When can rich foreigners buy the $5 million Trump gold card? Cabinet official teases release date

President Donald Trump’s plan to attract wealthy immigrants to the United States is less than two weeks away from coming to fruition, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday.

“I’m very excited that within a week-and-a-half we’re going to start with the gold card and the Trump card – it’s coming out, and we’re excited about that, and that’s coming soon,” Lutnick said as Trump hosted cabinet officials.

The so-called gold card will reportedly be offered at $5 million apiece and replace the EB-5 visa granted to investors who spend at least $1 million on a company that employs 10 or more people in the U.S.

“They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful,” Trump said in the Oval Office late last month, according to the Associated Press.

At that time, Lutnick said the gold card — actually a green card, or permanent legal residency — would raise the price of admission for investors and do away with fraud and “nonsense” that he said characterize the EB-5 visa program instituted in 1990. Like other green cards, it would include a path to citizenship.

About 8,000 people obtained investor visas in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2022, according to the Homeland Security Department’s most recent Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. The Congressional Research Service reported in 2021 that EB-5 visas pose risks of fraud, including verification that funds were obtained legally.

Congress determines qualifications for citizenship, but Trump said “gold cards” would not require congressional approval.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.