Donald Trump announces a "Gold Card" Visa Program

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump has announced a new way for wealthy foreigners to gain the right to live in the United States.

His plan involves offering a $5 million visa that he has named the “gold card.” The idea was first raised by Trump on Tuesday in the Oval Office, with the idea being expanded on Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting.

Regarding the gold card Trump said, "It's going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card, 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."

There is already a pre-established way for wealthy non-U.S. citizens to gain residency known as the EB-5 visa. This program has, however, been cited for potential abuses and was referred to as "full of nonsense, make believe and fraud" by President Trump’s commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who confirmed that the gold card would be a replacement.

When talking about who would qualify for a gold card, Lutnik said they would have to meet other criteria besides paying the $5 million, such as going through a vetting process. When Trump was asked if Russian oligarchs could qualify for the visa, Trump responded, “Possibly.”

These gold visas are available in a capacity in more than 100 countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Canada, and Italy.

Trump has also stated that the gold cards would not require congressional approval, stating, "We have it all worked out from the legal standpoint. It's totally legal to do."

Lutnick has also said that the gold cards would be available in about two weeks, and also, according to him, the gold card visa program already has 250,000 applicants. Applications on the website appear to have not launched yet, however.

Nikolai Wagner is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To email him, contact njw5648@psu.edu.