of the kids of these overseas billionaires don’t want to run the family business and want to be architects or doctors or engineers and have regular jobs,” Jafri mentioned. “Or maybe they want to create a startup in America. The Gold Card is very attractive for that group.”
Given the comparatively low value of the Gold and Platinum playing cards, Jafri mentioned the White House ought to contemplate finally issuing a Black Card.
“They could charge $20 million or $25 million and exempt the buyers from the estate tax,” he mentioned. “That would be a game-changer. I bet 1,000 people would do it and they would bring all their assets to the U.S.”