The TOI correspondent from Washington: Wealthy people around the world can potentially buy their way to an American citizenship for $ 5 million (approx Rs 44 cr) per head under a “Gold Card” program US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday.
In a move that he hoped would generate a windfall for the US economy, Trump indicated the Gold Card would be a premium version of a Green Card, which currently gives permanent residency in the US to eligible foreigners, and it would replace the EB-5 visa program, under which foreigners are eligible to apply for Green Card if they invest around $ 1 million in the US.
“We’re gonna be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re gonna be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s gonna give you green card privileges plus…,” Trump said at a White House presser, providing sketchy details. “It’s gonna be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card,” he added.
The US President did not reveal when exactly the program would come into effect, but said there would be vetting involved in the process. He also suggested the scheme could be kicked off with executive action from his office although visa categories and citizenship pathways are the domain of the Congress and requires legislative approval.
Many countries around the world, notably some Caribbean nations, have similar programs for much less investment. St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda all have programs that offer direct citizenship for investments ranging from $ 200,000 (Rs 1.75 cr) to $ 400,000 (Rs 3.4 cr), as do Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt.
While all these countries have specific requirements for job creation or economic contribution, as does the US EB-5 visa, Trump’s blandishment was thin on details. “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,” he said.
Concern rippled across the political spectrum that the scheme could simply sell US citizenship to high-rollers and those looking to park illicit money. “Would a Russian oligarch be eligible for a gold card?” one reporter asked Trump snarkily. “Yeah, possibly. Hey. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people,” the President clapped back.
There was also disquiet in immigrant communities stuck in the so-called Green Card limbo, including more than a million Indians, who fear that their merit-based exertions to gain green cards and citizenship, which already has a waiting time of decades, would be sidelined by uber-wealthy elitists who are fast tracked for $ 5 million.
But Trump supporters are already toting up the takings and how it would help wipe out the US debt. “If just 200 rich people take this, that’s $1 BILLION,” one MAGA minion exulted on social media, while another calculated that at $5 Million per Card, 7 million Gold Card immigrants could pay off the national debt that now tops $ 36 trillion.
By all accounts, that is a very long shot. The EB-5 program currently caps visas at 10,000 annually and even that limit is rarely crossed.
