Trump channels US residency gambit through new website
Trump channels US residency gambit through new website
Donald Trump shows off a sample of his US$5 million Gold Card back in April. File photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump has touted a new website for his planned US$5 million US residency permit, saying the waiting list for the golden visa has opened on TrumpCard.gov.
"Thousands have been calling and asking how they can sign up to ride a beautiful road in gaining access to the Greatest Country and Market anywhere in the World," Trump wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.
Trump unveiled the first such visa aboard Air Force One in April, holding a golden prototype that bore his face and promising the special permit would probably be available "in less than two weeks".
The visas are not available yet, but the website announced on Wednesday allows those who are interested to submit their name, desired visa and email address under a header that says "The Trump Card is Coming".
Trump previously said the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
The announcement comes as deportation raids are being ramped up across the country, prompting protests, and as Trump's administration faces ongoing lawsuits and accusations of rights violations over its anti-immigration blitz.
Trump has said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship. He said in February that his administration hoped to sell "maybe a million" of the cards and did not rule out that Russian oligarchs may be eligible. (AFP)
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