US President Donald Trump has instructed the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to establish a website to offer a $5 million “gold card,” designed to provide quick access to American citizenship for foreign investors.
Doge CEO Elon Musk is leading the effort to establish a template for the gold card program and finish the application process for the corresponding “special immigration visas,” The New York Times reported. Doge engineers have begun to work on this ambitious project, with State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services officials. They seek to create a new visa portal that streamlines the process of applying for potential investors.
Marko Elez and Edward Coristine, leading members of Musk’s Doge team, have had multiple meetings with immigration officials to distinguish between the gold card system and ordinary visa process. The focus has been accelerating ordinary immigration process, including interviews and background investigations, to permit high-net-worth applicants for gaining residency in two weeks’ application.
Trump suggested in February that the gold card be used to replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. The program currently grants foreign investors who invest significant sums in US businesses permanent residency.
Trump has emphasized that the gold card will not only grant green card privileges but also a pathway to US citizenship. “We are going to be selling a gold card,” he explained, adding that the card would take the purchaser around $5 million. Details of the plan are to be released in weeks to come, with Trump explaining that it will attract rich individuals to the US.
