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A day after announcing the expansion of vetting of social media accounts to all H-1B visa applicants as well as their dependents, the US Wednesday announced the launch of the “Gold Card” programme, pitched by the Donald Trump administration as a better pathway to get citizenship. “It’s somewhat like a green card, but with big advantages over a green card,” Trump said.
While making the announcement at a roundtable at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said it is a “shame” that students from India and China have to go back to their home countries. “It is a gift of getting somebody great coming into our country, because we think these will be some tremendous people that wouldn’t be allowed to stay,” he said.
“You have to go back to India, they have to go back to China, they have to go back to France. They have to go back to wherever they came from. Very hard to stay. It’s a shame,” he said, adding that the website of the Gold Card programme, which was announced in February — is live and companies can “buy” the Gold Card to keep the students they hire from top American universities in the US.
The visa website, trumpcard.gov, is now live and includes a link of the official application, promising “US residency in record time”. “For a $15,000 DHS processing fee and, after background approval, a contribution of $1 million, receive US residency in record time with the Trump Gold Card,” it reads.
It also announces a soon-to-be-launched Platinum Card, allowing foreign nationals to secure their places on the waiting list for Trump Platinum Card. Giving details of the Gold Card, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said it will cost $1 million for an individual and $2 million for a corporation and will involve “full” and “best” vetting to “make sure these people absolutely qualify to be in America”. These applicants will be eligible for US citizenship after five years.
