\u201cBasically it\u2019s a Green Card, but much better,\u201d says US president
\n WASHINGTON
\nPresident Donald Trump\u2019s administration officially launched his \u201cTrump Gold Card\u201d visa programme on Wednesday to provide a pathway, with a steep price, for non-US citizens to get expedited permission to live in the United States.
\nThe website Trumpcard.gov, complete with an \u201capply now\u201d button, allows interested applicants to pay a $15,000 fee to the Department of Homeland Security for speedy processing.
\nAfter going through a background check or vetting process, applicants must then make a \u201ccontribution\u201d\u2013the website also calls it a \u201cgift\u201d\u2013of $1 million to get the visa, similar to a \u201cGreen Card,\u201d which allows them to live and work in the United States.
\n\u201cBasically it\u2019s a Green Card, but much better. Much more powerful, a much stronger path,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House. \u201cA path is a big deal. Have to be great people.\u201d
\nCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said some 10,000 people have already signed up for the gold card during a pre-registration period and he expected many more to do so. \u201cI would expect over time that we\u2019d sell, you know, thousands of these cards and raise, you know, billions, billions of dollars,\u201d Lutnick told Reuters in a brief interview.
\nLutnick said the gold card programme would bring people into the United States who would benefit the economy. He compared that to \u201caverage\u201d Green Card holders, whom he said earned less money than average Americans and were more likely to be on or have family members on public assistance. He did not provide evidence for that assertion.
\nTrump\u2019s administration has pursued a broad crackdown on immigration, deporting hundreds of thousands of people who were in the country illegally and also taking measures to discourage legal immigration.
\nThe gold card programme is the Trump version of a counterbalance to that, designed to make money for the US Treasury in the same way the president, a former New York businessman and reality television host, has said his tariff programme has successfully done.
\nLutnick noted that there was also a corporate version of the gold card that allowed companies to get expedited visas for employees they wanted to work in the United States, for a $2 million contribution per employee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cBasically it\u2019s a Green Card, but much better,\u201d says US president WASHINGTON President Donald Trump\u2019s administration officially launched his \u201cTrump Gold Card\u201d visa programme on Wednesday to provide a pathway, with a steep price, for non-US citizens to get expedited permission to live in the United States. The website Trumpcard.gov, complete with an \u201capply now\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-519518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n