WASHINGTON: Just one particular person has been accepted for United States President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa programme to date, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick mentioned on Thursday (Apr 23), referring to a million-dollar residency card unveiled final 12 months.
The US chief signed an order final September to create the programme providing residency for a charge of US$1 million. It began accepting functions in December.
US officers have lately accepted one particular person, Lutnick informed a US Home committee on Thursday.
“And there are lots of within the queue” who’re going by way of the method, he added.
Candidates additionally must pay a US$15,000 Division of Homeland Safety processing charge, and Lutnick mentioned they might undergo a “most severe vetting and evaluation”.
The “gold card” residency programme costs a US$1 million charge for people and US$2 million for sponsorships by companies.
Its creation got here on the similar time that Trump ordered an annual US$100,000 charge to be added to H-1B expert employee visas.
Trump initially mentioned the brand new visa would herald job creators and may very well be used to scale back the nationwide deficit.
Since returning to the presidency in 2025, Trump has tightened immigration and his administration has carried out harsh deportation raids.
