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Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Trump's $5 million ‘Gold Card' visa draws skepticism after delay in launch date
The Trump administration 's proposed ' Gold Card ' visa program, aimed at granting US citizenship to ultra-wealthy individuals investing $5 million, has missed its promised launch deadline. Despite early claims of a rollout, no official website or documentation has emerged, raising skepticism about the program's existence, according to a report by Forbes. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had earlier said the program would go live within a week. That deadline has now passed. Lutnick also claimed to have sold Gold Card visas during a recent trip to the Middle East, stating in an earlier interview that he secured 1,000 sign-ups in a single day. Experts remain unconvinced. Nuri Katz, founder of Apex Capital Partners, told Forbes that such programs face major challenges. 'In my 34 years of experience, I have rarely seen anybody spend more than 10% of their net worth on an immigration program, and generally it's more like 5%. So you've got to be worth $100 million in order to be able to afford this,' Katz said. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Belly Fat Removal Without Surgery in Algeria: The Price Might Surprise You Belly Fat Removal | Search Ads Get Info Undo He further added that the number of people able and willing to invest such an amount is small. Even if the program is launched, Katz said, 'It won't be a million people and it won't be even 200,000.' Commenting on the current status of the proposal, Katz said, 'It looks to me like they're backpedaling. Now they have to make a decision of whether or not there really is the interest, because they are going to have to expend a lot of political capital in order to get this done.' (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) Katz also warned that high-net-worth individuals would be cautious about joining unless there is more clarity. 'We don't know where that information is going to go and who's going to use it. Will it be used only by the US government? Could it maybe be sold to private businesses? It's going to be a pretty powerful database of rich people.' Live Events MORE STORIES FOR YOU ✕ Foreigners can start registering for Trump's new $5 million 'gold cards' within a week 'For $5 mn this could be yours' Trump says as he shows off his new Gold Card meant for rich foreigners « Back to recommendation stories I don't want to see these stories because They are not relevant to me They disrupt the reading flow Others SUBMIT In the recent past, billionaire Elon Musk had mentioned he was conducting a quiet trial of the program, but there has been no further update as he returned to his business interests. The absence of official confirmation or infrastructure has left many questioning if the Gold Card visa plan is real or still under development.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Trump's $5 Million Gold Card Visa Plan: Why experts say it may never become a reality
The ambitious Trump Gold Card visa programme, touted as a potential economic gamechanger and a shortcut to U.S. residency for wealthy foreigners, may never move beyond a campaign concept, according to leading immigration experts and legal analysts. Despite high-profile endorsements and repeated declarations of an imminent rollout, the initiative currently lacks legal backing, operational structure, and a realistic applicant base, stakeholders have said, as mentioned in a report by Forbes. A Concept Without a Framework Marketed as a $5 million entryway into the United States—complete with residency rights, a citizenship track, and possible tax advantages—the Donald Trump Gold Card visa was introduced earlier this year by U.S. President Donald Trump and his ally, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The proposal suggests it could replace the existing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program , which currently allows foreign nationals to gain residency through investments of $800,000 to $1 million and job creation requirements. However, immigration experts point out that no legislation has been introduced, nor are there details of a formal structure. 'There is no real programme, no enabling law—just a marketing pitch,' said Nuri Katz, founder of Apex Capital Partners, who has advised ultra-high-net-worth individuals on immigration for over three decades. Katz stressed that the U.S. Congress would have to enact new immigration and tax laws before any such programme could take effect. Live Events Trump's Vision: Ambitious but Impractical? President Trump has floated numbers as high as $50 trillion in potential revenue, claiming the sale of 10 million Gold Cards would more than erase the national debt. Lutnick has since tempered the projections, suggesting $1 trillion in revenue from 200,000 applicants. But analysts remain skeptical. 'The math simply doesn't support the vision,' Katz told reporters. 'In my experience, investors rarely commit more than 10% of their net worth to an immigration programme. So unless an individual is worth $100 million or more, they won't even consider this.' According to a Henley & Partners report, there are fewer than 30,000 non-American centimillionaires worldwide—far fewer than the figures being pitched by the administration. Legal and Technical Barriers Persist The programme's digital infrastructure has also drawn criticism. Although a website— expected to go live this month, visitors are instead met with a placeholder page and malfunctioning registration prompts. The Department of Commerce has not provided clarity on when or whether the site will officially launch. According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, no U.S. President can unilaterally create or alter visa categories. The current EB-5 programme, reauthorized through 2027, would remain in place unless Congress amends existing law. Skepticism Mounts Among Wealth Managers Katz, who advises international clients, said he would not recommend participation to any investor under current conditions. 'Without legislation and regulatory clarity, even submitting personal information on a website could pose risks. We don't know where that data would end up,' he warned. In a telling moment, Katz dismissed Lutnick's recent claim that 1,000 Gold Cards were sold in one day—allegedly generating $5 billion—as 'implausible and unserious.' Origins in a Conversation, Not Policy The genesis of the Trump Gold Card idea reportedly came from hedge fund manager John Paulson, who suggested monetising visas during a conversation with Trump. 'Why do we give them away? We should sell them,' Paulson allegedly said, prompting Lutnick to develop the proposal. But translating a dinner-table idea into federal immigration policy, experts say, will require more than bravado and branding. FAQs What is the Trump Gold Card visa programme? It's a proposed visa initiative by U.S. President Donald Trump, offering U.S. residency and a path to citizenship to wealthy foreigners in exchange for a $5 million investment. Has the programme been officially launched? No. As of now, it remains a concept without a legal framework or legislative backing, according to immigration and legal experts. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
